Court Opinion

ID: 9793414
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 02:47:15.509007+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:04:50.718090
License: Public Domain

Mallery, J.
(dissenting)—I dissent because (1) I think the majority draws unwarranted conclusions of law from the facts herein, and (2) the remedy for the supposed evil is (a) inappropriate, (b) without sanction of law, and (c) unconstitutional.
(1) There is nothing in the record to impugn the good faith of the public utility district commissioners in preparing and filing the proposed budget, which was done in strict conformity with the law. No one contends it did not fairly represent their state of mind when it was filed. The record is clear that it was subsequent to the filing of the proposed budget that the commissioners changed their minds regarding the desirability of levying a tax to implement a study of the feasibility of taking over the electrical transmission facilities in the district.
The majority’s conclusion that there was bad faith and deception on the part of the public utility district commissioners has no factual support other than the bare fact of this change, which was reflected in the final budget. If the change violated the law, I could agree with the inference of bad faith. Such a conclusion does not follow, however, if the statute contemplates such changes.
The statute does contemplate that the budget, as finally adopted, may differ from the proposed budget, and it does not limit the extent of the change which may be *240made. The preparation and filing of a proposed budget serves no purpose other than to implement the legislative intent to subject the final budget to the influence of public opinion. The sum total of the taxpayers’ right in the matter is simply to be heard, and, to this end, the statute requires a notice of the time and place of the hearing.
If the statute did not contemplate changes in the final budget after the filing of the proposed budget, the provision for a hearing would be meaningless, and the proposed budget would, in fact, be the final budget.
The change in question was made within the statutory power of the commissioners. The conclusion of the majority that it was in bad faith and deceptive has no basis other than the erroneous conclusion that any change is deceptive per se.
The taxpayer has a right to be heard, nothing more. Bare notice of the time and place of the hearing discharges the duty of the commissioners in this regard. The taxpayer must be held to know, as a matter of law, that changes in the proposed budget may be considered and they may be adopted in the final budget. If a taxpayer cares to exercise his right to be heard, he must attend the hearing. He cannot complain of any turn of events culminating at the hearing either in his presence or his absence. In any event, a hearing pursuant to notice of time and place satisfies in full his right to be heard.
(2) (a) The remedy herein is inappropriate for the supposed wrong suffered by the taxpayers in being deprived of the right to be heard. The right to be heard does not include the right to influence or control the result of the hearing. Having no justiciable interest in the substance of the final budget, they have no right to modify or nullify it by a decree of court. Their right, in a proper case where the requirement of notice of hearing was not substantially complied with, would at most call for a hearing to be had upon proper notice.
A taxpayer has a right to compel public officials to comply with the law, but not to exercise their discretion in any particular way in matters of administrative policy. Thus, *241if a contract is required to be let on bids, a taxpayer may compel compliance with the requirement that it be so made. A taxpayer may only seek compliance with the law, he cannot as a member of a dissident minority procure a judicial veto of the administrative policies of the constituted authorities.
The budget and tax levy here in question have the full sanction of law, and the decision of the commissioners is not reviewable as to the policy adopted. Hence, the injunction in question is not relevant or appropriate to the wrong asserted.
(2) (b) The majority holding that the commissioners cannot exercise their power to levy the tax in question is predicated upon their inferred deception of the taxpayers. It is an application of the doctrine of estoppel which is implemented by the injunction. Such an injunction has no sanction in law because the doctrine of estoppel cannot be invoked against public officials by way of forfeiting their power to act on behalf of the public within the limits of their authority.
(2) (c) The injunction is an unconstitutional exercise of power. The taxpayer has no justiciable right in the policies adopted by the commissioners and cannot control them by court action. The decision to tax or not to tax, in conformity with the power conferred upon the commissioners by law, is administrative in nature and is not subject to judicial review. The injunction is a judicial invasion of the administrative branch of the government.
I dissent.
Finley, RosEllini, and Hunter, JJ., concur with Mallery, J.