Summary
Appeals from the Court of Common Pleas, No. 2, of Allegheny county: Of. October and November Term 1877, Nos. 253 and 254.
These were appeals by Samuel Kilgore and the Central Board of Education of the city of Pittsburgh from decrees of the court sustaining demurrers to bills in equity, filed by the respective complainants.
The bill of Kilgore, a citizen and tax-payer, and the treasurer elect of the city of Pittsburgh, was filed on the 4th of May 1877, against C. L. Magee, treasurer, R. M. Snodgrass, controller, and the members of the finance committee of councils of said city, setting forth and alleging, inter alia, that said C. L. Magee, city treasurer, claimed the right to appoint, and was about to appoint, some person (then unknown to complainant) as “ collector of outstanding or delinquent taxes and water-rents,” under and by authority of a pretended Act of Assembly, entitled “ An Act in relation to cities of the second class, providing for the levy, collection and disbursement of taxes and water-rents,” which purported to have been approved by the governor on March 22d 1877, Pamph. L. 16; that said pretended act was inoperative, unconstitutional and void, and did not legally confer said right or authority upon said Magee, city treasurer, because,
1. It was not passed or enacted conformably to the requirements of the constitution of the Commonwealth. 2. It contains more than one subject not clearly expressed in its title. 3. It was altered and amended on its passage through both houses of the General Assembly, so as to entirely change its original purpose. 4. It w7as not read at length on three different days in each or either house of the General Assembly. 5. It is a local or special law, only applicable to and intended to operate upon and regulate the affairs of the city of Pittsburgh, under a pretended classification made by the said General Assembly, by which said city is alone created a city of the second class, contrary to art. 3 of the constitution.
That at the last session of the General Assembly a bill was introduced in the senate entitled “ An Act prescribing the times for the payment of city taxes in cities of the second class,” and designated “ Senate Bill No. 102,” which contained but one section.
Amendments or alterations of said bill w7ere proposed or made by the House of Representatives, but disagreed to by the Senate, and a committee of conference was created, to whom was referred “ the difference existing between the two houses in relation to the Senate bill No. 102” aforesaid; that said committee of conference did not sit or consider the subject-matter referred to it; that members of said committee acting collusively with certain individuals whose names are unknown to your orator, and with intent to violate the constitution of this Commonwealth, and unduly procure the passage of the bill or act mentioned in the third and fourth paragraphs of this bill, wrongfully returned to the said General Assembly a report setting forth that the committee had “ agreed to recommend the adoption of a bill containing sixteen sections, with an entirely different title, and embracing divers matters and subjects not clearly expressed in its title, and not embraced within the pro* visions or subject of said Senate bill No. 102, nor pertinent to tlie matter referred to said committee; that the same was not read at length, as required by sect. 4 of art. 3 of the constitution, nor duly passed by both or either of the houses of the General Assembly, and is not, nor of right ought to be regarded, respected or enforced as a local or general law of this Commonwealth; that said act is local and special, being only applicable to and intended to be enforced in the city of Pittsburgh, and was illegally passed in disregard and violation of sects. 7 and 8 of art. 8 of the constitution.
That in passing said act “ Senate Bill No. 102” was so altered and amended on its passage as to entirely change its title and body and purpose, and the said pretended act, with an entirely different title, and containing thirteen sections, not one of which is of the same import, meaning or effect as the original bill, but entirely different and for other purposes, was substituted, contrary to art. 3 of the constitution; that this said act was thus passed for the purpose of increasing the emoluments of C. L. Magee, city treasurer, and indirectly extending his term of office indefinitely, in that it provides he “ shall, previous to the 1st day of August 1877, appoint a person, to be denominated collector of outstanding or delinquent taxes and water-rents,” who shall hold his office for a term of five years, and “ until his successor shall be duly appointed and qualified.” That said act is unconstitutional and void because it diminishes the rights and emoluments of plaintiff, city treasurer elect of the city of Pittsburgh, after his election to said office, by depriving him of the right to collect said taxes and water-rents and of the compensation therefor, contrary to sect. 13 of art. 3 of the constitution, and imposing upon him onerous duties without compensation.
