OCR Text |
Show IT LED TOMERUYWAH. fiiram Johnson Opens Fire on tbe Oity Ocunoil and Seeks to Annul the 20 Per Cent Reduction. DISCRIMINATING! AND UNFAIR. A Writ of Certiorari Issues and the Clerk Ordered to Desist From Further Proceedings in tbe Premises. now refuse, to reconsider or rescind the resolution aforesaid. That in th premises it anted entirely without jurisdiction and that the said resolution and order was aud is void, and your petitioner shows that notwithstanding notwith-standing tho said J. F. Jack, city re-' oorder as aforesaid, has noted upon the said assessment roll and reduction upon all the real property witbin the corporate corpor-ate limits of said city, returned upon said roll as required by said order, and is about to certify the same, and unless stayed by an order of the court, will certify the same to the assessor and collector col-lector aforesaid, as the full, complete and equalized assessment roll of said And your petitioner shows to the court that he owns no real estate within the corporate limits of said city, and was assessed only upon personal property; prop-erty; that his personal property was assessed as-sessed at its full, fair cash taluation; that all of the property, real and personal, per-sonal, within the corporate limits of said city, returned in said assessment roll as the tame was revised, corrected and equalized by the city council and mayor an aforesaid, was and is assessed t the fair cash valuation thereof; that the change or reduction in the assessed valuation of all the real property in said city, as contemplated by the resolution reso-lution aforesaid, is discriminating, uu fair and inequitable, and if carried into ertert. would make the taxation of prop ! erty within said city for the current year not uniform, that there are a number of other persons, taxpayers of said municipality, who are the owners only of personal property which has been assessed, as equalized by the said mayor and council sitting as a board of equalization, at the full cash value thereof; that the order of the said city council, if enforced by the assessor and collector, and acquiesced in by the tax-pavers tax-pavers benefitted thereby, will result re-sult in reducing the valuation of all the real property within the corporate limits of said city to 8i per cent of the true cash value, and in all about I-', -tlOO,00;i, thereby discriminating against those taxpayers whojire assessed solely upon personality and adding to their burdens; that petitioner has a right, in common with all others aforesaid, similarly sim-ilarly situated, to have a fair, just and uniform assessment and equalization of values for taxable purposes, and personally per-sonally has a beneficial interest in preventing pre-venting a discrimination in the values of real and personal property, and in the equalizingof the burdens of taxation; that there is no appeal or other plain, speedy or adequate remedy. Wherefore Where-fore your petitioner prays that a writ of certiorari be issued, directed to the mayor and the city council of Salt Lake City, and J. F. .lack, the recorder of said city, commanding them to certify cer-tify fully to the court, at a time aud place in said writ to be apecified. a transcript of the record of said city council made on or about September ltith, and purporting to reduce the assessed valuations of ail tbe real property within the corporate limits of said city 20 per centum, that the same may be reviewed by this court; in the meantime the said council and the said recorder be required to desist from further proceedings in the premises, and particularly to refrain from certifying certi-fying the assessment roll for the current cur-rent year to the assessor and collector of said city, and that upon the hearing, judgment be given annulling the resolution reso-lution aud proceedings heretofore mentioned men-tioned aud set out and the whole thereof; there-of; and that plaintilT recover his costs in this Initial: incurred. The order for a writ as prayed was issued by Judge Anderson and service was had on tho recorder last night. The hearing will take place on Friday morning next. Under the title of Hiram Johnson' vg The Mayor etc., an action was instituted institu-ted in the district court last night to omrel the city council, under a writ of toiUurnri, to bring in a transcript of proceedings under which the assessed faluations of real property were reduced re-duced ','() per cent and further asking that the recorder be required to desist Irom further proceedings in the premi-e, premi-e, further that judgment be given annulling the resolution under which tbe reduction was ordered. The petition, which was launched through C. S. Varian, sets up the fol-lcwing: fol-lcwing: That heretofore and prior to the pro feedings hereinafter stated, the assessor and collector for said city, in such behalf be-half duly commisi oned and authorized during and for the year I MM, as by law ad ordinance of said city required, regularly and lawfully assessed all the .. ,nporty, real and personal, subject to taxation, situate within the corporate limits of said city as near as may be in accordance with the actual cash valuation valua-tion thereof, and the city council of said city, in accordance with law and the rdinances thereof, duly levied the necessary nec-essary municipal tax on the assessed value of all taxable real and personal property within said city authorized by law and required for municipal purposes. purpo-ses. That thereafter the annual assessment as-sessment roll was returned by the said aese.-sor aud collector to the said city couucil, as provided by law, and thereupon there-upon the city council aforesaid did fix a day for hearing objections thereto, and gave proper notice thereof. That afterwards upon the day so fixed, to wit: the 21st day of August. A. I. 181)1, the said city council, with the mayor of said city presiding, met and organized as a board of equalization, and thereafter from time to tune met and adjourned and met again as such board of equalization for the purpose of equalizing and correcting such assessment assess-ment roll. That during the sessions of said city council sitting uu a board of equalization equaliza-tion aforesaid, divers and numbers of taxpayers in said city appeared before uch board and were heard in their individual in-dividual behalf upon complaints mads concerning the assessed valuations by i the said assessor and collector, of real j and personal property, and in such cun-j cun-j nection the said board received and heard evidence and thereupon deter-i deter-i mined all tbe cases in which complaints were made, and changed and corrected each and every valuation so coinplaiued of as aforesaid in accordance with the facts and as justice required. That it added to such assessed valuation valua-tion in some casus and reduced the lame in others, both as to real and personal per-sonal property, and directed the recorder re-corder of tho city to note such corrections correc-tions and changes upon the said assess- nient roll, which was done, aud there-I there-I iupon the entire assessment roll ot all taxable property, real and personal, f- Iwithin the corporate limits of said city, ' Was fully, fairly and uniformly equalized equal-ized and made to represent the fair , rash valuation of all said proporty so returned upon said assessment roll, i And vour petitioner shows to the tourt; That thereupon the power of aaid Tiayor and city council, sitting as a Joard of equiliation, or otherwise, was xhausted and nothing further was au-fiorized au-fiorized in the premises, save the cer-I cer-I tication of the said assessment roll so 'dualized as aforesaid to the assessor I 1 collector of said city. &hat. notwithstanding, on the 10th iy of September, A. 1). 18111, the snid 1 ty council, with the mayor presiding, A ithout complaint being made and Mvituout evidence, passed and adopted, land caused to be spread upon it ree-fcirdg ree-fcirdg the following resolution: W "Masnlectl. Tbat the assessment roll be corrected and revised by reducing the valuation of all real property and Improvements to 80 per centum of the valuation as assessed, except on such freal estate and improvements as have before been or may hereafter be, reduced re-duced in value by this board for "pecial reasons, the valuation of which 'io be reduced to 80 per centum of the corrected valuation thereof; and that it be the sense of this board and city iouncil to instruct the proper otMcials o refund to all tax payers who have eretofore paid their taxes '.'0 per jntum of the taxes paid by them on Fal property and improvements. That the said city council, with tho layor aforesaid, has adjourned its tt'ings as a board of equaliation foresaid, and has refused, and does. 4 1 |