George v. City of Raceland
| Decision Date | 20 June 1939 |
| Parties | George v. City of Raceland. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky |
1. Municipal Corporations. — The statute empowering councils of cities of fifth class to order construction of sewers, and providing for payment of costs thereof, does not confer authority on council to construct sewage disposal plants or assess costs of such plant as part of sewer system against the property abutting or bordering sewer system (Ky. Stats., secs. 3643-1, 3643-3, 3643-7).
2. Municipal Corporations. — The omission from statutes empowering councils of cities of fifth class to construct sewers and providing for payment of costs thereof, of power to construct sewage disposals plants as part of sewer system, manifests legislative intent to withhold that power from cities of fifth class in view of provisions of statute expressly conferring such powers on cities of third and fourth class (Ky. Stats., secs. 3459f-1, 3579a-1, 3643-1, 3643-3, 3643-7).
3. Municipal Corporations. — A municipal corporation possesses only such powers as state through its Legislature has expressly or impliedly conferred on it.
4. Municipal Corporations. — Any doubt concerning the existence of a power of a municipality is resolved against the municipality.
5. Municipal Corporations. — Under statutes empowering councils of cities of fifth class to order construction of sewers and providing for payment of costs thereof, sewage disposal plants may not be treated as part of sewer system, and costs thereof may not be assessed against abutting property owners (Ky. Stats., secs. 3643-1, 3643-3, 3643-7).
Appeal from Greenup Circuit Court.
John Stanley for appellant.
John T. Diederich and William T. Smith for appellee.
Before Harvey Parker, Jr., Judge.
Reversing.
The question presented for decision by this appeal is whether the cost of a sewage disposal plant to be used in connection with a sanitary sewer system proposed to be constructed in Raceland, a city of the fifth class, may be assessed against property bordering and abutting on a sanitary sewer line or collecting system.
The lower court held that the city sewer system including the disposal plant should be treated as an integral whole for the purpose of making assessments against the property of a complaining taxpayer and others similarly situated and the taxpayer is appealing.
Section 3643-1, Kentucky Statutes, which is a part of charters of cities of the fifth class, empowers the council of such cities to order the construction of sewers and provides that the cost of such construction shall be paid out of the general funds of the town or by the owner of lots fronting and abutting thereon as the council in each case may determine; and Sections 3643-3 and 3643-7 relate to the costs of construction and method of assessing same. These are the only sections referred to in brief for respective parties and none of them expressly or by necessary implication confer authority upon the city council to construct sewage disposal plants or to assess the...
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