St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-07-08
WHERE ARE They AT?
Property Owners Assessed for
the Sixth Street Bridge
Want to Know.
An Acrimonious Conference
on the Imbro Clio With
City Officials.
City Treasurer Miller Flies Off
the Handle and Is Called
to Order.
The Committee Favors Re-
funding Of Judgment
Costs and Penalties.

COSCS anu P6naiJl0Ss
The special joint council committee
appointed to consider the petition of
Sixth street property owners regarding
the action of City Treasurer Miller in
attempting to sell taeir property for
failure to pay Judgment, costs and pen
altieS OH the assessments for the Sixth
street bridge, met again yesterday aft
| ernoon.
When the assessment was made the
owners of sixty lots in the immediate
vicinity of the bridge were assessed
$1,000 each. The case was fought in the
courts OH the ground that the assess
ment was eXhorbltant, but judg-
ment was ordered against the prop
erty owners. The attorneys tor the
owners announced their intention to
appeal the case to the supreme court.
At that time the city was anxious to
collect the assessments, and Assistant
Corporation Attorney Phillips, fearing
that if the case were taken to the SUI
preme court the city would be beaten,
agreed with the attorneys for the prop
erty owners that if the face of the u.s.
sessment was paid and no appeal taken,
the Judgment costs and penalties would
not be enforced.
Acting on this agreement the owners
paid the city $1,000 each into the city
treasury and supposed they would not
be required to pay any costs or penal
ties. In some manner, without the
! knowledge of the city attorney or city
treasurer
Judgment Was Entered up
in the district court against the prop
erty owners. When City Treasurer
Miller took charge of the Office he COM
menced action to sell the property on
the Judgment costs, which had not been
| paid. The property owners, having
acted in good faith on the agreement
| made by their attorneys with Assistant
Corporation Attorney Phillips, sent in a
protest, and asked that City Treasurer
Miller be instructed to stop the sale
proceedings, and demanded an investi-
CATION.
AT the meeting of the committee held
a week ago, Assistant Corporation At
torney Phillips, who at that time was
not certain as to whether he had made
any agreement to allow the property
! owners to pay the amount of the judg-
inSIlt WItlOul COSIS dllu DCndlOlCSY was
! directed to refresh his memory on this
point, and also ascertain from the Off
cial records il there was any surplus i'll
| the fund from which those who had
| paid costs and penalties could be reim-
| burSed. Yesterday Mr.. Phillips handed
| in the following communication:
The Law Of 1t.
You are advised that upon examina-
ton of the records in the office of the
| city engineer, city treasurer, city comp
| troller and board of public works rela-
| tive to the Sixth street bridge matter. |
| find the cost of such improvement to be
as follows:
| Substructure contract price. :. $40 1874 0S
Substructure, engineering and i'll
Spect!on 2,23o 69
Superstructure contract price 80. 12S,675 90
inspection ...4'.........,.--... $3.50 "a
urer's fees ...................,... 100 50
Total. ........ .sl53, $50 81
| To defray the cost of this improve
ment there was realized from
bonds the sum of................. So, 900 90
| And there was an assessment
made upon property benefited in
the sum Of. Observation-Disclosures. 80, 10 -
Making a total of Sl51, 295 %
| with which to defray the cost of this
! improvement. This shows that there
was a deficit of S2,290.6S, or, in other
| words, that the assessment upon the
! property benefited should have been
S2,290.6S more than it was.
By section 90 of chapter of the city
| charter, it is provided among other
things as follows: IF TOO large an
| amount at any time be raised the excess
shall be refunded ratably to those by
whom it was paid if the council shall SO
| order" This is from the chapter pro-
! viding for the making of local improve
| mentS, and assessments to defray the
| expenses thereof, and in order to ascer-
| tain its true Interpretation it is neces-
sary to consider many other provisions
| of the chapter, which are too numerous
to be inserted here.
You are advised that the true inter
| probation of the law III this respect is
| that the amount here spoken of means
the amount collected upon the assess
ment irrespective of any interest Oh
costs chargeable because the property
| owner has not paid the assessment be.
fore it becomes delinquent, and that
there is no authority to refund anything
that is paid as interest and cost upon q
| delinquent assessment.
| Now, to speak of the present case. il
| appears that if this entire assessment
| had been paid before it became delin
quent there would have been deficit OF
.,z.Z.O.0S, and under the law of this city
upon that fact appearing 1t was the duty
OF the board of public works TO proceed
and make rtaSseSSment to raise thai
| amount.
1t further appears from the records of
the office of the comptroller that there
was paid to the contractor for the build
ing of this SuperStructure the sum oi
| $2.120.93 as interest, which the city
would not have been compelled to pay
had the owners of the property assessed
Tor this improvement paid the assess
ment when the same became due.
We have not examined to see how
much has been paid as interest anC
costs for the reason that you are advised
that the common council has no author
ity whatsoever to refund aey such sums
Respectfully,
HERMoN W. Phillips,
Assistant Corporation Attorney.
l. Phillips, Figures Objected To.
After the letter had been read Mr.
Bovesen, of the firm of Mum. BOyeseI
| u Thygeson, stated that the figures men
toned by MIR. Phillips were not correct
Instead of the s4,S36.43 paid for inspec-
tIon, as mentioned by Mr.. Phillips, thu
books of the city treasurer showed tina
only 81, 434.S4 had been paid aud charged
up 10 the fund.
mir. Boyesen also raised the question
as to why the cost for inspection
and engineering expenses should b.
added to the expense of this or any as
sessment. 1t would be just as proper
Mr.. Boyesen claimed, to add the salarie
of the board of public works and thu
city attorney in on the assessment as i
was to add the cost of drawing the plan
for the bridge in. The city enginee
was the proper person to draw plans 70
the bridge, and the work of inspection