The bill then prayed that the said Act of Assembly be declared unconstitutional and void; that Magee, the treasurer, be restrained and enjoined from appointing the collector provided for in said act, or doing any other matter or thing authorized thereby, and that the controller, finance committee, and said collector, if appointed, bo likewise enjoined from performing any duty in pursuance of said pretended law or appointment. The act in question made the following, among other provisions:
Sect. 2. The finance committee of the councils of the cities of the class aforesaid shall be, and are hereby directed, in lieu of any existing authority in relation thereto, to make and agree upon an estimate of the various sums of money which, in their discretion, will be required to defray all tbe various expenses necessary for conducting the various departments, whether legislative, executive or administrative (including schools, or boards of education, or poor boards), of the city government, which estimate shall be founded upon reports obtained from said departments; and also for paying the interest upon the city debt and the principal of such debt falling due; which amounts, when so established by said committee, shall be certified by them on or before the second Monday of January in each year, in detail, to the city councils, to be by them accepted or. modified as the aggregate expenses of the city; and said councils are hereby empowered and directed annually to cause a tax sufficient for all purposes to be levied and collected of the estates, real and personal, subject to taxation within such cities.
Sect. 3. The educational, school and poor departments shall be departments of the city government, and the amount set apart for educational, school and poor purposes shall be sacred to such purpose, and shall be paid out by the city treasurer only upon warrants drawn by the mayor and countersigned by the city controller. The educational, school and poor funds shall not be divested; warrants on said fund shall only be drawn upon requisitions being filed with the city controller by the proper educational, school or poor boards.
Sect. 7. That the city treasurer, in cities of the class aforesaid, shall, previous to the 1st day of August 1877, appoint a person to be denominated collector of outstanding or delinquent taxes and water-rents ; the person so appointed shall hold his office for the term of five years from the date of appointment, and until his successor shall be duly appointed and qualified. Such collector shall give bonds, to be approved by the finance committee of the city councils, in the sum of $100,000, conditioned for the faithful performance of the duties of his office.
Sect.. 8. All taxes and water-rents unpaid at the end of the month in which, by the terms of this act, the same are payable, shall be deemed delinquent, and it shall be the duty of the city treasurer to prepare a registry or list of all taxes unpaid of the first instalment of taxes hereinbefore provided, and place the same in the hands of such collector for collection, on or before the 15th day of April in each year. It shall be the duty of the city treasurer to prepare a registry or list of all delinquents in business tax and water-rents, and place the same in the hands of such collector for collection, on or before the 15th day of July in each year. It shall be the duty of the city treasurer to prepare a registry or list of all taxes unpaid of the last instalment of taxes hereinbefore provided, and place the same in the hands of such collector for collection, on or before the 15th of October in each year. Eor the year 1877 a list of all taxes and water-rents unpaid on the first day of August in said year, shall be prepared by the city treasurer and placed in the hands of such collector for collection. The compensation of such collector shall be ten per centum on the amount collected and paid into the city treasury, which said ten per centum shall be added to said delinquent taxes and water-rents as penalty for non-payment at the time herein prescribed; Provided, That out of said penalty shall be paid all cost of office rent, clerk hire and stationery.
Sect. 9. Upon the list aforesaid being furnished to such collector, he shall immediately thereafter proceed to collect all such delinquent taxes and water-rents, either out of the personal or real estate of such delinquent owner, wherever the same may be found, and for such purpose he shall be and is hereby invested with full authority to levy on and sell the personal property after the taxes or water-rents have become delinquent thirty days ; and the real estate of any owner where the taxes or water-rents remain unpaid for six months, may be sold by direction of such collector. * * * And, provided, That in all cases of sale for taxes or water-rents, the city controller is hereby authorized and directed to bid on the property a sum sufficient to pay the city’s lien for all taxes and water-rents due and unpaid under this act; and, in case of purchase,.the property shall be subject to redemption, and, in all such cases, neither the collector or the city shall be liable for the payment of the sheriff’s or prothonotary’s costs until the claim of the city and the said costs shall be realized out of the real estate so bought in and held for the use of the city. In all cases of sale, the collector filing the lien shall be entitled to the compensation authorized by this act.
