Board of Educ. v. Sandy City Corp.

• Decision Date: 04 May 2004
• Docket Number: No. 20020020.,20020020.
• Citation: 2004 UT 37,94 P.3d 234
• Parties: BOARD OF EDUCATION OF JORDAN SCHOOL DISTRICT, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. SANDY CITY CORPORATION, Defendant and Appellee.
• Court: Utah Supreme Court

94 P.3d 234

2004 UT 37

BOARD OF EDUCATION OF JORDAN SCHOOL DISTRICT, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. SANDY CITY CORPORATION, Defendant and Appellee.

No. 20020020.

Supreme Court of Utah.

May 4, 2004.

Blake T. Ostler, Bountiful, for plaintiff.

Jody K. Burnett, Salt Lake City, Bryce D. McEuen, Sandy, for defendant.

Stephen C. Earl, Orem, for amicus City of Orem.

Brinton R. Burbidge, Thomas C. Anderson, Salt Lake City, for amicus Utah School Boards Assoc.

Steven W. Allred, Salt Lake City, for amici Salt Lake City Corp. and Utah League of Cities & Towns.

PARRISH, Justice:

¶ 1 In this appeal, we decide whether section 10-9-106 of the Utah Code precludes a municipality from charging school districts a monthly storm sewer drainage fee. The Jordan School District appeals from an order of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of Sandy City on this issue. We affirm the district court's decision.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

¶ 2 In 1999, the Sandy City Council adopted Ordinance No. 99-16, establishing a storm sewer drainage utility. The ordinance was adopted pursuant to the city's general welfare powers under Utah Code section 10-8-84 (1999). The purposes and objectives of the ordinance, as listed therein, are to (1) "[p]rovide and maintain an adequate storm sewer drainage system for handling storm water runoff"; (2) "[p]rovide fair, equitable and non-discriminatory rates for using the storm sewer drainage system which user fees will generate sufficient revenues for operating, improving, and maintaining the storm sewer drainage utility adequately"; (3) establish a policy that fees should be set after the consideration of specific factors; and (4) establish standards and guidelines for the discharge of storm water which comply with requirements of the federal Clean Water Act. ¶ 3 The ordinance specifies a method for calculating user rates based largely on the amount of impervious surface on a piece of real property. Monthly fees are collected and managed separately from other city funds. The ordinance provides for a reduction of the monthly fee for non-residential properties having on-site storm water collection facilities approved by the city. In addition, the ordinance establishes an appeals process for non-residential property owners who wish to contest the monthly billing amount assigned to their properties.

¶ 4 Jordan School District ("Jordan") operates a high school and numerous middle and elementary schools within the boundaries of Sandy City. Shortly after the city's adoption of the storm sewer drainage utility ordinance, Jordan filed a declaratory judgment action challenging the city's authority to charge a school district the monthly fees.

¶ 5 Based on their apparent assessment that the case turned only on issues of statutory construction, the parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment on the narrow legal question of "whether the City has authority under Utah Code Ann. § 10-9-106(2) to charge and collect a storm sewer drainage fee for services provided to properties owned by the Jordan School District." Restricting itself to the legal question framed by the parties, the district court held that section 10-9-106(2) did not prohibit Sandy City's collection of such a fee. It accordingly granted Sandy City's motion and denied Jordan's motion. Thereafter, the parties jointly moved to dismiss their remaining claims without prejudice. The district court granted that motion, and this appeal followed.

¶ 6 On appeal, Jordan argues that the district court incorrectly interpreted section 10-9-106. Jordan contends that section 10-9-106 prohibits municipalities from imposing fees on school districts with the exception of those fees specified therein. Because storm sewer drainage fees are not specified, Jordan contends that Sandy City may not impose such fees on Jordan. In response, Sandy City argues that section 10-9-106 applies only to those fees arising from a municipality's land use development regulation and therefore does not prevent a municipality from collecting service fees associated with the operation and maintenance of a municipality's storm sewer drainage system. Sandy City also relies on section 17A-3-315 of the Utah Code, which specifically recognizes that a municipality may impose charges on governmental entities, including school districts, for services provided by the municipality. Utah Code Ann. § 17A-3-315 (1999). Jordan responds that section 17A-3-315 is irrelevant because the fees at issue should be classified as impact fees, rather than service fees contemplated under section 17A-3-315.

¶ 7 We first address whether section 10-9-106 of the Utah Code precludes the imposition of service fees on a school district. We then turn to the question of whether Sandy City's storm sewer drainage fee may properly be categorized as a service fee.

