Court Opinion

ID: 9846729
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 03:47:10.117065+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:19:46.615486
License: Public Domain

Justice Meyer
concurring.
I concur in all aspects of the majority opinion and desire to respond to the dissent filed herein by Justice Exum. The dissent concludes that the Town of Spring Hope’s rates were increased solely to pay for “maintaining” the new water treatment facility, *253and because this maintenance service could not begin until the new plant went on line, it was this point in time that “marks the moment at which the town was actually ‘furnishing’ the service (maintenance) for which the increased water and sewer charges were being collected.” Finding of Fact No. 5 is a finding that the water and sewer rates were increased to help pay for “the new water treatment facility.” This cannot be interpreted as a finding that the increase was for “maintenance” only of the new facility. This finding is supported by the very testimony relied upon by the dissenter to show that the increase was due solely to “maintenance” of the new plant. The mayor’s testimony is indeed uncontradicted as pointed out in the dissent. The testimony of the mayor in the record before us is more fully set out in pertinent part as follows:
The minutes of the Town Board Meeting increasing the rates made no mention of the reason for the increase, but the increased rates were made necessary at least in part by the need to finance the new water treatment plant, both its construction, operation and maintenance. When the rate increase was voted in June, 1979, the new waste water treatment plant was nearly completed, but not then in operation. The new plant was put into operation in December, 1979.
It was apparent to all that a substantial part of the cost of the new facility would have [to] be borne or paid by the Town and that this cost would come from increased water and sewer rates or the additional revenues would be produced by water and sewer rates and in compliance with instructions we received from other governmental authorities as to how the Town would manage the extra expense, on May 21, 1974, the Town adopted a resolution concerning water and sewer rates setting out that the Town of Spring Hope proposed to improve and/or enlarge its waste water treatment facilities and that the Town’s share of the costs would be produced from water and sewer rates. The Town resolved to adopt such necessary water and sewer rates as may be required to fund the operating and maintenance costs, capital reserve costs and other applicable costs of its water and sewer systems.
*254Throughout preparation for and work on the improved facilities the Town officials were advised by state and federal agencies that the Town’s part of the cost of improvements could and should he financed by increased rates or charges to users of the Water-sewer system.
R. pp. 4, 6-7, 8 (emphasis added).
This testimony makes it amply clear that the rate increase was for financing the construction as well as the operation and maintenance of the facility. I frankly fail to understand the dissenter’s conclusion that the rate increase was imposed solely for “maintenance.”
I hasten to point out however that even if I could agree with the dissenter that the rate increase was solely for maintenance of a new facility, I believe that such increase is authorized by our statute even though it becomes effective prior to the time the new facility comes on line.
Justices Copeland, Carlton, and Mitchell join in this concurring opinion.