Kratchman v. City of Detroit

254 N.W.2d 23, 400 Mich. 158, 1977 Mich. LEXIS 132
Michigan Supreme Court·Decided May 19, 1977·No. 59564, (Calendar No. 6)·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinions

Fitzgerald, J.

The narrow issue before this Court is whether the City of Detroit’s published notice of intent to issue bonds for stadium development meets the requirements set by statute. This case does not concern the merits of such stadium development.

Defendant City of Detroit appeals directly, pursuant to our grant of by-pass, from the trial court’s summary judgment enjoining the defendant from issuing general obligation bonds for "Civic Center —Riverfront Stadium Development”. At issue is the trial court’s holding that the November 3, 1976 published notice of intent to issue such bonds was deficient in light of Alan v Wayne County, 388 Mich 210; 200 NW2d 628 (1972). We are of the opinion that the trial court erred in granting such relief and therefore it is reversed. The notice of intent as published met all applicable statutory and case-law requirements.

The contested bond issue seeks to finance in part a proposed 20,000-seat sports facility to be located on the Detroit River near Cobo Hall in downtown Detroit. The total cost of the project has been variously estimated at 20-25 million dollars. Five million dollars of the total cost was to be obtained from a Federal grant under the Public Works Employment Act of 1976, Pub L 94-369, 42 USC 6701 et seq. Another $5,865,000 was to be paid directly by the City of Detroit. This money was transferred from the Civic Center Plaza appropriation to an appropriation for a new riverfront arena by a resolution passed by the Detroit City Council on October 27, 1976.

[163] On October 27, 1976, the Detroit City Council also passed a resolution authorizing the issuance and sale of $7,795,000 in General Public Improvement Bonds, Series 77-A, which was subsequently approved by the Mayor on November 1, 1976. Of this $7,795,000, $1,500,000 was designated for "Civic Center — Riverfront Stadium Development” for the purpose of securing funds for architectural plans and specifications.

On November 3, 1976, the City of Detroit, pursuant to MCLA 117.5(g); MSA 5.2084(g), published notice of intent to issue bonds in a one-quarter page advertisement in the Detroit Free Press, at page 11C, "Business Finance Section”. See Appendix. The notice stated that these bonds were subject to a referendum petition during a 45-day period between the notice date of November 3, 1976 and December 18, 1976.

After the 45-day period for a referendum petition had passed, the City of Detroit applied to the Municipal Finance Commission for approval of the issue of the bonds. On February 15, 1977, the Municipal Finance Commission issued an order of approval allowing the City of Detroit to issue the total bond package, including the $1,500,000 for Civic Center — Riverfront Stadium Development. The bonds were to have been sold on March 30, 1977, but plaintiff filed a suit on March 14, 1977, in Wayne Circuit Court seeking an injunction.

After this Court denied the Governor’s request, sent pursuant to GCR 1963, 797, for an early determination as to whether the notice published was sufficient, the trial court, on March 28, 1977, granted the requested injunction and denied defense motions for accelerated and summary judgment. On April 1, 1977, this Court granted defendant’s motion for immediate consideration and ap[164] plication for leave to appeal prior to decision of the Court of Appeals.

I

Defendant contends, and we agree, that this is not an Alan case. The published notice at issue in Alan was found misleading in that it did not indicate: (1) that the full faith and credit of the county was behind the bonds; (2) any interest rate or period of time over which the bonds would mature; (3) that the taxpayers had a right of referendum in relation to the proposed bond issue. Here, the notice of intent cannot compare with the patently defective notice of Alan. This defendant’s quarter-page notice unmistakably stated that the bonds would be secured by the city’s unlimited taxing power, that they would mature over a period not to exceed 16 years, and that they would bear interest at a rate not to exceed ten percent. The notice gave specific detail regarding the taxpayer’s right of referendum and indicated that additional information would be made available by the city clerk or finance director upon request.

At issue in this case is whether defendant has met the requirements provided by statute in publishing its notice of intent to issue bonds. It should be noted that in Alan this Court was concerned with the applicability of a different statute, namely, the Revenue Bond Act, MCLA 141.101 et seq.; MSA 5.2731 et seq. The statute at issue in the instant case is the home rule cities act, MCLA 117.1 et seq.; MSA 5.2071 et seq. The pertinent section of the home rule cities act, MCLA 117.5(g); MSA 5.2084(g), requires, inter alia, that "[t]he notice of intent to issue bonds shall state the maximum amount of the bond issue, purpose thereof, source of payment, right of referendum [165] thereon, and such other information as the legislative body shall determine to be necessary to adequately inform the electors and all other interested persons of the nature of the issue and their rights with respect thereto”. We are persuaded that defendant satisfied the statutory requirements with the notice of intent published on November 3, 1976. Defendant’s notice of intent to issue bonds stated the maximum amount of the bond issue, the various purposes of the bond issue, its source of payment, the right of the taxpayers to a referendum, and other information in relation to the nature of the issue, including the maximum interest rate and period of maturation.

Plaintiff contends that defendant’s notice of intent to issue bonds is defective because it did not adequately inform the taxpayers of the City of Detroit of the nature of the project which is the subject matter of the notice. However, the applicable statute merely requires that the notice of intent to issue bonds state the "purpose thereof’ rather than describe the proposed project with great specificity. Defendant’s notice of intent did in general terms state just what the purpose of the bonds in question was, namely, "Civic Center— Riverfront Stadium Development”. It is our opinion that defendant’s notice of intent in the instant case met all the requirements of the statute, including an adequate statement of the "purpose thereof * * * and such other information as * * * to adequately inform the electors and all other interested persons of the nature of the issue and of their rights with respect thereto”.

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Kratchman v. City of Detroit, 254 N.W.2d 23, 400 Mich. 158, 1977 Mich. LEXIS 132 (Mich. 1977).

254 N.W.2d 23 (Kratchman v. City of Detroit) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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