City of Irving v. Dallas County Flood Control Dist.

• Decision Date: 19 March 1964
• Docket Number: No. 26,26
• Citation: 377 S.W.2d 215
• Parties: CITY OF IRVING, Appellant, v. DALLAS COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT et al., Appellees.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

Page 215

377 S.W.2d 215

CITY OF IRVING, Appellant, v. DALLAS COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT et al., Appellees.

No. 26.

Court of Civil Appeals of Texas, Tyler.

March 19, 1964.

Rehearing Denied April 9, 1964.

C. J. Taylor, Jr., City Atty., City of Irving, Irving, for appellant.

Henry Kucera, City Atty., City of Dallas, Scurry, Scurry & Hodges, Henry Wade, Dist. Atty., Dallas County, Dallas, for appellees.

MOORE, Justice.

This is an appeal from an order of the trial court granting a temporary injunction, enjoining the appellant, City of Irving, from passing on a final reading of its annexation ordinances 833 and 834, attempting to annex a portion of City and County of Dallas Levee Improvement District and Dallas County Levee Improvement District No. 5. The suit was filed by Dallas County Flood Control District, joined by Dallas County Levee Improvement District No. 5 and also by City and County of Dallas Levee Improvement District. The City of Dallas, as well as the State of Texas, both intervened in the suit, joining plaintiffs in their application for injunctive relief against appellant, City of Irving.

The trial court granted appellees a temporary restraining order and after a hearing, the court granted a temporary injunction against the appellant, City of Irving, enjoining the city from passing the annexation ordinances, above referred to, on the ground that Article 974e-8, Vernon's Ann.Tex.St., prohibits a city of less than 425,000 population from annexing any territory within a levee district in this state. The City of Irving excepted to this portion of the judgment and has perfected this appeal.

Appellees, plaintiffs in the court below, in addition to their contention that the City of Irving was ineligible under Art. 974e-8 to annex the territory, also contend that the ordinances were invalid because they include an area of the levee district which was within the city limits of the City of Dallas and further that the ordinances were invalid in that the field notes thereon describing the area to be annexed were so indefinite, uncertain, and ambiguous as to be void. Appellees sought to further enjoin the city from passing said ordinances as written or amending same before a final reading. The trial court refused to grant this portion of the requested injunctive relief and appellees have likewise perfected their appeal to that portion of the judgment.

A brief history of the background and developments in the area covered by the levee districts in question will be helpful in analyzing the problem.

The two levee districts, named above, were originally created prior to 1926 by Constitutional Amendment followed by special enabling statutes by the Legislature. The purpose of their creation was to protect the property along the Trinity River which flowed through the city limits of the City of Dallas. The two districts sold bonds and cleared the land for the floodway, built levees on each side of the river and set up pump stations to accomplish their purpose in flood control. During the 1930s the districts fell into financial distress and in order to protect its property and citizens, the City of Dallas for a number of years lent financial assistance to the two districts in meeting their operating expenses. In 1945 the Legislature created the Dallas County Flood Control Cistrict, which encompassed both of the abovenamed levee districts. The purpose of this action was to attempt to place the whole system of levees and flood control under one operating management and to attempt to place the same on a sound financial basis. Thereafter, the U. S. Corps of Engineers instituted a program in cooperation with the Flood Control District and the City of Dallas to improve the system at a cost of approximately ten million dollars. The City of Dallas contributed approximately three hundred thousand dollars to this undertaking. According to the record, the entire project has always been in financial trouble and under the existing tax structure will in all probability continue to have trouble in meeting the operating expense amounting to approximately $250,000.00 per annum. The City of Dallas is vitally interested in the proper up-keep, maintenance and control of the two districts due to the fact that the levees on the east and west side of the river, together protect property lying and other equipment, protect property lying within the City of Dallas from the overflow of the river. The property sought to be protected includes the Dallas County Courthouse as well as a large portion of the commercial district of the city with a valuation in excess of one billion dollars. The levee system was not shown to be instrumental in protecting the City of Irving. It is without dispute that the population of the City of Irving is less than 425,000, same being approximately 60,000.

