Court Opinion

ID: 9864373
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-25 12:55:04.61688+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:10:57.955046
License: Public Domain

OPINION OP REHEARING. In support of the petition for -rehearing filed by appellee it is insisted that the manifest purpose of the act was not only to authorize the construction of the proposed improvement, but to maintain it, and that this can be done only by the imposition and collection of' assessments in addition to those levied to pay the original construction cost, and that the act creating the district and the act amendatory thereof conferred this power. There can be no question that authority might be conferred upon an improvement district to. maintain the improvement and to levy and collect assessments for that purpose, these being in- addition to those levied to pay the original construction cost. The case of Rosselot v. Greene & Lawrence Drainage District, 137 Ark. 53, 207 S. W. 219, expressly so decides, but this right can be exercised only where.it has been conferred-as it was in the special act creating the Greene & Lawrence Drainage District. The property owner in that case had paid'the full amount of‘the betterment assessed against his property to pay the. construction costs and thereafter the commissioners of the drainage district extended an additional levy' against his land to pay the cost of cleaning out the ditches. The imposition of this tax was ;upheld, it'being said that section 20' of the act creating that district provided for the continuity of the district,, and that the directors might apply under that section to the county' courts of the two counties in which the district was situated, for an order levying additional taxes to clean out the ditches. Section 20 of that act reads as follows: “Section 20. The district shall not cease to exist upon the completion of its drainage system, hut shall continue to exist for the purpose of preserving the same, of keeping the ditches clear from obstruction and of extending, widening or deepening the ditches from time to time as it may he found advantageous to the district. “To this end, the directors may, from time to time, apply to the county courts of Greene and Lawrence Counties for the levying of additional taxes. Upon the filing of such petitions, notices shall he published by the clerics of Greene and Lawrence counties for two weeks in a newspaper published in said counties, and' any property owner seeking to resist such additional levy may appear at the next regular term of the county court óf the county in-which his lands are situate and urge his objections thereto, and either such property owners or the directors may appeal from the finding of the said county court.” We find no such authority here. The act here under review provides for a general assessment- common to all property in the district and for special assessments in each of the subdistriots, and for those assessments only. It. is the insistence of the property owner in the instant case that authority for additional assessments for maintenance is found in the amendatory act of 190-9 in which subdivision (o) of section 8 of the original act was amended. This amended section reads as follows: “Section 10. That subdivision (o) of section eight •■(8) of said act be. amended so as to read as follows: After the formation, of any subdistrict under the provi- . sions of this act,.tlie .said corporation, shall have power to levy special assessments upon -each item of said property included therein, in proportion to the benefits estimated to accrue thereto by reason of the construction of the improvement, for the making of which such subdis-trict was formed. Said special assessments may, by said corporation, be made payable in successive annual installments, for a period not to exceed twenty-five years, and they shall be of sufficient amount in the aggregate to pay the whole cost of the improvement, for the making of which that subdistrict was formed, and for the maintaining the same, and may be levied annually until all of the expense incurred in malting of said improvements with interest shall have been paid. Such levy may be made once for all, or for any stated period of time. If such improvement shall be paid for by issuing bonds as hereinafter provided for, the amount of such levy shall be sufficient not only to pay the principal of such bonds at maturity, but also to pay the interest thereon, and to pay all necessary expenses of keeping the drains and levees clean and in repair. And such levy may be increased or decreased by the board so as to meet the obligations and demands of the district or to prevent the unnecessary accumulation of funds.” (Page 826, Acts of 1909). This amended section does not confer authority to levy an assessment for both the construction and maintenance, but it provides that “such levy may be made once for all or for any stated period of time,” and that this assessment may be made payable in annual installments for a period not exceeding twenty-five years, and that they shall be of sufficient amount in the aggregate to pay the whole .cost of making the improvement and for maintaining the same, but this assessment is a single assessment, and, as is stated in the original opinion, it is not shown that the revenues derived under it are sufficient to meet the obligations of the district and pay for the maintenance cost as .well; and, as the original opinion also points out, the revenues of the district must be first applied to the discharge of the bonds of the subdistricts as they mature. As we find no authority to levy a special and separate assessment for maintenance cost as existed in the case of Rosselot v. Drainage District, supra, the original opinion is adhered to, and the petition for rehearing will be overruled.