Village of Canandaigua v. Hayes

90 A.D. 336, 85 N.Y.S. 488
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedJanuary 15, 1904
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 90 A.D. 336 (Village of Canandaigua v. Hayes) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Village of Canandaigua v. Hayes, 90 A.D. 336, 85 N.Y.S. 488 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1904).

Opinion

Hiscock, J.:

The defendants assert that the bonds in question are invalid for the reasons, fa'st, that the plaintiff had no power to issue bonds for street paving or improvement purposes ; and, second, that even if it did have such power, the proceedings adopted by plaintiff for the making and issuing of these bonds were not in accordance with the requirements of law.

We shall consider these objections in the order stated.

■ W.e feel no hesitation in deciding that the village did have power to issue bonds for the purpose of raising and providing funds with which to pay its share of the cost of paving streets.

The village of Canandaigua was originally incorporated in 1815 under a special act of the Legislature (chap. 254.) By chapter 666 of the Laws of 1893 the original act and the acts amending the same .were revised and consolidated, and the corporation exists at present under the provisions of the act of 1893 and its amendments.

By subdivision 50 of section 3 of title 3 of its charter created as above plaintiff was empowered to do all such acts, perform all such duties, and exercise all such powers as are * * * authorized, imposed, conferred, or granted by any general act of the Legislature of this State, applicable to villages therein, incorporated under a special act.”

[338]*338By section 340 of chapter 414 of the Laws of 1897, known as the Village Law, it is provided: “ A village incorporated under and subject to a special law, and each officer thereof, possesses all the powers and is subject to all the liabilities and responsibilities conferred or imposed upon a village incorporated under this chapter, "or upon an officer thereof, not inconsistent with such special law.”

Section 128 of said Village Law (as amd. by Laws of 1903, chap. 617), provides: If authorized by an election, money may be borrowed by a village upon its bonds or other obligations, payable in future fiscal years for the purpose of purchasing, constructing and maintaining the following village improvements : * * * 3. Laying out, widening, altering, grading or paving streets, and for the purchase of a steam roller, stone crusher and engine, and other road making machinery.”'

It follows from these statutory provisions thus quoted that plaintiff was authorized to issue bonds to provide for indebtedness incurred in paving and improving its streets unless there is some provision in its charter which is inconsistent with the powers granted by the Village Law. We do not think there is any such provision. Defendants urge upon our consideration two provisions which they claim are thus inconsistent, but we do not agree with their contention in this respect made.

Section 4 of title 7 of the act already referred to, constituting plaintiff’s charter, provides: “ Money cannot be borrowed by the said trustees on the credit of the village; nor can any debt or liability be incurred by the village, except as is provided by law, for the ordinary expenses of the village within the income of the current year, applicable to that purpose.”

These provisions do not cover this case. The 1st clause quoted plainly prohibits any attempt by the trustees to make general loans upon the credit of the village. The 2d clause voices a prohibition against incurring extraordinary debts or liabilities by the village for ordinary expenses. It relates to the ordinary current financial management of the village from year to year, and does not speak with reference to an extraordinary expenditure such as we now have before our consideration when authorized by a vote of the taxpayers in a proper manner.

The second provision called to our attention by; defendants as [339]*339inconsistent with the provisions of the Village Law relating to the issue of bonds is section 27 of title 9 of plaintiff’s charter, and which provides for the payment of the expense of certain improvements “ from the sum or fund raised for highway purposes for the current year, or from the sum raised for contingent and other expenses as the board of trustees shall deem best. If there shall not be sufficient money on hand not otherwise appropriated or needed to'pay the same, said sum may be raised by a special tax, as provided in this act, or the same may be raised with the next annual village tax.”

It seems to us hardly to have been worth while to refer to this section as bearing upon the question before us, because it is manifestly one of several sections relating to the acquisition of lands for public use by exercise of the right of eminent domain within the corporate limits of said village for roads, avenues, streets, etc. We do not discover any relation or connection whatever between this section thus referred to and the paving of streets.

Upon the other hand, in opposition to the contention of defendants upon this point, the provisions of plaintiff’s charter seem to necessarily imply and call for the power to issue bonds as plaintiff has attempted.

Section 2 of title 9 provides that the trustees of the village shall have power to “ pave, plank, flag or otherwise improve the streets, roadways, crosswalks and sidewalks,” Section 31 of the same title provides that on the written petition or consent of a majority in number and in feet frontage of the owners of the real estate adjoining, abutting or fronting on any of the streets, highways or public grounds of said village, the board of trustees shall have the power to cause said street, highway or public grounds, and the gutters therein, to be paved or curbed with stone or other suitable material.” Said section, then further provides that in case the paving of any street is properly ordered without the petition of the property owners, not more than one-half nor less than one-third of the expense of the improvement shall be assessed upon the adjoining property; that in case the improvement is ordered upon the petition of the property owners not more than two-thirds nor less than one-third of said expense shall be so assessed. The balance in eithei case must be paid by the village. We find in the charter no provision which seems to us directly to provide for the payment by [340]*340the village of its share of the expenses of such improvements without resort to bonds. The provisions with reference to the assessment of taxes do not seem to us to meet such- requirements. No question is raised in this case but what the plaintiff in good faith and properly has expended and desires to expend the sum of $100,000 in the immediate paving and improvements of its streets. It would be a great burden and an unusual course in municipal government if such expenses should be immediately met by assessment and taxation of property. It is much more in accordance with the spirit of modern municipal government that such extraordinary expenses should be met by the proceeds of bonds extending over and becoming due through a series of years. No objection is urged-by defendants that the issue of the bonds in question will in any manner conflict with those general provisions of law which limit the amount of obligations which may he issued by any municipality.

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Bluebook (online)
90 A.D. 336, 85 N.Y.S. 488, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/village-of-canandaigua-v-hayes-nyappdiv-1904.