Titusville v. Gahan
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Appeal, No. 143, April T., 1907, by plaintiff, from judgment of C. P. Crawford Co., Sept. T. 1900, No. 20, for defendant on case stated in suit of Titusville v. John Gahan. Case stated to determine the validity of a license tax on theaters and billposters. From the case stated it appeared that the defendant was the owner of a theater or opera house in the city of Titusville, which was a city of the third class.
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Appeal, No. 143, April T., 1907, by plaintiff, from judgment of C. P. Crawford Co., Sept. T. 1900, No. 20, for defendant on case stated in suit of Titusville v. John Gahan. Case stated to determine the validity of a license tax on theaters and billposters. From the case stated it appeared that the defendant was the owner of a theater or opera house in the city of Titusville, which was a city of the third class. For the years 1896,1897, 1898 and 1899, licensed taxes were leved upon defendant both as the owner of the theater and as billposter under an ordinance entitled as follows : “ An…
1Opinion of the Court
Opinion bt
Rice, P. J.,
If such a charge as that in question here is in reality an annual tax, and is imposed for revenue only, the municipality must show some express legislative authority to impose it. The naming of certain occupations in a statue delegating power to levy and collect, for general revenue purposes, an annual license tax on them precludes levying a tax for those purposes upon those not named, the rule being expressio unius est exclusio alterius. It is not claimed by appellant’s counsel (and, if the claim were made, it could not be sustained) that either thé act of 1874, or the…
2Cases cited13 opinions
- Brennan v. TitusvilleSupreme Court of the United States · 1894
- Kittanning Borough v. Kittanning Consolidated Natural Gas Co.Superior Court of Pennsylvania · 1904
- Oil City v. Oil City Trust Co.Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1892
- Johnson v. PhiladelphiaSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1869
- Lansdowne Borough v. Springfield Water Co.Superior Court of Pennsylvania · 1901
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