Zubke v. Melrose Township

Summary

The Supreme Court of South Dakota considered whether Melrose Township lawfully reconsidered and restored a tax levy at a special meeting after reducing it at its annual meeting. The court held that the township could use the alternative reconsideration procedure under SDCL 8-3-10, that the special-meeting notice was sufficient, and that certification by October 1 was permitted when reconsideration made the earlier certification deadline impracticable. The circuit court's dismissal was affirmed.

Holdings

1. SDCL 8-3-10 permits reconsideration after the one-hour period when the motion to reconsider is sustained by a number of voters equal to a majority of all names entered on the poll list up to the time of the motion. Because the township followed that alternative method, the reconsideration was timely.
2. SDCL 8-3-2(8) and SDCL 8-3-10 authorized the township to reconsider the tax levy at a subsequent special meeting because the levy had initially been set at the annual meeting. The special-meeting notice stating that its purpose was reconsideration of the tax motion was sufficient to permit a change in the levy.
3. The April 11 certification was timely under SDCL 10-12-7 because the October 1 deadline applies when a levy is reconsidered under SDCL 8-3-10 and the ten-day deadline following the last Tuesday in March cannot be met.

Questions Presented

1. Whether SDCL 8-3-10 permitted Melrose Township to reconsider its tax-levy vote at a subsequent special meeting rather than within one hour of the original vote.
2. Whether SDCL 8-3-2(8) and SDCL 8-3-5 prohibited reconsideration and restoration of the tax levy at a special meeting or rendered the meeting notice insufficient.
3. Whether the township's April 11, 2006 certification of the reconsidered levy was untimely under SDCL 10-12-26 despite the October 1 certification deadline in SDCL 10-12-7.

Disposition

affirmed