Tacoma Taxpayer Victory Forces City Refund
A landmark court ruling forces the City of Tacoma to refund thousands of dollars in invalid tax titles.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Judge Snell has rendered an opinion which compels the city to return quite a sum of money to purchasers of tax titles from the city. The suit was brought by Royal A. Gove to recover money paid to the city on tax title sales in 1893 and 1894. The purchasers claimed they never acquired title to their property. In rendering his opinion, Judge Snell says that he is satisfied that the certificate of delinquency issued in the case is void, for the reason that a fee of $1 was included for issuing the same. The city of Tacoma stands to lose from $25,000 to $30,000 in the shape of refunds.
“If the clerk, at his own caprice could charge $1 against one man's property, the limitation of any property of any citizen would be limited only by his own caprice.”
Tax assessment transparency and local government overreach are perennial civic issues. This 1903 case highlights how even small, arbitrary fees can lead to massive legal liabilities for municipalities.
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