Haeflinger v. City of Wood Dale, 84-0001

• Decision Date: 31 December 1984
• Docket Number: No. 84-0001,84-0001
• Parties: , 84 Ill.Dec. 832 Edward HAEFLINGER, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CITY OF WOOD DALE, a municipal corporation, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

Page 1228

472 N.E.2d 1228

129 Ill.App.3d 674, 84 Ill.Dec. 832

Edward HAEFLINGER, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CITY OF WOOD DALE, a municipal corporation, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 84-0001.

Appellate Court of Illinois Second District.

Dec. 31, 1984.

Bradtke & Zimmerman, Erwin W. Jentsch, Mount Prospect, for defendant-appellant.

REINHARD, Justice:

Defendant, city of Wood Dale, appeals from a lower court grant of an injunction barring defendant from collecting sewer "user fees" from plaintiff, Edward Haeflinger, for sewer use prior to October 12, 1982, based upon the equitable theories of estoppel and laches.

On appeal, defendant maintains that the trial court improperly invoked the equitable defenses of estoppel and laches against defendant, a municipal corporation.

The facts in the instant case were agreed to below by written stipulation of the parties. In summary, the agreed facts provide that Edward Haeflinger, plaintiff, is the successor in interest to certain real estate located within the city of Wood Dale. The particular property is subject to an agreement between plaintiff's predecessors in title, the Masons, and defendant, executed on November 5, 1962. This agreement recited that defendant (then the village of Wood Dale) had installed a sanitary sewer system, and also contained provisions assessing fees for initial connections to the system pursuant to Wood Dale Ordinance No. 235. The 1962 agreement further provided that the Masons (plaintiff's predecessor in title) had an adequate septic tank and did not wish to make connection to the system at that time. The Masons did, however, agree to pay defendant the sum of $1,750, the full amount of the initial "connection fee." In return, the Masons obtained the right to make connections in the future, at their own expense, without incurring any further "connection fees" payable to defendant. This agreement, and the benefits conferred thereunder, also applied to any successors in interest to the Masons' property, namely plaintiff in the instant case. The 1962 agreement, did not contain any provisions pertaining to sanitary system "user fees," authorized by statute (see Ill.Rev.Stat.1981, ch. 24, par. 11-141-7), to be paid for sewer use after connection.

On October 12, 1982, while engaged in the construction of a new sewer system, defendant discovered plaintiff had previously made connection to the sewer system. At no time from November 5, 1962, until October 12, 1982, did the defendant municipality seek to collect sewer "user fees" from plaintiff. Defendant's records did, however, indicate that a sewer tax had been assessed against the property on April 25, 1974. On or about December 6, 1982, defendant filed a lien claim against plaintiff's property in the amount of $758.64 for approximately 8 1/2 years of prior sewer use. In response, on January 12, 1983, plaintiff filed a petition for equitable relief seeking a mandatory injunction ordering defendant to file a release of lien on the ground that defendant was precluded from enforcing its claim under the doctrines of equitable estoppel and laches.

After a hearing on the merits, based upon the agreed stipulation of facts, the trial court granted plaintiff's petition barring defendant from collecting any fees for sewer use prior to October 12, 1982. It is this ruling from which the defendant municipality appeals. Although no appellate brief was filed by the plaintiff, we may decide the merits of the appeal. First Capitol Mortgage Corp. v. Talandis Construction Corp. (1976), 63 Ill.2d 128, 345 N.E.2d 493.

While the trial court gave no explanation of its ruling, it is apparent from the arguments of counsel below that the court found the defendant was either equitably estopped or barred by laches from enforcing its claim. Although equitable estoppel and laches are usually asserted as affirmative defenses to a suit brought by another party, we perceive no difference in the application of the two doctrines in the context of plaintiff's action here for an injunction in which he raised estoppel and laches in his pleadings and assumed the burden to prove them. See Estes Company of Bettendorf, Iowa v. Employers Mutual Casualty Co. (1980), 79 Ill.2d 228, 236, 37 Ill.Dec. 611, 402 N.E.2d 613.

