Court Opinion

ID: 9567319
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 19:52:13.071083+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T10:00:32.437347
License: Public Domain

MOISE, Justice (dissenting). I find myself unable to agree with the opinion in this case. There can be no question that when appellant sold and appellee purchased the lots in- question, the binder provided for assumption by appellee of “water and sewer assessments at not more than $216.84 per lot.” The- printed portion of the binder stated that the sellers should furnish an abstract of title or title insurance “showing merchantable title clear of liens and assessments except as set out herein. * * * ” The contract signed by the parties failed to mention the limit on the amount of water and sewer assessments to be assumed by the purchasers, but the omission was an error or oversight and the limitation as stated in the binder should be read into the contract. Appellant does not argue otherwise. As I see it, the only issue present is one of interpretation of the agreement in the light of the facts and circumstances. See 59 A.L.R.2d 1044, 1047, quoted in the majority opinion. To arrive at the meaning of the contract, it is necessary that we determine if the $58.23 “tap fee” charged by the City under its policy 7(d) was a “lien or assessment.” That it was not seems clear to me. It had none of the attributes of a lien or assessment. For a definition of “assessment” see 48 Am.Jur. 565, Special or Local Assessments, § 3. In City of Roswell v. Bateman, 20 N.M. 77, 146 P. 950, L.R.A.1917D, 365 (1914), this cortrt generally discussed the use of special assessments for the purpose of making local improvements. The “tap in” charge here at issue is to my mind more nearly like the “service charge” discussed by us in City of Clovis v. Crain, 68 N.M. 10, 357 P.2d 667, 88 A.L.R.2d 1243 (1960). For a case passing upon the nature of a charge almost identical to that here being considered, see City of De Pere v. Public Service Commission, 266 Wis. 319, 63 N.W.2d 764 (1954). In that case the city water department, in addition to a $25.00 fee to tap the main, undertook after a certain date to charge $1.25 per running foot of real estate to be served, which amount was to be collected from anyone seeking to connect to a water main. The charge was provided for in an ordinance ■duly enacted by the city. In holding that the charge was not an assessment but a charge for service over which the public service commission had jurisdiction the court had the following to say: “ * * * An assessment differs from a general tax, however, in that it is imposed to pay for an improvement which benefits a specific property within the political divisions imposing it. For that reason an assessment is always made against the land in proportion as it enhances the value of that land, and it fixes a lien on the land. In the instant case, it was stipulated that the charge was not carried on the books of the city as a special assessment against specific property which abuts the main, the payment for which is proposed to be recouped. Neither is it shown in the record as a lien against the real estate.” The charge in the instant case clearly was not fixed as a lien on the property, nor was it shown in the records as a lien. See 10A Thompson on Real Property (1957 Replacement) § 5314. Neither was it carried on the books of the city as a special assessment against the lots. The following additional cases are cited as helpful and instructive: Boardman-Smith Corp. v. Sherman, 176 Pa.Super. 302, 107 A.2d 202 (1954); Perkinpine v. Hogan, 47 Pa.Super. 22 (1911); Gilham v. Real Estate Title Ins. and Trust Co., 203 Pa. 24, 52 A. 85 (1902); District Title Ins. Co. v. United States, 83 U.S.App.D.C. 335, 169 F.2d 308 (1948). Inasmuch as I am unconvinced that under the contract between the parties and the law cited above, the “tap fee” of $58.23 per lot was in any sense an assessment but, to the contrary, am convinced it was simply a charge for bringing water to a particular lot, similar to a meter charge or service charge, I respectfully dissent from the opinion which affirms the trial court. I would reverse.