Davis Management, Inc. v. Sanitary & Improvement District No. 276

282 N.W.2d 576, 204 Neb. 316, 1979 Neb. LEXIS 1131
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 14, 1979
Docket42199
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 282 N.W.2d 576 (Davis Management, Inc. v. Sanitary & Improvement District No. 276) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Davis Management, Inc. v. Sanitary & Improvement District No. 276, 282 N.W.2d 576, 204 Neb. 316, 1979 Neb. LEXIS 1131 (Neb. 1979).

Opinions

Krivosha, C. J.

This is an appeal from a decree of the District Court for Douglas County, Nebraska, sustaining the motion for summary judgment filed by the appellees, Davis Management, Inc., a corporation (Davis), National Travelers Life Company, Inc., a corporation, and Homesteaders Life Company, a corporation, against Sanitary and Improvement District No. 276 of Douglas County, Nebraska (SID 276).

Both of the plaintiffs own some part of Lot 325, Parkside Addition, Douglas County, Nebraska (SID 276 Property), although neither owned any part of SID 276 Property at the time SID 276 was created.

[318]*318By its motion for summary judgment, the plaintiffs requested the trial court to find and determine that SID 276 was without any authority to exercise the jurisdiction of a sanitary and improvement district over real estate described as Lot 325, Parkside Addition, Douglas County, Nebraska, and that SID 276 was void ab initio. The crux of the plaintiffs’ claim is set out in the amended petition filed by Davis wherein it is alleged that SID 276 is contained entirely within the boundaries of Sanitary and Improvement District No. 171 (SID 171), a much larger SID, thereby making SID 276 void ab initio. Davis’ theory is that two SIDs cannot occupy the same territory at the same time. Davis’ amended petition further alleged that SID 171 had constructed all public improvements and SID 276 had made none. That fact was denied by the answer of SID 276.

The pleadings further disclose that on April 25, 1974, the District Court for Douglas County, Nebraska, entered its decree finding that SID 276 was duly organized according to law and was declared to be a public corporation under sections 31-727 to 31-769, R. R. S. 1943. No appeal was taken from that decree and it was and remains a final and binding order.

The trial court sustained the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment and in so doing made certain findings of fact, including a finding that at the time of the purported creation of SID 276 all public street improvements adjoining the SID 276 Property had been made by SID 171 and special assessments for the improvements had been duly levied against the property. The court also found in its decree that all of the expenditures made by SID 276 consisted of paving, utilities, and electrical distribution systems, all situated on private property of the developers. The court further found that SID 276 was totally included within the territory of SID 171 and that “two distinct Sanitary- and Improvement Districts cannot, within the same territory, co-exist; that the pur[319]*319ported creation of Sanitary and Improvement District No. 276 was void ab initio and all powers, jurisdiction and privileges sought to be exercised by said Sanitary and Improvement District No. 276 are null and void.” The court in effect dissolved SID 276.

SID 276 assigns as errors: (1) That the trial court erred in holding SID 276 to be void ab initio merely because its geographic boundaries fall within the boundaries of another sanitary and improvement district; and (2) that the trial court erred in granting a motion for summary judgment in that there existed genuine issues of fact. We have reviewed the record in this case and believe the trial court was indeed in error in granting the motion for summary judgment. We therefore reverse the judgment of the trial court and remand the cause.

Before a motion for summary judgment can be granted, two requirements must be met: (1) There must be no genuine issue as to any material fact; and (2) the moving party must be entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Clemens Mobile Homes, Inc. v. Guerdon Industries, Inc., 199 Neb. 555, 260 N. W. 2d 310 (1977). Therefore, in order for the judgment of the trial court in this case to be correct, we must find: (1) That there were no genuine issues as to any material facts; and (2) that Davis and the other appellees were entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

An examination of the affidavits, counteraffidavits, interrogatories, answers to interrogatories, several exhibits, and a stipulation made at trial to the effect that the improvements .were not made on dedicated streets, but rather on public streets or easements, does little to resolve the several questions of fact raised by the pleadings. The record does not even clearly set out what the improvements were, although a resolution offered in evidence describes the various improvements as public improvements. We have no way of determining that fact. Other than [320]*320the unsupported statement of counsel for Davis made at the time of argument to the trial court to the effect that the improvements consisted of a private parking lot and interior utility connections, we find no evidence on this issue. We do not question the integrity of counsel. We merely point out that before one can sustain a motion for summary judgment all genuine questions of all material facts necessary for the determination must be resolved. The questions concerning the nature and type of improvements were not so resolved.

It would appear that the motion for summary judgment could only be sustained in this case if, as a matter of law, the creation of one SID within the boundaries, of another SID automatically rendered the second SID void ab initio as contended for by plaintiffs. We do not believe that to be the law. Sanitary and improvement districts are purely creatures of statute and were first created in 1947. See §§ 31-701 to 31-726, R. R. S. 1943. In 1949, the Legislature enacted sections 31-727 to 31-762 entitled “DISTRICTS FORMED UNDER ACT OF 1949.” For a review of Nebraska sanitary and improvement district legislation, see 5 Creighton L. Rev. 269, Nebraska Sanitary and Improvement District Legislation.

In support of their position, appellees cite 2 McQuillan, Municipal Corporations (3d Ed.); § 7.08, p. 298, and our decision in City of Bellevue v. Eastern Sarpy County S. F. P. Dist., 180 Neb. 340, 143 N. W. 2d 62 (1966). The citation in McQuillan, however, makes it clear that before two municipal corporations occupying the same boundaries are incompatible, it must be established that the powers and privileges conferred on the separate governmental agencies are substantially coextensive in scope and objective. The author further points out that, in the absence of constitutional restrictions, the Legislature may authorize the formation of two municipal corporations in the same territory at the same time [321]*321for different purposes, and municipal corporations organized for different purposes may include the same territory. The identity of the territorial limits of separate public corporations is immaterial if such entities have separate and distinct governmental purposes.

In order for us to determine if the purposes of each of the SIDs are so identical as to be incompatible, we need to examine the articles of association of the two SIDs. The articles of association for SID 276 are in evidence. The articles of association for SID 171 are not. The fact that SID 171 maintains it is performing all the powers and duties authorized to it by statute does not answer the question.

Section 31-727, R. R. S. 1943, sets out the purposes for which an SID may be created. However, in order to exercise that authority the articles of association must set out in detail the purposes of the SID. An SID may be created for some or all of the purposes set out in section 31-727, R. R. S. 1943. This fact is made abundantly clear by the provision of section 31-727 (3), R. R. S.

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Davis Management, Inc. v. Sanitary & Improvement District No. 276
282 N.W.2d 576 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1979)

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Bluebook (online)
282 N.W.2d 576, 204 Neb. 316, 1979 Neb. LEXIS 1131, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davis-management-inc-v-sanitary-improvement-district-no-276-neb-1979.