Defendant first contends that it is not estopped from collecting sewer "user fees" by reason of its failure to collect such fees in the past. Defendant asserts that a finding of equitable estoppel against a public body is not favored and accordingly, plaintiff has failed to overcome the increased burden of proof necessary to invoke the doctrine of equitable estoppel against a municipal corporation engaged in a governmental function.

Illinois law generally provides that the doctrine of equitable estoppel is applicable to municipal corporations. (Kenny Construction Co. v. Metropolitan Sanitary Dist. (1971), 52 Ill.2d 187, 197, 288 N.E.2d 1; Gregory v. City of Wheaton (1961), 23 Ill.2d 402, 408, 178 N.E.2d 358; Budka v. Board of Public Safety Commr's. (1983), 120 Ill.App.3d 348, 353, 75 Ill.Dec. 958, 458 N.E.2d 126.) However, where a governmental body is engaged in a matter of the exercise of its governmental functions, particularly those relating to public revenues, estoppel should only be invoked in extraordinary circumstances. People ex rel. Scott v. Chicago Thoroughbred Enterprises, Inc. (1973), 56 Ill.2d 210, 220, 306 N.E.2d 7; Tyska v. Board of Education (1983), 117 Ill.App.3d 917, 930-31, 73 Ill.Dec. 209, 453 N.E.2d 1344; County of Cook v. Patka (1980), 85 Ill.App.3d 5, 12-13, 40 Ill.Dec. 284, 405 N.E.2d 1376.

Parties seeking to invoke the doctrine of equitable estoppel against a municipality must establish: (1) an affirmative act on the part of the municipality; (2) that the affirmative act induced the complained-of action, and (3) that they substantially changed their position as a result of their justifiable reliance. (American National Bank and Trust Co. v. Arlington Hts. (1983), 115 Ill.App.3d 342, 347, 71 Ill.Dec. 210, 450 N.E.2d 898; Solomon v. City of Evanston (1975), 29 Ill.App.3d 782, 792, 331 N.E.2d 380.) The affirmative acts which induce reliance by a party must be acts of the municipality itself, such as legislation by a city council, rather than merely the unauthorized act of a ministerial officer or a ministerial misinterpretation. In re Application of Rosewell (1984), 126 Ill.App.3d 30, 35, 81 Ill.Dec. 428, 466 N.E.2d 1230. The construction and maintenance of a sewer system is a proper exercise of a municipality's governmental function. (See Ruth v. Aurora Sanitary District (1959), 17 Ill.2d 11, 20, 158 N.E.2d 601; Spalding v. Granite City (1953), 415 Ill. 274, 279, 113 N.E.2d 567; People ex rel. Chicago Title & Trust Co. v. Mission Brook Sanitary Dist. (1966), 76 Ill.App.2d 423, 428, 222 N.E.2d 8; see also, McQuillen, Municipal Corporations § 31-10, at 172 n. 7.55 (3d ed. 1983 & 1984 Supp.)). Therefore, plaintiff bears an increased burden of establishing extraordinary circumstances in order to invoke the doctrine of equitable estoppel against defendant in the present case.

An examination of the stipulated facts reveals that plaintiff, contrary to the finding of the court below, has not met this burden. Defendant's failure to collect user fees for a 20-year period is not the type of affirmative act or conduct upon which plaintiff could justifiably rely in invoking estoppel against a municipality. At the very most, defendant's conduct amounted to mere non-action or a ministerial misinterpretation on the part of the municipality and it is clear that these are insufficient grounds to work an estoppel. (Hickey v. Illinois Central R.R. Co. (1966), 35 Ill.2d 427, 448, 220 N.E.2d 415; Gregory v. City of Wheaton (1961), 23 Ill.2d 402, 408, 178 N.E.2d 358; Cook County v. Patka (1980), 85 Ill.App.3d 5, 13, 40 Ill.Dec. 284, 405 N.E.2d 1376.) Moreover, plaintiff, on this record, fails to establish how he substantially changed his position as a result of his reliance on the defendant's omission. Estoppel is based on...