Rauch v. Himmelberger

264 S.W. 658, 305 Mo. 70, 1924 Mo. LEXIS 693
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedJuly 31, 1924
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 264 S.W. 658 (Rauch v. Himmelberger) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rauch v. Himmelberger, 264 S.W. 658, 305 Mo. 70, 1924 Mo. LEXIS 693 (Mo. 1924).

Opinion

*75 JAMES T. BLAIR, J.

This is a suit to restrain the president and secretary of the Little River Drainage District (hereinafter referred to as the district) from certifying to the Recorder of Deeds of New Madrid County certain drainage taxes levied upon appellant’s land. Respondents’ demurrer to the petition was sustained. Appellant refused to plead further, judgment went accordingly, and this appeal followed.

The petition is long but, in view of the questions raised here, the facts ruled upon by the trial court in passing on the demurrer can be stated in somewhat briefer form. The district was incorporated in 1907 under the Act of April 8,1905, Laws 1905, pp. 190 to 208, inclusive. A board of supervisors was duly elected, and qualified and organized. Respondents have held their respective offices from the beginning. Appellant owned 161 acres of land in the proposed district and still owns it. A board of engineers was appointed, made its survey and submitted it with maps and plan of reclamation to the board of supervisors. The board of supervisors adopted the report as a “plan for drainage,” filed it with the Circuit Clerk of Butler County as required, and filed, concurrently, a petition for the appointment of commissioners to assess benefits and damages. The petition incorporated by reference a map which shows the plan adopted. Three qualified commissioners were appointed, who qualified, assessed the benefits and damages and filed their report. The clerk gave the statutory notice. This report came on for hearing, and, after some modifications and amendments, was approved and confirmed by the court, and copies of such approval were filed as required. Appellant’s land was assessed $4 per acre, or $644. The total benefits-assessed were $1?,099,413, which was an average of about $22 per acre over the district. The supervisors issued bonds in the sum of $6,350,000, and proceeded with the work to carry out the plan of drainage. The taxes heretofore levied by the supervisors from time to time have aggregated 55.75 per cent of the benefits *76 assessed, and were apportioned to the tracts within the district in accordance with the assessed benefits. Appellant has paid all such taxes levied against his land. The petition further alleges:

“The completion of said plan for drainage and reclaiming the lands in said district has resulted in fully and completely draining and reclaiming complainant’s lands from the overflow of or damage by water or floods, and it is now impossible for them to be further benefited by the adopted equalized and improved plan for drainage hereinafter mentioned.

“That there are many areas of land within the corporate limits of said district and forming a part thereof that are not now, and have not and will not receive adequate outlets for drainage and protection from overflow by reason of the execution of the original plan for drainage, but said areas of land are equally taxed with other lands in said district that are now and have and will continue to receive adequate outlets for drainage and protection from an excess of water, by reason of the execution of the said original plan for drainage. That it was the opinion of the board of supervisors of the district that in adopting: the first and original plan for drainage all of the lands within the corporate limits of the district and forming a part hereof, would, by reason of the execution of said plan, receive adequate outlets for drainage and protection from an excess of water, and that such was also the opinion of the board of commissioners in assessing benefits and awarding damages to the lands of the district, and the assessment of benefits as returned by said commissioners was based upon that assumption; that it was also the assumption and opinion of said commissioners and the court confirming their said report that all lands assessed with equal benefits would be afforded substantially equal outlets for drainage and protection from overflow. ”

It is also alleged that the attempt to levy the taxes, the certifying of which is sought to be enjoined, is made *77 under the Act of April 3,1923 (Laws 1923, pp. 169, 170), “under and by virtue of which the chief engineer of the district, in order to drain and reclaim the lands in the district that nave not been completely drained and reclaimed from the damaging effects of water by reason of the execution of the original plan for drainage, recommended to the board of supervisors of the district that the original plan of drainage and reclamation be equalized and improved so as to afford such lands substantially equal-outlets for drainage and protection from overflow that are afforded the other lands in the district equally taxed as a whole.” The “equalized and improved plan” so recommended is pleaded in full. This report is of considerable length and sets out all the work with engineering detail. After examining it, as it appears in the petition and the briefs, it appears that the chief engineer’s summary is correct and full enough for present purposes. That summary reads:

“Prom the foregoing it will be observed that the work recommended does not constitute any material changes in the original plan for reclaiming the lands in this district. That plan provides, first, for the diversion of the waters of the hill streams located to the north of the district, through the Headwater Diversion System to the Mississippi Eiver; second, for the carrying of the rain and surface waters that accumulate in the district down the valley through excavated ditches.

“The recommendations hereinabove set out simply amplify and .strengthen that plan where experience has demonstrated it was insufficient.

“In some instances adequate outlets for drainage and protection from overflow can be obtained by enlarging the present ditches; in other instances it has been found to be more economical to dig a new ditch paralleling an existing ditch than it would be to increase the size of the existing ditch. The more economical method has been adopted in all instances.

*78 “In other cases it has been found to be more economical to construct a detention basin in the hills and let the water flow into the ditches, only in such quantity as the ditches could handle, without serious overflow, than to enlarge the ditches for many miles with ever-increasing capacity and carry the water through the valley to the Arkansas state line, which would be necessary but for the construction of the detention basins. Both methods serve the same purpose, namely, the prevention of overflow along the outlet canals. We recommend the more economical method, which is the temporary retention of the waters in the hills.

‘‘ The cost of the work outlined herein is so great that funds derived from any practical maintenance tax that could be levied would be wholly inadequate. It will, therefore, .be necessary to make an additional levy on the assessed benefits.

“None of the work herein recommended will directly benefit the lands in Stoddard and Bollinger counties addition.

“It will be necessary for the railroads and highways to conform their grades and bridges to the improvements and enlargements herein recommended.

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Related

Little River Drainage District v. Friedlein
165 S.W.2d 396 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1942)
Graves v. Little Tarkio Drainage District No. 1
134 S.W.2d 70 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1939)
McDonald v. Pritzl
93 P.2d 11 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1939)
State Ex Rel. Ross v. General American Life Insurance
85 S.W.2d 68 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1935)
Duncan v. St. John Levee & Drainage Dist.
69 F.2d 342 (Eighth Circuit, 1934)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
264 S.W. 658, 305 Mo. 70, 1924 Mo. LEXIS 693, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rauch-v-himmelberger-mo-1924.