Court Opinion

ID: 9679189
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 06:43:43.721814+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:11.181307
License: Public Domain

RICHARD B. TEITELMAN, Judge,
dissenting.
Article VI, section 27 required a vote of a majority of the qualified electors prior to issuing revenue bonds for the construction of the power plant at issue in this case. Therefore, I respectfully dissent.
Article VI, section 27 provides that a city may, by vote of a majority of qualified electors, issue revenue bonds for the purpose of constructing or improving “revenue producing water, sewer, gas or electric light works, heating or power plants.... ” In contrast, Article VI, section 27(b) provides that a city may, without a vote of the people, issue revenue bonds for the purpose of constructing or improving any facility to be leased to private corporations for “manufacturing, commercial, warehousing and industrial development purposes. ...” Section 27 applies to this case. Peculiar issued revenue bonds for the purpose of paying all or part of the cost of constructing a revenue producing power plant. However, prior to issuing the revenue bonds, the city did not obtain voter approval as required by section 27. The circuit court erred in holding the voter approval was not required.
The majority opinion avoids the necessity of voter approval by holding that sections 27 and 27(b) provide alternate methods of authorizing the issuance of revenue bonds. Although section 27 refers specifically to “power plants” and section 27(b) does not, the majority concludes that the word “commercial,” as used in section 27(b), must be broadly interpreted to include the generation of electricity by a power plant. While the word “commercial” is often used as a general reference to business-related activity, in this case, the word is used in a particular context. In section 27(b), the word “commercial” appears in the phrase “manufacturing, commercial, warehousing and industrial development....” The majority opinion does not utilize this context to support its broad interpretation and instead analyzes the word in isolation, with reference to King v. Laclede Gas Co., 648 S.W.2d 113 (Mo. banc 1983), a case which interpreted the word “commercial” as used in an unrelated tax statute. When a word is used in a list, the word is known by the company it keeps. See, State v. Bratina, 73 S.W.3d 625, 626 (Mo. banc 2002); Pollard v. Board of Police Com’rs, 665 S.W.2d 333, 345 (Mo. banc *9071984). The better approach would be to assess the meaning of the word “commercial” in the context in which the word is actually used.
When analyzed in context, the word “commercial” as used in section 27(b) does not readily encompass power plants. Section 27 refers to revenue producing power plants. Section 27(b) does not reference power plants. If, as the majority concludes, the word “commercial” as used in section 27(b) means all forms of commerce, including power plants, then the reference in section 27(b) to “manufacturing ... warehousing, and industrial development” is arguably superfluous, as all those activities would fall under the broad umbrella of commercial activity.
A better reconciliation of sections 27 and 27(b) can be had by simply applying, in context, the plain language of the constitutional provisions. Thus, section 27(b) applies to commercial and industrial development projects but not to the power plant in this case, as section 27 specifically requires voter approval of revenue bonds for power plants. That voter approval would be required prior to issuing revenue bonds for the construction of a power plant is reasonable, considering the potentially dramatic, negative effects that a nearby power plant can have on property values and community well-being.
The majority opinion, rather than reconciling sections 27 and 27(b), renders the voting requirement of section 27 practically meaningless. Where the constitution requires a vote of the people, courts should be reluctant to make that requirement optional. I would reverse the circuit court’s judgment to the extent it holds that there was no need for the people to vote on whether to issue the revenue bonds.