Hayes v. Sanitary & Improvement District No. 194

244 N.W.2d 505, 196 Neb. 653, 1976 Neb. LEXIS 843
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 4, 1976
Docket40481
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 244 N.W.2d 505 (Hayes v. Sanitary & Improvement District No. 194) 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
Hayes v. Sanitary & Improvement District No. 194, 244 N.W.2d 505, 196 Neb. 653, 1976 Neb. LEXIS 843 (Neb. 1976).

Opinion

McCown, J.

This is a suit to recover money alleged to have been *655 wrongfully paid an underwriter of warrants and bonds of a sanitary and improvement district. The District Court entered judgment against the defendants Dain, Kalman & Quail, Inc., and Dain, Kalman & Quail Municipal-Nebraska, Inc., in the sum of $114,389.61, and this appeal followed.

On December 29, 1967, Sanitary and Improvement District No. 194 of Douglas County, Nebraska, was duly organized and declared to be a public corporation of this state. Sanitary and Improvement District No. 194 will be referred to hereafter as the district.

Major construction by the district included a golf course, streets, sewers, and related projects. From time to time bids were taken and contracts let for various portions of the work. As the work progressed the district paid its obligations by issuing warrants to those who performed labor or services or provided supplies. It is customary for such districts, prior to seeking bids for the construction of improvements, to contract with a financial institution to serve as fiscal agents and financial consultants.

In 1968, the district entered into such an agreement with the firm of J. Cliff Rahel and Company. That agreement provided that Rahel and Company, as agents of the district, would purchase or place at par construction fund warrants issued to contractors in connection with the installation of public improvements in the district. The warrants were to bear interest at the rate of 6 percent per annum. Rahel and Company also agreed to “purchase for our own account or sell the general obligation bonds of the District at par and accrued interest.” The district agreed to pay Rahel and Company a fee equal to 5 percent of all warrants issued, and a fee of 1 '/■> percent of all bonds issued.

During 1968 and into 1969, Rahel and Company performed services under the agreement with respect to warrants. During that time interest rates in general were climbing and the district’s 6 percent warrants be *656 came more and more difficult to sell. On March 4, 1969, Rahel and Company advised the district that it would no longer purchase warrants from contractors for its own account but would continue to try to place warrants elsewhere. As of June 30, 1969, J. Cliff Rahel and Company sold its assets to Dain, Kalman & Quail, Inc., of Minneapolis, Minnesota, which will be referred to hereafter as Dain-Minnesota. Rahel and Company advised the district that the contract would be assumed by Dain-Minnesota; rescinded the Rahel and Company contract with the district; and went out of business. Rahel and Company has been dismissed in this action and the amounts paid to it are not involved here.

Dain, Kalman & Quail Municipal-Nebraska, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Dain-Minnesota, was formed May 26, 1969. It will hereafter be referred to as DainNebraska. William J. Gourley, president of Dain-Nebraska, who had formerly been vice president of J. Cliff Rahel and Company, submitted a proposal to the district on behalf of Dain-Nebraska which was basically similar to the former agreement between the district and Rahel and Company. The proposal was dated June 9, 1969, and by its terms became effective on July 1, 1969. It was approved and accepted by the district on July 22, 1969. The agreement provided that Dain-Nebraska “will purchase or place at par as agents of your District, within 30 days after presentation to us, construction fund warrants issued in connection with the installation of public improvements in the above District. Said warrants shall bear interest at the rate of 8% per annum * * *.

“We will purchase for our own account or sell the general obligation bonds of the District at par and accrued interest.”

The agreement also provided: “For services rendered and to be rendered and to defray our expenses and any discount incurred in connection with the issuance and sale or placement of warrants, the District agrees to *657 pay Dain, Kalman & Quail Municipal-Nebraska, Inc. a fee equal to 5% of all warrants issued after date hereof, said fee to be paid at the time of issuance of said warrants. For services to be rendered and to defray our expenses in connection with the issuance and sale of bonds, the District agrees to pay Dain, Kalman & Quail Municipal-Nebraska, Inc. a fee equal to V/>% of the amount of all bonds issued, to be paid at the time said bonds are delivered to us.”

Dain-Nebraska thereafter purchased from the contractors warrants issued to the contractors and was paid $53,957.76 in warrants of the district for its fee in handling these warrants. Dain-Nebraska in turn resold the warrants to its customers. In almost all cases the sales were at par and accrued interest. The evidence does not show any profit on the resale, other than accrued interest, but Dain-Nebraska paid commissions of $25,720.06 to salesmen for the sale of the warrants.

In 1971, the district began preparing for the issuance of bonds and William J. Gourley, representing DainNebraska, began conferring with representatives of the district and of the City of Omaha. On March 30, 1971, the Omaha city council had passed an ordinance annexing a major part of the district to the City of Omaha. The annexation was to take place as of July 1, 1971, and the City of Omaha agreed to assume all the district’s liabilities, including the bonds to be issued by the district. In May 1971, it was agreed that the district would issue bonds in the amount of 3.7 million dollars to be dated July 1, 1971. The maturity dates ranged from July 1, 1972, to July 1, 1991, and the basic interest rates ranged from 5 to 5.6 percent. Supplemental interest coupons were also provided for, which could be detached and sold separately. The principal amount of the bonds included the $55,500 bond fee to Dain-Nebraska, which was V/j percent of the amount of all bonds to be issued. It was also agreed that the bonds were to be sold to Dain-Minnesota at par and accrued interest. On June *658 15, 1971, the board of trustees of the district, by resolution, confirmed issuance of the bonds and the sale to Dain-Minnesota.

The City of Omaha approved the proposed bond issue and on June 25, 1971, the board of trustees of the district filed its petition for approval of proceedings for issuance and sale of the bonds in the District Court for Douglas County, Nebraska. On July 12, 1971, the District Court entered its decree that all proceedings required by law for the issuance of bonds in the principal amount of 3.7 million dollars by the district were legal, valid, approved, and confirmed.

Dain-Nebraska was paid the $55,500 fee as fiscal agent in connection with the sale of the bonds. Dain-Minnesota purchased the bonds and made payment, including accrued interest, on July 12, 1971, in the amount of $3,708,358.31. Dain-Minnesota sold the supplemental interest coupons from the bonds and also resold the bonds. It received $89,687.19 from the sale of the supplemental coupons and profit from the sale of the bonds themselves in the sum of $73,913.61, a total of $163,600.80.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
244 N.W.2d 505, 196 Neb. 653, 1976 Neb. LEXIS 843, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hayes-v-sanitary-improvement-district-no-194-neb-1976.