Court Opinion

ID: 9585895
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:04:54.117177+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:24:16.521645
License: Public Domain

SCHROEDER, Justice,
concurring in part, dissenting in part.
I concur 'with the determinations of the court except the conclusion in Part III that the city is not immune under the discretionary function exception embodied in I.C. § 6-904(1).
The Court correctly notes that “decisions involving a consideration of the financial, political, economic, and social effects of a particular plan are likely ‘discretionary and will be accorded immunity.” Lawton v. City of Pocatello and Garda, 126 Idaho 454, 460, 886 P.2d 330, 336 (1994). This statement is consistent with Lewis v. Estate of Smith, 111 Idaho 755, 727 P.2d 1183 (1986), in which the Court held that liability could not be imposed upon a city which decided not to provide regular fire inspections due to lack of funds. In Jones v. City of St. Maries, 111 Idaho 733, 736-37, 727 P.2d 1161 (1986), the Court made the following statement with regard to whether the city had assumed responsibility for the inspection of water mains and fire hydrants or whether it had made a policy decision to forego such inspections because of budgetary concerns:
If, for example, the evidence on remand indicates that the city, due to budgetary *401constraints or other factors, made a policy decision not to inspect its water mains and fire hydrants, such a decision would be discretionary, as it would involve planning rather than operational activity, and the city would be immune from liability even if the decision was negligently made. If, on the other hand, the evidence indicates that the city had, in fact, assumed the responsibility for inspecting and maintaining the fire hydrants and water mains at issue, then it would be obligated to perform those activities with due care and would be correspondingly hable for any failure to do so.
In the case at hand Pocatello adopted an ordinance which contained a general disclaimer of liability stating that persons using the airport and its facilities did so at their own risk. The Court concludes that this ordinance does not establish that the city made a planning decision not to maintain the tie-downs. However, the ordinance is not the only evidence of the planning decision. The Court acknowledges that, “the airport manager testified outside the jury’s presence that the city passed the ordinance in response to budgetary constraints and to limit liability claims by private plane owners who used the tie-downs unsupervised.” The fact that the testimony was outside the presence of the jury is irrelevant since the district court determined as a matter of law that the city was not immune. In addition to the airport manager’s post-trial live testimony, the city submitted an affidavit by the manager in support of its pretrial motion for summary judgment on the governmental immunity issue. The airport manager stated in the affidavit that, “the policy decision to limit liability exposure was based upon budgetary constraints incurred by the City of Pocatello in maintaining operations at the Pocatello Regional Airport.” That statement of fact was not disputed in this record. In its memorandum decision and order denying the city’s motion for summary judgment the trial court noted that, “at the time of the tie-down failure, the City stated that it had no plans in place for the maintenance of the tie-downs, citing budget constraints.” However, the trial court concluded that:
It cannot be said that the maintenance of aircraft tie-downs has anything to do with policy formation. It is either the implementation of City policy, or at the very least, something separate and distinct from policy formation. Thus, on the basis of the ordinance provisions, and because the City’s actions did not involve the formation of policy, the City receives no tort immunity from Idaho Code § 6-904.
The record indicates that the city was not maintaining tie-downs because of budget constraints. Therefore, the case falls within the reasoning of Lawton, Lewis, and Jones. The determination that the city is not immune under the discretionary function exception is in error.