Weber v. Traubel

Citations

• 95 Ill. 427
• 1880 Ill. LEXIS 195

Syllabus

<p>1. Taxation in the oily of Fast St. Louis—of the rate per cent allowed. Section 1 of article 3 of the special charter under which the city of East St. Louis is organized, provides, that “ the city council shall have power to levy and collect an annual tax, not exceeding one per centum per annum, upon all property, real and personal, within the jurisdiction of the city, upon the assessed value thereof.” This limitation is upon the grant of the power to levy and collect taxes generally,—and its effect is, in no case shall the entire tax of the city, in the aggregate, to be levied annually, exceed the rate mentioned.</p> <p>2. Section 22 of article 7 of the same charter authorizes the levy and collection of a tax, not exceeding three mills on the dollar, upon each annual assessment of the taxable property of the city, for the purpose of paying interest upon registered bonds, scrip and certificates of indebtedness. There is no repugnancy between this section and section 1 of article 3, in respect to the limit of the rate which may be levied for all purposes. The rate allowed to be levied under section 22 of article 7 is not in addition to the rate limited in section 1 of article 3, but is a limitation upon the amount of taxation allowed for the specific purpose named in that section, which amount, when levied, is to be deducted from the aggregate amount which may be raised under the limitation of one per cent, for every purpose.</p> <p>3. So, also, in respect to the operation of section 1 of chapter 81 of the Revised Statutes of 1874, entitled “Libraries,” which authorizes cities to levy and collect a tax annually, not exceeding one mill on the dollar upon each annual assessment, to be known as the “library fund,”—this statute was not intended to interfere with clauses in the special charters of cities limiting the rate per cent of taxation, but the grant of power to tax for library purposes must be held to be subordinate to such limitations in special charters.</p>