City of Carlyle v. Nicolay

165 N.E. 211, 333 Ill. 562
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 20, 1929
DocketNo. 19364. Reversed and remanded.
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 165 N.E. 211 (City of Carlyle v. Nicolay) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Illinois Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Carlyle v. Nicolay, 165 N.E. 211, 333 Ill. 562 (Ill. 1929).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Dunn

delivered the opinion of the court:

This is an appeal from a judgment of the county court of Clinton county confirming a special assessment for the cost of construction of the local improvement of Livingston street, in the city of Carlyle. Numerous objections were filed by the owners of property assessed, and on August 11, 1928, all the objections were overruled and a judgment of confirmation of the assessment was rendered, from which the objectors have appealed.

Among other objections filed was one that the ordinance referred to in the petition was not adopted by the city council of the city of Carlyle and was therefore void. The supposed ordinance attached to the petition was introduced in evidence over the objection of the appellants, and purported to be an ordinance not of the city council but of the board of local improvements of the city of Carlyle. As set forth in the abstract it begins with the words, “Be it ordained by the board of local improvements of the city of Carlyle, Illinois, that a local improvement be, and the same is hereby originated to be made by special assessment within the city of Carlyle, State of Illinois.” A description of the proposed improvement follows. Section 2 reads: “That the recommendation of the board of local improvements of the city of Carlyle, Illinois, providing for said improvement, together with the estimate of costs thereof, made by the president of said board, both hereto attached, be and the same are hereby approved.” Section 3 provides that the whole cost of the improvement, including the sum of $2422.29 as costs of engineer’s services connected with the improvement and $4844.58 as court costs and necessary lawful expenses, exclusive of the costs of engineering services, and the cost of making, levying and collecting the assessment, be paid for by special assessment upon property benefited, to the amount that the property may be legally assessed therefor. The fourth and fifth sections provide for the division of the assessment into ten installments and the issue of bonds payable out of such installments. Section 6 directs the mayor of the city to file a petition in the city’s name in the county court of Clinton county praying that steps may be taken to levy a special assessment for the improvement in accordance with the provisions of the ordinance and the laws of the State. The abstract shows no certificate attached to the ordinance, but at the bottom appears the following:

“Passed at a regularly called and held meeting of the city council of the city of Carlyle, this 1st day of June, A. D. 1928, for the specific purpose of considering this ordinance and other matters. Voting yea, Henry C. Cavin, John D. Erlinger, John L. Moran; voting nay, J. H. Donnewald, James J. Gray, John L. Higgins. Tie vote. Mayor Theo. H. Gross voted yes. Carried.
J. Arch Means, City Clerk.”

Objection was made to the introduction of the supposed ordinance on the ground “that the ordinance is not the ordinance of the city council of the city of Carlyle, and on the further ground that the enacting portion of the ordinance is not proper, and on the further ground that it purports to have been passed by a tie vote, with the mayor casting the vote.”

It is ordinarily not necessary to prove the ordinance in a special assessment proceeding. The statute requires a copy of the ordinance, certified by the clerk under the corporate seal, to be filed with or attached to the petition. The ordinance so attached to or filed with the petition becomes a part of the petition and therefore a part of the record. (City of Marengo v. Bichler, 245 Ill. 47; Lundberg v. City of Chicago, 183 id. 572; Boss v. City of Chicago, 184 id. 436.) In this case, however, the objections put in issue the passage of the ordinance by the city council, and it was therefore necessary to prove it. The appellee offered in evidence the petition and the exhibits attached, including the ordinance, and the appellants specifically objected to the ordinance on the ground that it “is not the ordinance of the city council of the city of Carlyle, and on the further ground that the enacting portion of the ordinance is not proper, and on the further ground that it purports to have been passed by a tie vote, with the mayor casting the vote.” The objections made, based solely upon the specific grounds stated, waived all objections based on other facts not mentioned. Terre Haute and Indianapolis Railroad Co. v. Voelker, 129 Ill. 540; Village of Prairie du Rocher v. Milling Co. 248 id. 57.

Section 2 of article 5 of the Cities and Villages act prescribes that the style of the ordinances in cities shall be, “Be it ordained by the city council of.............” The ordinance relied on in this case contains no such expression of the authority by which it is enacted. It does not profess on its face to be enacted by the authority of the city council of the city of Carlyle but purports to be ordained by the board of local improvements of the city of Carlyle. The board of local improvements has no authority to make local improvements by special assessment, special taxation or otherwise, or to adopt an ordinance for such purpose. Its function is to do in the first instance certain preliminary work, mainly in ascertaining facts necessary for the council to know before determining whether or not to provide for the making of an improvement and in recommending to the council the passage of an ordinance for that purpose, (Givins v. City of Chicago, 188 Ill. 348,) and it has also important duties in regard to the making of contracts for the construction of such improvements and the performance of such contracts. (Village of Bellwood, v. Galt, 321 Ill. 504.) While, in the absence of a resolution of the board of local improvements prescribing the nature, locality and description of the improvement and providing whether the same shall be made by special assessment or special taxation of contiguous property and presented to the city council together with a recommendation of the improvement signed by a majority of the board of local improvements, the city council would have been without authority to pass the ordinance for this improvement, yet these things, though essential, were all merely preliminary to the passage of the ordinance by the city council. An ordinance duly adopted by the city council lies at the foundation of every special assessment proceeding. The board of local improvements is without any authority to adopt such an ordinance. It can only recommend, and the city council, alone, can adopt, such an ordinance. It is essential for the city, in order to obtain a judgment of confirmation, to. aver and prove that an ordinance authorizing the improvement had been passed by the city council. Lindsay v. City of Chicago, 115 Ill. 120.

It is said in Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Co. v. City of Chicago, 173 Ill. 91, that “section 2 of article 5 of the City and Village act provides that ‘the style of the ordinances in cities shall be: Be it ordained by the city council,’ etc.

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Bluebook (online)
165 N.E. 211, 333 Ill. 562, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-carlyle-v-nicolay-ill-1929.