ANALYSIS

I. STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 8 We review questions of statutory interpretation for correctness, giving no deference to the district court's interpretation. Parks v. Utah Transit Auth., 2002 UT 55, ¶ 4, 53 P.3d 473. Our aim in construing a statute is to give effect to the legislature's intent in light of the purpose the statute was meant to achieve. In re Marriage of Gonzalez, 2000 UT 28, ¶ 23, 1 P.3d 1074.

¶ 9 Pursuant to our rules of statutory construction, we look first to the statute's plain language to determine its meaning. Lovendahl v. Jordan Sch. Dist., 2002 UT 130, ¶ 21, 63 P.3d 705. "We read the plain language of the statute as a whole, and interpret its provisions in harmony with other statutes in the same chapter and related chapters." Miller v. Weaver, 2003 UT 12, ¶ 17, 66 P.3d 592; see also Perrine v. Kennecott Mining Corp., 911 P.2d 1290, 1292 (Utah 1996)

("[S]tatutory enactments are to be so construed as to render all parts thereof relevant and meaningful." (citation and quotation omitted)); Bus. Aviation of S.D., Inc. v. Medivest, Inc., 882 P.2d 662, 665 (Utah 1994) ("[T]erms of a statute are to be interpreted as a comprehensive whole and not in a piecemeal fashion." (citation and quotation omitted)); Jerz v. Salt Lake County, 822 P.2d 770, 773 (Utah 1991) ("It is our duty to construe each act of the legislature so as to give it full force and effect. When a construction of an act will bring it into serious conflict with another act, our duty is to construe the acts to be in harmony and avoid conflicts."). In addition, "[i]t is axiomatic that a statute should be given a reasonable and sensible construction and that the legislature did not intend an absurd or unreasonable result." State ex rel. Div. of Consumer Prot. v. GAF Corp., 760 P.2d 310, 313 (Utah 1988) (citations omitted).

II. SECTION 10-9-106 DOES NOT PROHIBIT THE IMPOSITION OF SERVICE FEES

¶ 10 Jordan argues that the plain language of section 10-9-106 prohibits Sandy City from imposing a storm drain fee on a school district. Section 10-9-106 provides, in relevant part, as follows:

(1)(a) Each county, municipality, school district, special district, and political subdivision of Utah shall conform to the land use and development ordinances of any municipality when installing, constructing, operating, or otherwise using any area, land, or building situated within that municipality only in a manner or for a purpose that conforms to that municipality's ordinances.

....

(2) A school district is subject to a municipality's land use regulations under this chapter, except that a municipality may not:

...

(c) require a district to pay fees not authorized by this section[.]

Utah Code Ann. § 10-9-106 (2000).

¶ 11 Under Jordan's reading of section 10-9-106, a municipality is not authorized to charge a school district any fee that is not specifically enumerated within the section. Because the section does not mention storm sewer drainage fees,¹ Jordan argues that such fees are prohibited.

¶ 12 Sandy City argues that the interpretation of section 10-9-106 proposed by Jordan ignores both the plain statutory language and the context in which it is found. Sandy City further argues that Jordan's proposed interpretation of section 10-9-106 would bring it into unnecessary conflict with other applicable statutory provisions and would produce an unreasonable and illogical result. We agree with Sandy City.

¶ 13 By its plain language, section 10-9-106 operates to preclude imposition of only those fees arising under land use regulations of chapter 9 of title 10 of the Utah Code. Subsection (2) of section 10-9-106 specifically states that school districts are "subject to a municipality's land use regulations under this chapter, except that a municipality may not ... require a district to pay fees not authorized by this section." Id. § 10-9-106(2), (2)(c) (emphasis added). The commonly accepted usage of the word "except" is to provide a limitation or qualification to the immediately preceding language. Such a limitation, by its very nature, precludes application of this narrow statutory exception in a land use context to a broader range of general statutory provisions unrelated to municipal land use regulation.

¶ 14 The context of the prohibition against unauthorized fees dictates the same result. We have long recognized that context is an important consideration in statutory interpretation. Because context is important, the "terms of a statute are to be interpreted as a comprehensive whole and not in a piecemeal fashion." Bus. Aviation of S.D., Inc. v. Medivest, Inc., 882 P.2d 662, 665 (Utah 1994) (citations and quotation omitted).

¶ 15 When read in context, the proscription on fees has a fairly limited application. Subsection (c), like the other subsections of paragraph (2), operates as an exception to the general rule that school districts must abide by "a municipality's land use regulations under [chapter 9 of the Utah Code]." Utility service fees of the type at issue here, however, are not properly categorized as fees arising under land use regulations of chapter 9.

¶ 16 Chapter...