Kimball v. Hastings Tract Reclamation District No. 2060

THOMPSON, J. This is an appeal from a writ of mandsimus issued by the Superior Court of Solano County, directing the treasurer of a reclamation district to distribute a portion of a special fund collected pursuant to a levy assessed for the special purpose of paying particular matured bonds and the accrued interest thereon, in settlement of future obligations of the district, other than the ones for which the call was made.

The appellant is a reclamation district which was organized under the laws of California, February 15, 1922. It comprises 7,396.77 acres of land in Solano County. Pursuant to section 3480 of the Political Code, as the statute then existed, the district authorized the issuance of bonds [688]of the aggregate par value of $500,000, all of which were ultimately sold. These bonds bear a uniform rate of six per cent interest, payable semiannually. The bonds matured serially in blocks from July 1, 1926, to July 1, 1942. All of the bonds which matured prior to July 1, 1932, aggre: gating the par value of $100,000, together with accrued interest thereon, were fully paid.

July 1, 1933, bonds aggregating the sum of $40,000 matured. There was also due upon the matured bonds and upon other unmatured bonds the additional sum of $12,000 interest. This aggregate sum of $52,000 was due and unpaid. There was then no money in the treasury of the reclamation district with which to pay these obligations. Pursuant to section 3480 of the Political Code, the defendant George Weniger, as treasurer of Solano County, estimated that the amount of money which was necessary to be raised by assessment upon the property of the Hastings Tract Reclamation District No. 2060, to pay these outstanding obligations, was the sum of $52,000, to which amount he added the further sum of $7,800 “to cover possible delinquencies”. This made an aggregate estimate of $59,800, for the collection of which a levy was duly issued pursuant to law April 20, 1933. Upon this call there was collected from three land owners upon fifteen separate assessed tracts of land the aggregate sum of $49,582.04. The remaining sum of $10,217.96, assessed against the respective properties in said district belonging to other land owners, was not paid, and thereupon became delinquent.

The money thus collected and paid into the county treasury under the special call therefor was prorated as follows: To the payment of the principal on bonds due July 1, 1933, the sum of $33,662.72; to the payment of interest on bonds which was due at that time the sum of $11,442.02'. This left an undistributed balance of the assessment fund amounting to the sum of $4,477.30. There is no dispute regarding the foregoing facts.