Smith v. Baker County

The constitution limits the purposes for which a county may levy taxes. Civil Code (1910), § 6562. Taxation is the normal and ordinary source of income of counties. The act of 1887, which undertakes to place upon counties the duty of paying for services of a surveyor appointed by the Governor to run disputed county lines (Civil Code (1910), §§ 472, 478), was passed with reference to the normal condition of counties, and contem*169plated payment from normal sources, and not merely from accidental pecuniary windfalls. It dealt with all counties which might have disputed lines, not merely with those…