Sect. 10. The said collector shall make returns, in duplicate, on or before the twentieth day of every month of his collections, under oath, to the city controller, and shall deposit one copy of said returns with the said city controller, and shall deposit one copy of said returns with the city treasurer, and the said collector shall, at the time of making his return, pay the amount of his collections to the city treasurer, and take duplicate receipts therefor, and shall deposit with the city controller one copy of such receipt.
The defendants jointly demurred to the bill, assigning among other causes therefor, that the proceedings of the Senate and House of Representatives could not be inquired into and adjudicated upon by the court, and that the bill did not contain any matter of equity whereon the court could ground any decree, or give the complainant any relief.
On the 1st of August 1877, Magee appointed Thomas II. Phelps the collector of delinquent taxes, as provided by the act, who thereupon entered upon the duties of his office.
The Central Board of Education of the city of Pittsburgh, on the 21st of September 1877, filed a bill in equity against said Phelps. This board was incorporated by virtue of an Act of Assembly, entitled “An Act consolidating the wards of the city of Pittsburgh for educational purposes,” approved the 9th day of February 1855, Pamph. L. 10, &c., and was continued in existence and clothed with additional powers, by an act with the same title, approved February 12th 1869, Pamph. L. 160, &c., under which acts, with a few immaterial modifications, it has continued to control the schools of the city until the present time.
By the provisions of the Act of 1865, the city of Pittsburgh was created an independent school district, and had complete control of the' schools of the city; with duty and power of maintaining a high school, and school of color, and to pay the teachers of the sub-districts. For these purposes they were required to levy a tax, to appoint a treasurer, and to “ appoint some suitable and competent person as collector of the school duplicate of each ward;” and all moneys collected were to be paid to the treasurer of the board, and disbursed by him, on warrants drawn by direction of the board.
Under this act the Central Board of Education was entirely distinct from, and had no connection with the city government.
The Act of February 12th 1869, contained substantially the same provisions, except that by the twentieth section, it was made the “ duty of the treasurer of the city of Pittsburgh for the time being, to receive and collect all school rates and taxes assessed by the central board, to whom he gave bond and accounted monthly. He was also authorized to appoint collectors of delinquent taxes in each ward. In all other respects the taxes were entirely subject to the control of the central board, who, by the twenty-first section, had the sole power to make exonerations.
The bill set forth the powers of the board under the above recited acts and further averred that said Phelps, having been appointed collector of delinquent taxes under the provisions of the Act of March 22d 1877, threatened to demand and receive from the tax-payers the school taxes due to said Central Board of Education;. that defendant is not responsible to said board for the money which will be collected by him and the recovery thereof cannot be enforced by law. The bill then alleged that the Act of 1877 was unconstitutional and void, on the same grounds set forth in the bill filed by Kilgore, and for the additional reason that it regulates the affairs of the school districts of the city of Pittsburgh in violation of art. 3, sect. 7, of the constitution, which provides that “the General Assembly shall not pass any local or special law regulating the affairs of cities, counties, * * * or school districts, or regulating the management of public schools, &c.;” and further, that said act amends the charter of the Central Board of Education in violation of the constitution, art. 3, sect. 7, which provides that the General Assembly shall not pass any local or special law “ creating corporations, or amending, renewing, or extending the charter thereof.”
To this -bill a demurrer was also filed on the same grounds, and that the decision of the question involved might be reached as soon as practicable, a decree pro forvia sustaining the demurrers was entered in each case by the court without argument.
From these decrees these appeals were taken.
Syllabus and headnotes are prepared by the reporter or publisher, not the court, and are not part of the opinion.
