John Calvin Manor v. James P. Aylward

Defendants-appellants are the collector of revenue and the assessor of Jackson County, Missouri. They appeal from a judgment
entered in favor of plaintiff-respondent, a property owner, which judgment permanently enjoined defendants from collecting
or attempting to collect real estate taxes which were based upon an increase in the assessed valuation of plaintiff's property
from $500 to $225,500 and resulted in a tax bill in the sum of $15,536.95 for the year 1970. The appeal involves the construction
of sections 137.180 and 139.031, RSMo 1969, which are revenue laws of Missouri. The court has jurisdiction. Art. V, sec. 3,
Mo. Const. 1945, as amended. The only fact question in the circuit court was whether or not plaintiff had received notice pursuant to sec. 137.180 that
defendant-assessor had raised the valuation of the property. The trial court found that the assessor did not give plaintiff
the notice of increase as required by sec. 137.180 and that plaintiff did not otherwise learn of the increase until plaintiff
received its tax statement from the collector in December 1970 which was less than thirty days prior to the date of delinquency
(January 1, 1971), as to payment without penalties. That factual finding is not contested here.