Opinion ID: 2150644
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the franchise issue

Text: Plaintiffs contend that the lease-purchase agreement was a franchise that violated section 14-811, R.R.S.1943, which required electoral approval of franchises in Omaha, a metropolitan city. The force of the contention depends upon other statutory sections. Section 14-365.05, R.R.S.1943, reads: For the purpose of providing for such sewage disposal plant    (a metropolitan city) may also enter into a contract with any corporation    to construct and provide the facilities and services as hereinbefore described.   Enacted in 1953, the section bears the head Franchises supplied in compilation. The head does not affect our interpretation of the text. Section 49-802, R.R.S.1943, enacted in 1947, reads: Unless such construction would be inconsistent with the manifest intent of the Legislature, rules for construction of the statutes    hereafter enacted shall be as follows:    (8)    section    heads    in the statutes   , supplied in compilation, do not constitute any part of the law. Nothing in the text of sections 14-365.01 to 14-365.13, R.R.S.1943, subjected the lease-purchase agreement to the franchise requirements of section 14-811, R.R.S.1943. Indeed, section 14-365.13, R.R.S.1943, with exceptions immaterial here, provided:    sections 14-365.01 to 14-365.13 shall be independent of and in addition to any other provisions of the laws of the State    with reference to sewage disposal plants    in metropolitan cities.    sections 14-365.01 to 14-365.13 shall not be considered amendatory of or limited by any other provision of the laws of the State   . In order to decide upon the modus operandi of city authority in the transaction, we look at a number of statutory sections. Section 14-365.01, R.R.S.1943, authorized the city in regard to a disposal plant to make an annual special levy not to exceed one mill on the dollar upon the assessed value of all taxable tangible property within the city. Section 14-365.02, R.R.S.1943, authorized the city to issue mortgage bonds that imposed no general liability upon the city. No procedure was specified. Section 14-365.03, R.R.S.1943, authorized the governing body of the city to make (1) all necessary rules and regulations governing the use, operation, and control of the plant and (2) equitable charges which might take the form of special assessments. Section 14-365.07, R.R.S.1943, authorized the city to issue revenue bonds by ordinance passed by the mayor and city council without any other authority. The section also authorized general obligation bonds, but the city could not issue them without approval of the electors. Section 14-365.05, R.R.S.1943, which authorized the city to contract with any corporation to construct and provide a waste facility, did not specify any procedure. The Legislature in 1953 doubtless had in mind the spirit of the Water Pollution Control Act of 1948. Act of Congress, June 30, 1948, c. 758, 62 Stat. 1155. The act generally imposed primary responsibility upon the states for degradation of water quality. It authorized administrative enforcement through judicial orders for abatement. The Legislature has not amended section 14-365.05, R.R.S.1943, while federal insistence on state compliance with standards of water quality has grown. See Barry, The Evolution of the Enforcement Provisions of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act: A Study of the Difficulty in Developing Effective Legislation. 68 Mich.L.Rev. 1103 (1970). The parties stipulated: 14. That the Mayor of the City of Omaha and the City Clerk were authorized to execute and attest respectively the lease-purchase agreement    by Ordinance    duly adopted pursuant to regular Charter procedures on August 22, 1967. We conclude that the lease-purchase agreement was not an invalid franchise.