Summary
In Hughes v. Board of Revision, 143 Ohio St. 559, the Supreme Court of Ohio considered the question whether there was authority to assess for taxation property which stood in the name of appellant.
Summary of this case from State, ex Rel. Sandbach, v. RoudebushOpinion
No. 29914
Decided July 12, 1944.
Supreme Court — Dismissal — Moot question — Appeal from Board of Tax Appeals — Taxation — Renewable ninety-nine-year lease from Miami University — Section 5330, General Code — Judicial notice taken of record in case previously before Supreme Court.
APPEAL from the Board of Tax Appeals.
On August 1, 1941, Mary M. Hughes filed a complaint with the Board of Revision of Butler county to remove her name from the tax duplicate of that county and on August 18, 1941, her claim was rejected by that board.
She perfected an appeal to the Board of Tax Appeals of the Department of Taxation of Ohio. Appellee moved to dismiss the appeal upon the ground that appellant was not the owner of the property which formed the basis of the complaint. The board overruled the motion to dismiss, finding that the property was sold at sheriff's sale on May 22, 1941, in an action to foreclose a tax lien; that the sale was not confirmed until December 2, 1941; and that the property was in appellant's name as of August 1, 1941, the day the complaint was filed with the board of revision.
The Board of Tax Appeals, having found that the Court of Appeals held in Wendel, Treas., v. Hughes, 69 Ohio App. 554, 42 N.E.2d 929, appeal dismissed, 139 Ohio St. 632, 41 N.E.2d 702, that "Section 5330, General Code, whereby school land leased by a university shall be considered for all purposes of taxation as the property of the lessees, and shall be assessed in their names, is not unconstitutional," dismissed the appeal on the ground that the auditor of Butler county had, under such section, properly assessed the property against the appellant.
The cause is before this court on appeal from the Board of Tax Appeals.
Miss Mary M. Hughes, in propria persona, for appellant.
Mr. Paul A. Baden, prosecuting attorney, for appellee.
This court will take judicial notice of the record in a case previously before it involving the same subject matter and party. State, ex rel. Galloway, v. Industrial Commission, 115 Ohio St. 490, 154 N.E. 736.
The principal question involved in this appeal is whether there was authority to assess for taxation property which stood in the name of appellant. That question was determined by this court in Wendel, Treas., v. Hughes, 139 Ohio St. 632, 41 N.E.2d 702. See, also, the following cases involving the questions as stated: Wendel, Treas., v. Hughes, 137 Ohio St. 610, 31 N.E.2d 855 (overruling motion to make a party defendant, not a final order); State, ex rel. Hughes, v. Cramer, Judge, 138 Ohio St. 267, 34 N.E.2d 772 (Court of Common Pleas not prohibited from enforcing default judgments and proceeding with an alias order of sale); Wendel, Treas., v. Hughes, 138 Ohio St. 628, 37 N.E.2d 544 (sustaining dismissal of petition to set aside default judgment); State, ex rel. Mohr, v. Judges, 141 Ohio St. 608, 49 N.E.2d 681 (affirming judgment of Court of Appeals in denying writ of mandamus to compel Common Pleas Court to issue an order of contempt on application of another leaseholder of Miami University).
Furthermore, at a hearing on June 3, 1942, before an examiner of the Board of Tax Appeals, counsel entered into a stipulation of facts in which it is recited that on December 2, 1941, a sale of the property in two tracts by the sheriff was confirmed; that deeds to the purchasers were ordered; and that on December 22, 1941, the court ordered a distribution of the proceeds of the sale.
The validity of the confirmation of the sale is not before this court in the present appeal. It appearing from the record before the court in the present proceeding that title is no longer in appellant, only a moot question is presented. This court is not required to answer moot questions or declare principles of law which cannot affect the matter at issue in a case before it. Travis v. Public Utilities Commission, 123 Ohio St. 355, 175 N.E. 586; Miner v. Witt, City Clerk, 82 Ohio St. 237, 92 N.E. 21.
The appeal will be dismissed.
Appeal dismissed.
WEYGANDT, C.J., MATTHIAS, HART, ZIMMERMAN, WILLIAMS and TURNER, JJ., concur.
BELL, J., dissents.