Village of Hyde Park v. Spencer

8 N.E. 846, 118 Ill. 446
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 13, 1886
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 8 N.E. 846 (Village of Hyde Park v. Spencer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Illinois Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Village of Hyde Park v. Spencer, 8 N.E. 846, 118 Ill. 446 (Ill. 1886).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Magruder

delivered the opinion of the Court:

In December, 1885, the village of Hyde Park passed an ordinance providing for the construction of a sewer and pumping works on Sixty-third street, together with an outlet pipe, and for the maintenance and repair of the same. Section 1 provides that a brick sewer shall be constructed in Sixty-third street, to be connected with wells or basins, to be located on a lot or parcel of land (describing it), or upon some other suitable lot in the immediate vicinity of the one above described; that forty man-holes shall be built upon said sewer, upon such points as the engineer in charge may direct; that thirty-two catch-basins shall be constructed, and connected with said sewer with nine-inch vitrified tile-pipe, located at such points on the curb line of said street as the engineer in charge may direct; that a lot or parcel of land be purchased for .the location of suitable buildings and pumping works for drainage purposes, described as follows, (describing it,) or that some other suitable lot in the immediate vicinity of the lot above described, be purchased, as aforesaid; that upon the lot to be purchased as above, there be erected suitable buildings, consisting of an engine-room, boiler-room and coal-room, and stack, substantially as the same is delineated upon plans on file in the office of the village engineer; that suitable pumping engines and boilers be purchased, and erected upon suitable foundations inside of the said buildings, connected by wells or basins, into which the Sixty-third street sewer, heretofore described, shall discharge; that a cast-iron pipe be laid from said pumps along Sixty-third street, Stony Island avenue and Fifty-sixth street, to Lake Michigan; that a sufficient sum be levied and collected for maintaining the pumping works contemplated by this ordinance, and for keeping the same in repair for the term of one year from the completion of the same. Section 2 provides, that the cost and expenses of the improvement shall be defrayed by special assessment to be made in accordance with sections 18 to 51 inclusive in article 9 of “An act to provide for the incorporation of cities and villages,” approved April 10, 1872. Section 3 appoints commissioners to make an estimate of the cost. Section 4 provides, that, for the purpose of the improvement aforesaid, the territory, lying within the following boundary lines, is hereby declared to be a drainage district, (describing it,) “the said proposed improvement being deemed adequate only to the proper drainage of the territory aforesaid.”

The commissioners, appointed by the ordinance to estimate the cost of the proposed improvement, made their report to the board of trustees, and estimated the total cost at $116,000, composed of the following items:

Cost of main sewer, with wells, man-holes, catch-
basins, house connections, slants, etc. - - $44,000
Cost of land ------- 2,600
Cost of engine building, etc. ... - 10,000
Cost of engines and boilers ... - 30,000
Cost of cast-iron outlet pipe ... - 23,000
Cost of one year’s maintenance of said pumping
works........4,000
Cost of making and levying and collecting the assessment ------- 2,400
Total cost, as estimated ... $116,000

The report was adopted by the board, and, by its order, a petition was filed in the county court of Cook county, on December 23,1885, by the village of Hyde Park by the president of its board of trustees, setting forth the ordinance, the report and the order, above mentioned, and praying, that the cost of said improvement might be assessed in the manner prescribed by law. The court appointed commissioners to make the assessment, who took the oath. The assessment roll was returned into court, and, on January 11,1886, a rule was entered, giving ten days, within which objections might be filed. Various objections were filed by the appellees, and¡, after hearing, the county court dismissed the proceeding. From such order of dismissal the village prosecutes its appeal to this court.

The act of the legislature, under which the proceeding was instituted, is as follows:

“An act to vest the corporate authorities of cities and villages with power to construct, maintain and keep in repair drains, ditches, levees, dykes and pumping -works for drainage purposes, by special assessment upon the property benefited thereby, approved June 22, 1885, in force July 1, 1885.
“Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly: That the corporate authorities of cities and villages are hereby vested with power to- construct drains, ditches, levees and dykes, to erect pumping works, and to acquire the necessary land and machinery for such purposes, and otherwise to provide for draining any portion of the lands within their corporate limits, by special assessment upon the property benefited thereby. ¡
“Sec. 2. That the corporate authorities of cities and villages are hereby vested with the power to maintain and keep in repair such drains, ditches, levees, dykes, pumping works and machinery, and such drainage improvement, by special assessment upon the property benefited thereby: Provided, that no lot, block, tract or parcel of land shall be assessed more than once in any one year for such maintenance and repair.
“Sec. 3. All the proceedings for the making of the improvements in this act mentioned, and for the maintenance and repair thereof, and for the levy and collection of the special assessments to defray the cost of the same, shall be in accordanee with the provisions of article 9 of the general act for the incorporation of cities and villages, approved April 10, 1872.”

The main objection, urged by appellees, is, that the act of 1885 is unconstitutional. The second section of the act confers “the power to maintain and keep in repair,” etc. It is said, that section 9 of article 9 of the constitution, by the terms of which, “the General Assembly may vest the corporate authorities of cities, towns and villages with power to make local improvements by special assessment,” etc., does ,not vest such authorities with power to maintain local improvements. It is claimed, that the power to make improvements does not include the power to maintain them. The item of $4000 for “one year’s maintenance of said pumping works” ■is, therefore, objected to, as improperly included by the commissioners in their estimate of the cost of the improvement. Counsel contend, that, inasmuch as the second clause of section 9 of article 9 of the constitution provides, that “for all other corporate purposes, all municipal corporations may be vested with authority to assess and collect taxes, but such taxes shall be uniform in respect to persons and property, within the jurisdiction of the body, imposing the same,” the maintenance of the pumping works, if a corporate purpose at all, must be paid for out of funds, raised by general taxation, and not by special assessment.

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Bluebook (online)
8 N.E. 846, 118 Ill. 446, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/village-of-hyde-park-v-spencer-ill-1886.