Schull Const. Co. v. Webster Ind. School Dist. No. 101

198 N.W.2d 512, 86 S.D. 475, 1972 S.D. LEXIS 134
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedJune 2, 1972
DocketFile 11091
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 198 N.W.2d 512 (Schull Const. Co. v. Webster Ind. School Dist. No. 101) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Schull Const. Co. v. Webster Ind. School Dist. No. 101, 198 N.W.2d 512, 86 S.D. 475, 1972 S.D. LEXIS 134 (S.D. 1972).

Opinions

PER CURIAM.

Action for declaratory judgment to determine the validity of a contract for the construction of a school building.

[478]*478The circuit court held that contract valid and the intervenor appeals.

The voters of defendant, Webster Independent School District, proceeding under SDCL 13-19 have four times since May 14, 1968 rejected the issuance of bonds to finance the construction of the building. At each election the issuance of bonds received more than fifty percent of the vote but failed to receive the sixty percent required by SDCL 13-19-16.

That the Webster School District is in need of an additional elementary school building is not in dispute. The district is currently renting rooms in churches, the city hall and various buildings in the Webster community.

The bond issues previously voted upon were substantially greater than the amount here involved of $447,800. However, instead of submitting this figure to the voters the school board attempted to proceed under the provision of SDCL 13-16-6, 1972 pocket supplement, which provides as follows:

"13-16-6. Definition and purposes of capital outlay fund — Use for general fund purposes. — The capital outlay fund of the school district is a fund provided by law to meet all expenditures which except as hereinafter provided, result in the acquisition of fixed assets or additions to fixed assets. It is, in so far as it relates to fixed assets and notwithstanding the other provisions of this section, an expenditure for land or existing buildings purchased by the district, improvement of grounds, construction of buildings, additions to buildings, remodeling of buildings, or initial or additional equipment. It may also be used for installment or lease payments on property which has a contracted terminal date and will result in the acquisition of property. Additionally, it may be used for general fund purposes to the extent provided in § 13-16-7 in a school district which is levying at the maximum levy and in which it is not needed for purposes of fixed assets."

[479]*479During the month of November, 1971 the defendant school district published a request for bids which read in part as follows:

"ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS
WEBSTER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
PHASE II
INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 101
WEBSTER, SOUTH DAKOTA
REQUEST FOR BIDS: Sealed proposals for the installment purchase of the Webster Elementary School, Phase II, Independent School District No. 101, Webster, South Dakota, will be received by the Business Manager".

The words "installment purchase" in the notice for bids has reference to the fact that the plans, specification and bid forms required the bidder to state the rate of interest and the installment payment schedule that would have to be made by the school district in fulfillment of the contract.

Plaintiff construction company submitted the only bid in the amount of $447,800 along with a schedule of payments over a period of nine years, $44,780 to be paid when the building was accepted and a like amount annually at six percent interest.

This bid was accepted by the defendant and on December 10, 1971 two contracts were entered into by the plaintiff and defendant. The first of these was an ordinary construction contract. The second was an agreement whereby the school district granted the contractor until the contract had been fully performed, "the right to construct upon the premises above described a school building in accordance with the plans and specifications." This contract also outlined costs for the construction of $447,800 and further states "with the purchase price to be paid $44,780.00, at the effective date of the purchase, which shall be the date of the acceptance of the building as being fully completed, and the balance to be paid in nine equal annual installments of $44,780.00 [480]*480each due on the same date in each subsequent year", the annual installments to bear interest at the rate of six percent per annum payable on the same date the principal was due and payable. This contract also contained a provision:

"(3) Both legal and equitable title to said building shall be vested in the school district from the date it accepts the building under the terms of the separate building contract."

1. The first question presented by this appeal is whether the proposal for the "installment purchase" and the conditions set out in the plans and specifications as to financing the building are in compliance with SDCL 13-20-3 which requires competitive bidding on construction contracts. This notice is jurisdictional. The notice for bids as advertised, and the plans, specifications and bid forms not only required a bid for the construction of the building but also requires that the bidder finance the project.

This court said in Seim v. Ind. Dist. of Monroe, 70 S.D. 315, 17 N.W.2d 342:

"It is well settled that when by statute the mode and manner in which contracts of a school district or other local subdivision may be entered into is limited and any other manner of entering into a contract or obligation is expressly or impliedly forbidden a contract not made in compliance therewith is invalid and cannot ordinarily be ratified".

The court then adopted as the law in this state the rule governing competitive bidding as stated in 3 McQuillin on Municipal Corporations, 2d Ed., § 1287 (now found at 10 McQuillin on Municipal Corporations, Sec. 29.30, 1966 revised edition) as follows:

" 'The requirement of competitive bidding and the letting of municipal contracts is uniformly construed as mandatory and jurisdictional and nonobservance will render the contract void and unenforcible.' "

[481]*481In 10 McQuillin Municipal Corporations, § 29.44, 1966 revised edition, the following appears:

"The request for bids must not unduly restrict competition. The dictates of public policy require that all responsible bidders shall have the opportunity to compete, and accordingly devices or unreasonable actions by authorities which are designed or tend to limit the list of qualified bidders are presumed to be injurious to the taxpayer and are illegal."

There is nothing in SDCL 13-20-3 and 5-18-3 that authorizes a school district to include in the advertisement for bids or in the plans or specifications any reference to the financing of the structure. A classic definition of "plans and specifications" is found in Judge Maxwell's dissent in the case of State ex rel. Silver v. Kendall, 15 Neb. 262, 18 N.W. 85, 90, wherein he stated as follows:

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Schull Const. Co. v. Webster Ind. School Dist. No. 101
198 N.W.2d 512 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 1972)

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Bluebook (online)
198 N.W.2d 512, 86 S.D. 475, 1972 S.D. LEXIS 134, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schull-const-co-v-webster-ind-school-dist-no-101-sd-1972.