## Facts

- The Kansas legislature enacted a law limiting tax levies used to fund public education to no more than 2% of the value of taxable property “in each district.”
- A Union School District and a Graded School District operated with identical geographic boundaries, covering the same taxable property.
- The school boards for each district separately levied a 2% property tax on property within the shared territory.
- The combined effect of the two levies was a total 4% school tax on the same parcels.
- Property owners challenged the collection of both levies, arguing the districts had to share the statute’s 2% maximum rather than each imposing 2%.
- The trial court ruled for the school districts, allowing collection of the levies as imposed.
- The property owners appealed to the Kansas Supreme Court, seeking injunctive relief against collection of the allegedly excessive tax.
- The reported caption is *Marion & McPherson Railway Co. v. Alexander*, indicating the railroad company was a named party in the appellate posture, with “Alexander” as the opposing party (the accessible summary does not identify Alexander’s role).

## Issues

1. Does a statute limiting school-related tax levies to 2% of taxable property “in each district” allow two districts with identical boundaries to each levy 2%, resulting in a combined 4% tax on the same property?
2. May taxpayers obtain an injunction to stop collection of school taxes alleged to exceed the statutory maximum?

## Decision

- The trial court entered judgment in favor of the school districts, permitting collection of the taxes as levied (a combined 4% on the shared tax base).
- The property owners appealed to the Kansas Supreme Court seeking an injunction against collection of the challenged portion of the tax.
- The publicly accessible secondary material describing this case does not provide the Kansas Supreme Court’s final disposition or reasoning.

## Legal Principles

- The case turns on statutory interpretation of a rate cap phrased as applying “in each district,” where two school entities impose levies on the same property within identical boundaries.
- The case also presents the remedial question whether equity may restrain collection of an allegedly unauthorized tax by injunction, as opposed to requiring payment and later recovery through other procedures.
- In tax disputes of this kind, the outcome commonly depends on (a) how the taxing unit “district” is defined for purposes of the cap, and (b) whether the legislature meant the limit to operate separately for each taxing entity or as a single ceiling on the burden borne by the same property.

## Conclusion

*Marion & McPherson Railway Co. v. Alexander*, 64 P. 978 (1901), arises from a challenge to overlapping school-district levies in Kansas after two coextensive districts each imposed a 2% property tax under a statute limiting education-related levies to 2% “in each district.” The trial court allowed both levies, and the property owners appealed to the Kansas Supreme Court seeking to enjoin collection on the ground that the statute required the districts to share the maximum rate rather than stack it.


Marion & McPherson Railway Co. v. Alexander, 64 P. 978 (1901)