Bleck v. Monona Village

148 N.W.2d 708, 34 Wis. 2d 191, 1967 Wisc. LEXIS 1079
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 28, 1967
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 148 N.W.2d 708 (Bleck v. Monona Village) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bleck v. Monona Village, 148 N.W.2d 708, 34 Wis. 2d 191, 1967 Wisc. LEXIS 1079 (Wis. 1967).

Opinions

Hanley, J.

The following basic issue is presented:

May a village incorporate as a fourth-class city pursuant to its own plan of incorporation and organization and not be governed by state law in such creation and organization ?

Sec. 1 of the ordinance reads:

“Section l: Exercise Op Home Rule Authority. The Village of Monona, Wisconsin, hereby elects pursuant to Section 3, Article XI, Wisconsin Constitution, and Section 66.01, Wis. Stats., not to be governed by Sections 61.189, 62.08, 62.09 (1), 62.09 (8) (c), and 62.14, Wis. Stats., insofar as said sections conflict with this Charter Ordinance.”

It apparently is the theory of the appellant that under home rule it may ignore state law in the transformation from a village to a fourth-class city.

In determining the issue we must first consider the effect of home rule in Wisconsin on the incorporation of municipalities. The incorporating of any city shall be uniform as provided by secs. 31 and 32, art. IV, Const., which read as follows:

“Special and private laws prohibited. Section 31. The legislature is prohibited from enacting any special or private laws in the following cases:
[195]*195“9th. For incorporating any city, town or village, or to amend the charter thereof.”
“General laws on enumerated subjects. Section 32. The legislature shall provide general laws for the transaction of any business that may be prohibited by section thirty-one of this article, and all such laws shall be uniform in their operation throughout the state.”

Sec. 31, sub. 9, art. IV, Const. (1892), preceded the 1924 adoption of the home-rule amendment (sec. 3, art. XI, Const.) and the 1925 Enabling Act for said amendment (sec. 66.01, Stats.).

Sec. 3, art. XI, Const., provides for certain limitations to municipal home rule.

“Cities and villages organized pursuant to state law are hereby empowered, to determine their local affairs and government, subject only to this constitution and to such enactments of the legislature of state-wide concern as shall with uniformity affect every city or every village. The method of such determination shall be prescribed by the legislature. . . .”

The first part of sec. 3, art. XI, Const., makes it clear that cities must be organized pursuant to state law. The home-rule amendment did not abrogate the necessity of villages for following state law before a valid incorporation could occur. Home rule is only applicable once a city is created pursuant to state law. The home-rule amendment could have clearly and completely changed the uniformity requirements of sec. 31, sub. 9, and sec. 32, art. IV, Const., if such a change were desired. The village of Monona by application of home rule has attempted to abrogate the procedure provided by the legislature for villages becoming cities in sec. 61.189, Stats., and certain of the general charter laws of ch. 62.

Use of the village home-rule powers for the incorporation of a city constitutes incorporation by a special charter of the village.

[196]*196The power to create cities is a sovereign power resting solely with the state. State ex rel. Mueller v. Thompson (1912), 149 Wis. 488, 137 N. W. 20; State ex rel. Sleeman v. Baxter (1928), 195 Wis. 437, 219 N. W. 858; and Barth v. Shorewood (1938), 229 Wis. 151, 282 N. W. 89.

In the Mueller Case, supra, the court in considering the constitutionality of a home-rule act prior to the adoption of the home-rule amendment held at pages 496 and 497:

“So while, if the question were open as to whether the legislature can properly delegate power to make or change a city charter, in the sense of determining the form of government and the fundamentals, in short, except by the option law method, it would have to be answered in the negative, it should be regarded as thus ruled by State ex rel. Boycott v. Mayor, etc., supra, and subsequent cases.
“The foregoing is reinforced by the plain intent of the constitution that city charters shall be uniform, throughout the state, as nearly as practicable. Before subd. 9 of sec. 31, art. IV, was adopted the general charter law was enacted. The scheme of it was to classify existing cities for general legislation and to afford opportunity, without legislative interference, to adopt an entire charter, or any portion thereof covering any particular subject, in place of an existing special charter or portion thereof. The general law and the new subdivision of sec. 31, art. IV, were companion laws to effect uniformity in city charters. The enactment in question is plainly in violation thereof. Under it facilities for changes in city charters, in number, character, and frequency, regardless of uniformity, would be immeasurably greater than under the system prior to 1891.”

We do not believe that the home-rule amendment nullified the law revealed in the above quotation, nor do we believe that the home-rule amendment made such a drastic change by implication. It was not the purpose and intent of the home-rule amendment to vitiate the uniformity requirements of the constitution and to divest the legisla[197]*197ture of its constitutional responsibility to create municipal corporations.

Two cases, decided after the home-rule amendment, clearly support this position:

In State ex rel. Sleeman v. Baxter, supra, at pages 445 and 446, this court said:

“The recognized purpose of this amendment was to confer upon cities and villages a measure of self-government not theretofore possessed. ... On the other hand, it is clear that legislative action in the matter of organization and government of cities and villages is not only contemplated but imperative. The power granted is to ‘cities and villages organized pursuant to state law.’ This plainly recognizes the existence of state legislation under which cities and villages may be organized. ... It is plain, therefore, that the constitutional provision not only contemplates legislation authorizing the organization of cities and villages, but it authorizes legislation vesting them with powers appropriate and necessary for the purposes of their organization. . . . Neither is there any purpose apparent from the provision that legislation now existing marks the limit of the power of the legislature over the subject, so that the present method of bringing cities and villages into existence must endure throughout the years after times and conditions have changed and existing provisions have become archaic and inappropriate to the changed conditions, or until changed by constitutional amendment. Legislative power upon this as well as all other subjects still rests with the legislature, and there is no express limitation placed upon the exercise of that power. . . .”

From the foregoing it appears home rule is available to municipal corporations organized pursuant to state law or pursuant to the rules established by the legislature.

This court in the Barth Case, supra, in considering the uniformity requirements of the constitution and the home-rule amendment, said on page 157:

[198]*198“These provisions clearly empower the legislature to create municipal corporations.

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Bleck v. Monona Village
148 N.W.2d 708 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1967)

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Bluebook (online)
148 N.W.2d 708, 34 Wis. 2d 191, 1967 Wisc. LEXIS 1079, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bleck-v-monona-village-wis-1967.