The area sought to be annexed to the City of Irving is a long strip of land approximately one-half mile in width and six miles in length, extending from the east city limits line of the City of Irving down the diversion channel of the Trinity River and lying between the east and west levees thereof to a point at or near the Commerce Street viaduct in Dallas. The area covers approximately 4,000 acres. It has been cleared for the floodway and contains no improvements except for five pump stations used in connection with the project. The area is subject to overflow, and it cannot be used for any purpose other than a floodway.

This controversy will necessarily involve the construction to be given Chapter 326, p. 561, of the Acts of 52nd Legislature, 1951, and codified as Art. 974e-8.

The preamble and other pertinent portions of the Act are as follows:

'An Act prescribing the powers, duties and obligations of cities including Home Rule cities and those operating under General Laws or special charters having a population in excess of four hundred twenty-five thousand (425,000) inhabitants with reference to properties of levee improvement districts which have heretofore been annexed or which may hereafter be annexed by such cities; providing a savings clause; and declaring an emergency.'

'Section 1. Any city, including Home Rule cities and those operating under General Laws or special charters, having a population in excess of four hundred twenty-five thousand (425,000) according to the last preceding Federal Census, which has heretofore annexed or may hereafter annex all of the territory within a levee improvement district organized under the laws of the State of Texas, shall take over the properties and assets and shall assume all debts, liabilities and obligations and perform all functions and services of such district, and such district shall be abolished.'

The remainder of Section 1 sets out the duties and obligations of such cities when any part or all of the district is annexed.

Section 2 contains only the savings clause, and Section 3 the emergency clause, which recites:

'The fact that there is not any law applicable to the annexation by cities of territory situated within levee improvement district * * * creates an emergency and an imperative public necessity that the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be read on three several days in each House be suspended * * *.'

By points one and two, appellant contends that the trial court erred in ruling that only a city of more than 425,000 is empowered to annex territory within a levee improvement district and thereby abused its discretion in enjoining the city from annexing the territory because Article 974e-8 does not prohibit such action, and Article 11, Section 5, Vernon's Ann.St. of the Constitution of this State empowers Home Rule cities such as appellant to annex any territory so long as the territory sought to be annexed is (1) adjacent to the city and (2) is not within the boundaries of another municipality.

Appellant further contends that Article 974e-8 has no application to the facts in this case, because such statute is only a special statute, merely defining the powers, duties and responsibilities of cities of over 425,000 population which choose to annex levee improvement districts.

The question of legislative intent being in issue, such intention must be ascertained from the provisions of the act itself, as well as related acts and the terms of the Constitution in accordance with the established rules of construction.

In construing statutes there is no inflexible rule. The dominant rule to be observed is to give effect to the intention of the Legislature. Generally, the intent and meaning is obtained primarily from the language of the statute. In arriving at the intent and purpose of the law, it is proper to consider the history of the subject matter involved, the end to be obtained, the mischief to be remedied and the purpose to be accomplished. Magnolia Petroleum Company v. Walker, 125 Tex. 430, 83 S.W.2d 929; Calvert v. Fort Worth National Bank, 163 Tex. 405, 356 S.W.2d 918.

Another rule of statutory construction is that it is the duty of the court to examine the entire act and construe it as a whole. By 'entire act' is meant the caption or preamble, the body of the act, and the emergency clause. Popham v. Patterson, 121 Tex. 615, 51 S.W.2d 680; Anderson v. Penix, 138 Tex. 596, 161 S.W.2d 455.

Also it must be presumed that the Legislature acted with full knowledge of all existing statutes, and especially those dealing with the subject matter under consideration. Hurt v. Oak Downs, Tex.Civ.App., 85 S.W.2d 294.

It must be further presumed that the Legislature acted with knowledge of all prior decisions upon the subject matter under consideration. Gabbert v. City of Brownwood, Tex., Tex.Civ.App., 176 S.W.2d 344, err. ref.

With these rules in mind, we turn now to an examination of the act from its four corners.

At the outset it will be observed that in the emergency clause the Legislature expressly declares 'there is not any law applicable to the annexation by cities of...