City of Jefferson v. Buescher

524 S.W.3d 132, 2017 WL 1650041, 2017 Mo. App. LEXIS 373
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 2, 2017
DocketWD 79822
StatusPublished

This text of 524 S.W.3d 132 (City of Jefferson v. Buescher) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Jefferson v. Buescher, 524 S.W.3d 132, 2017 WL 1650041, 2017 Mo. App. LEXIS 373 (Mo. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

Lisa White Hardwick, Judge

Barbara J. Buescher appeals from the circuit court’s judgment finding that she owed Jefferson City (“City”) $24,785.33 for nuisance abatement actions that the City took with regard to her properties. She argues that the City does not meet the statutory requirements to collect nuisance abatement fees; the City has no statutory authority to enact ordinances for the abatement of conditions on property; the City’s ordinances providing for abatement of nuisances are void because they do not require a hearing prior to the abatement; and the City’s ordinances concerning weed and trash control are void because they do not provide for an automatic hearing. For reasons explained herein, we affirm.

Factual and Procedural History

Buescher is the owner of several properties in the City. In 2014 and 2015, the City took actions to abate nuisances on her properties, including boarding up windows and doors to secure the buildings, cutting and trimming the yards, and removing weeds and debris. After the City took these actions, the City’s code enforcement division certified the costs of each action to the city clerk, who then issued a special tax bill against Buescher for each amount.

When Buescher failed to pay the special tax bills assessed against her, the City [133]*133filed a petition^ The petition asserted 21 counts1 of Buescher’s failing to pay the costs of abatement actions. During a bench trial on the petition, the City offered into evidence Chapter 21 of the City Code, which contained the City’s nuisance ordinances. The City also offéred the testimony of the city clerk and the certification of costs and special tax bills for each of the abatement actions for which it was seeking payment. Buescher did not offer any evidence. Following the trial, the court entered judgment in favor of the City and found that Buescher was indebted to the City for $24,785.33. Buescher appeals.

Standard op Review

In this bench-tried case, wé will affirm the circuit court’s judgment unless there is no substantial evidence to support it, it is against the weight of the evidence, or it erroneously declares or applies the law. Murphy v. Carron, 536 S.W.2d 30, 32 (Mo. banc 1976). We view all of evidence and inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to the judgment, disregarding any contrary evidence and inferences. Bolt v. Giordano, 310 S.W.3d 237, 242 (Mo. App. 2010). When, as in this case, neither party has requested that the court enter findings of fact or conclusions of law, we assume that the court resolved all factual issues in accordance with the result. Id. We review questions of law, which include the interpretation of municipal ordinances and the determination of whether they conflict with state law, de novo. City of St. Peters v. Roeder, 466 S.W.3d 538, 543 (Mo. banc 2015).

Analysis

In Point I, Buescher contends the circuit court erred in granting judgment in favor of the City because the requirements of Section 67.451, RSMo Cum. Supp. 2013,2 had not been met. Section 67.451 provides, in pertinent part, “Any city'in which voters have approved fees to recover costs associated with enforcement of municipal housing, property maintenance, or nuisance ordinances may issue a special tax bill against the property where such ordinance violations existed.” Buescher argues that, pursuant to this language, before a city can issue a special tax bill to recover the costs of nuisance abatement, the voters must approve the recovery of such costs. Buescher asserts that the City did not obtain voter approval and, therefore, has no authority to recover abatement costs by a special tax bill.

We need not decide whéther the City was required to obtain voter approval because, even if we presume that it was, Buescher presented no evidence that the City did not obtain voter approval. As the party challenging the validity of the City’s ordinance allowing .it to assess and recover abatement costs by issuing a special tax bill, Buescher had the burden of proving the ordinance was invalid because no election was held. “An ordinance enacted pursuant to the valid.police power of a municipality is presumed valid, and. the party challenging the ordinance bears the burden of proving its invalidity.” Bezayiff v. City of St. Louis, 963 S.W.2d 225, 229 (Mo. App. 1997). Indeed, “[t]he burden is on the party contesting the ordinance to negate every conceivable basis which 'might support it.” Id. Buescher did not offer any [134]*134evidence at trial on this issue and, in fact, did not even mention the issue during the trial. Accordingly, the circuit court did not err in denying Buescher’s challenge to the validity of the ordinance on this basis. Point I is denied.

In Point II, Buescher contends the circuit court erred in entering judgment against her on the 13 counts that sought recovery for the cost of boarding up windows and doors to secure the buildings on her properties. She argues, that the City has no authority to enact ordinances- to abate these conditions, because Section 67.398.2 provides, “The governing body of any home rule city with more than four hundred thousand inhabitants and located in more than one county may enact ordinances for the abatement of a condition of any lot or land that has vacant buildings or structures open to entry.” Buescher notes that the City’s population, is well under 400,000. She asserts that, no other statute gives the City the authority to enact ordinances allowing it to abate nuisances by boarding up windows and doors on vacant buildings.

The City is a constitutional charter city. Article VI, section 19(a) of the Missouri Constitution gives charter cities:

[A]ll powers which the general assembly ... has authority to confer upon any city, provided such powers are consistent with the constitution of this state and are not limited or denied either by charter so adopted'or by statute. Such city shall, in addition' to its home rule powers, have all powers conferred by law.

The intent of this provision is “to grant cities broad authority to tailor a form of government that .its citizens believe will best serve their interests.” St. Louis Ass’n of Realtors v. City of Ferguson, 499 S.W.3d 395, 398 (Mo. App. 2016). “Article VI, section 19(a) gives charter cities all powers which the general assembly has authority to confer upon any city, provided such powers are consistent with, the Constitution and are not limited or denied by the city’s charter or by statute.” Id. at 398-99. Thus, “the emphasis no longer is whether a home rule city has the authority to exercise the power involved; the emphasis is whether the exercise of that power conflicts with the Missouri Constitution, state statutes or the charter itself.” Cape Motor Lodge, Inc. v. City of Cape Girardeau, 706 S.W.2d 208, 211 (Mo. banc 1986).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Bolt v. Giordano
310 S.W.3d 237 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2010)
Bezayiff v. City of St. Louis
963 S.W.2d 225 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1997)
Murphy v. Carron
536 S.W.2d 30 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1976)
Cape Motor Lodge, Inc. v. City of Cape Girardeau
706 S.W.2d 208 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1986)
City of St. Peters, Missouri v. Bonnie A. Roeder
466 S.W.3d 538 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 2015)
St. Louis Association of Realtors v. City of Ferguson
499 S.W.3d 395 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
524 S.W.3d 132, 2017 WL 1650041, 2017 Mo. App. LEXIS 373, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-jefferson-v-buescher-moctapp-2017.