Opinion ID: 2118368
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Power of City to Enact the 1955 Ordinance.

Text: The testimony discloses that in the year 1956 the sewer-rental charges levied in Madison Sewer District No. 7 amounted to $3,880.50 and the further special sewer charge, equivalent to a three and one-half mill tax on all property in this district, brought in additional revenue of $5,401.55. Thus, the total revenue realized in 1956 was $9,282.05. The amount paid to the American Exchange Bank of Madison to cover principal and interest currently due on the revenue bonds was $7,282.50, leaving $1,999.55 to cover the expense of operating the sewer system in the district for the year. Therefore, it is apparent that the far-greater part of the special charges, levied under the 1955 ordinance, was devoted to repayment of the original construction costs. Sec. 62.18, Stats., empowers cities to construct sewerage systems and to make additions, alterations, and repairs to the same and to provide for the payment thereof by the city, by sewerage districts or by abutting property owners or by any combination of these methods. It is clear that, if the Waunona Way area had been without sewerage facilities at the time of the 1954 annexation, under sec. 62.18 the city could have designated the area as a separate sewerage district, installed a sewerage system therein and financed it in the same manner as Joint Sanitary District No. 7 was financed. However, plaintiffs contend that this statute has no application to the instant situation in which the sewerage system was already in existence at time of annexation. We deem the word additions in sec. 62.18, Stats., is broad enough to include additional sewerage facilities acquired by annexation as well as by original construction. While it would be open to this court to interpret the statutory word additions as limited to those solely acquired by original construction, such an interpretation might well work an unjust and unreasonable result. For example, in the instant case why should other city taxpayers be required to subsidize the cost of constructing the sewerage facilities in former Joint Sanitary District No. 7 through a city-wide tax levy when such taxpayers have already paid for the sewerage facilities serving their property by means of adequate special assessments made against their properties? The rule is that if a statute is reasonably open to any other construction, it will not be given a construction which results in unreasonableness. Guse v. Industrial Comm. (1925), 189 Wis. 471, 476, 205 N. W. 428, 208 N. W. 493. Therefore, we interpret the word additions in sec. 62.18 as embracing facilities acquired by annexation as well as by original construction. From the foregoing, it necessarily follows that sec. 62.18, Stats., permits a city to place the annexed property, served by an addition to the city's sewerage facilities, in a separate sewerage district and to defray the remaining cost of such newly acquired facilities by particular charges levied only in such district. Sec. 60.31, Stats., covers the situations where territory embracing an entire sanitary district is annexed to a city as was the case here. Sub. (1) (a) provides that the priorexisting sanitary district is dissolved by the annexation. Sub. (1), pars. (b) and (c), read: (b) The property of such district shall pass to the city or village and all assets and liabilities of any such district shall be assumed by such city or village. If any mortgage bonds or mortgage certificates are outstanding the transfer of the property shall be subject to such bonds or certificates. If any general obligation bonds are outstanding the city or village shall cause to be levied and collected upon all taxable property in such city or village in one sum or in annual instalments an irrepealable tax in an amount necessary to pay the interest and principal of such bonds when due. (c) Special assessments levied by the former district shall continue to be collected by the city or village and shall be applied to the purpose for which the original assessment was made. It is apparent from reading sec. 60.31 (1) (b), Stats., that the city of Madison, by reason of the annexation, was required to assume and pay the general-obligation bonds of former Joint Sanitary District No. 7, and that all property in the annexed district continued to be subject to the outstanding mortgage-revenue bonds. We cannot believe that the legislature, by the enactment of sec. 60.31, intended to create a vacuum whereby the holders of the revenue bonds would be forced, as a result of the annexation and the dissolution of the former sanitary district, to take court action and have a receiver appointed to impose and collect the charges required under the bond-issue resolution to finance the payment of the interest and principal of the bonds. In any event, we deem that the city had the power to step into the shoes of the dissolved sanitary district and levy the annual special charges required by the provisions of the resolution of December 15, 1950, for the payment of the interest and principal of these revenue bonds. Sec. 62.11 (5) [2] is broad enough to confer this power on the city council. The point in this case which has caused this court the greatest difficulty is whether the city has the right to levy a different sewerage charge to cover operating expense in the annexed former sanitary district than is levied elsewhere in the city. Sec. 62.18 (1), Stats., permits cities to levy different taxes or special charges in its various sewerage districts to cover cost of original construction and future additions, alterations, and repairs, but is silent with respect to the method of levying taxes or charges to cover operating expenses. Of the $76.55 special sewerage charges levied for 1956 against plaintiffs' property, only slightly over 20 per cent went to defray this operating expense. While the record discloses that the $76.55 was more than the sewerage-rental charge of 100 per cent of the city water bills, the amount paid by most of the city property owners, it is silent as to whether the fraction of the $76.55 which was apportioned to operating expense is more or less than a sewerage-rental charge of 100 per cent of the city water bill. Sec. 66.076 (5) [3] specifically authorizes the city to levy a sewerage-service charge to cover operating expenses of the sewerage system. Therefore, the issue is not want of power of the city to include, in the $76.55 of special sewerage charges levied against plaintiffs' property, an item to cover operating expense. Rather, it is whether the amount levied for such purpose is discriminatory as between plaintiffs and other city property owners who are required to pay a sewerage-rental charge equal to 100 per cent of their city water bills. By reason of the provisions of sec. 66.076 (9) (quoted in footnote 1), jurisdiction to determine this issue of discriminatory charges is vested in the public service commission, not this court. However, in fairness to plaintiffs' counsel it should be noted that the argument here advanced by plaintiffs is that of want of power, not discrimination.