Powell v. City of Madison

• Decision Date: 22 June 1886
• Citation: 8 N.E. 31,107 Ind. 106
• Parties: Powell v. City of Madison and others.
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

107 Ind. 106

8 N.E. 31

Powell

v.City of Madison and others.

Supreme Court of Indiana.

June 22, 1886.

Appeal from Jefferson circuit court.

John McGregor and Leland & Leland, for appellant. Korbly & Ford, C. E. Walker, and M. D. Wilson, for appellees.

Niblack, J.

This was a suit for an injunction. The complaint was as follows:

“Edward E. Powell, on behalf of himself and others who are citizens of the city of Madison, in the county of Jefferson, in the state of Indiana, and tax-payers to said city, but whose names are too numerous to mention, plaintiff, for substituted complaint in said cause, complains of the city of Madison, a municipal corporation, situated in said county and state, and incorporated under the general laws of said state for the incorporation of cities, and Joseph T. Brashear, the mayor of said city, and John A. Zuck, the clerk of said city, defendants, and says that he, the plaintiff, is a resident citizen of said city, and a tax-payer to said city, and that said defendant city of Madison was, on the fourteenth day of March, 1881, and long prior thereto, such municipal corporation; that at said time, to-wit, March 14, 1881, the said city of Madison was indebted in the sum of two hundred and thirty thousand dollars, and that the value of the taxable property within said city as valued in the assessment for state and county taxes for the year 1880, which was the last assessment for the state and county taxes previous to said time, to-wit, March 14, 1881, was three million three hundred and two thousand eight hundred and fifty dollars, and that said indebtedness was largely in excess of two per centum of the said valuation of the said taxable property within said city, and was almost seven per centum of the said valuation of said property; that said indebtedness of said city was on March 14, 1881, evidenced by the negotiable bonds of said city, and the notes or orders of said city, to-wit, the sum of one hundred thousand dollars in the negotiable bonds of said city, known as the ‘Water-works Bonds,’ which bore interest at eight per centum per annum, and mature August 1, 1892, and the further sum of one hundred and thirty thousand dollars in the notes or orders of said city, and which matured at different times, and bore interest at six per centum per annum; that of the said indebtedness of one hundred and thirty thousand dollars, consisting of the notes or orders of said city, and so existing on March 14, 1881, only $6,871.18 remain unpaid or not renewed; that the residue of said debt has been paid or renewed from time to time since March 14, 1881, by the issue of new notes or orders of said city, and, in many cases, with accumulated interest, which could not be paid by the city out of its revenues after paying the necessary expenses of the city government, and lighting the city, for street repairs, schools, etc., until now the debt of said city, evidenced by such notes or orders, is the sum of one hundred and forty-one thousand nine hundred and eighty-seven dollars and forty-three cents, which sum is in excess of the said sum of one hundred and thirty thousand dollars more than eleven thousand dollars, and that the said indebtedness of $141,987.43, so evidenced by the notes or orders of said city, draws interest at six per centum per annum; that on the fourth day of March, 1886, the said city was indebted in the sum of two hundred and forty-one thousand dollars or more, which debt consisted of said one hundred thousand dollars water-works bonds, which were still outstanding and unpaid, and the further sum of one hundred and forty-one thousand dollars or more of the notes or orders of said city, and that the whole of said indebtedness is still outstanding and unpaid, and that the value of the taxable property within said city, as valued in the assessment for state and county purposes for the year 1885 is three million three hundred and thirty-seven thousand two hundred and twenty-five dollars, and which is the last assessment made for state and county purposes, and that said indebtedness of said city is now greatly in excess of two per centum of the said valuation of the said taxable property within said city, and is more than seven per centum of the said valuation of said property.

The plaintiff further says that for the alleged purpose of funding the sum of one hundred and four thousand dollars of said indebtedness of said city in the four per centum negotiable bonds of said city, payable eight thousand dollars each year for a period of thirteen years, commencing two years from date, to bear interest at four per centum per annum, payable semi-annually, principal and interest, at the National Branch Bank, in said city, and called the ‘Funding Bonds of the City of Madison,’ the common council of said city did on the fourth day of March, 1886, pass the preamble and ordinance which reads as follows, to-wit:

‘An ordinance adopted by the common council of the city of Madison, state of Indiana, to fund a portion of the indebtedness of said city, under section 3230, Revised Statutes 1881, enrolled March 4, 1886.

Whereas, said city of Madison has a voting population of less than sixteen thousand, as shown by the votes cast for governor at the last preceding election, and having an indebtedness, evidenced by the bonds, notes, and other obligations of said city, exceeding $104,000, which debt is drawing a rate of interest of six per cent. per annum, and some of it a greater rate of annual interest; and whereas, said city had not the present means for payment of said debt, or any considerable part thereof, without the levy of most oppressive taxes; and whereas, on and ever since the fourteenth day of March, 1881, said city has been and is now indebted, by her bonds, notes, and other obligations, in an amount greatly exceeding two per cent. on the amount of her taxable property, as shown each year since 1881, by the assessment of taxable property of said city for state and county purposes for the last and each preceding year of said period; and whereas, many of said outstanding city bonds, notes, and other city obligations of debt have been renewed by the like city evidences of debt, because of the inability of the city to pay the same; and whereas, we, the common council of said city, believe it will be for the best interest of the city and tax-payers to fund one hundred and four thousand dollars ($104,000) of said indebtedness into 4 per cent. city bonds payable within fifteen years, in equal annual installments, at the National Branch Bank of Madison, in said city, bearing interest payable semi-annually, said bonds to be of the denominations of $50, $100, $500, and $1,000 each, and to be exchanged for the said outstanding city bonds, notes, and other obligations representing city indebtedness prior to March 14, 1881, at par; therefore,

Section 1. Be it ordained by the common council of the city of Madison, by a vote of more than two-thirds of her said common council, to-wit, by a vote of eleven of the twelve members of said common council, that said city will, for the purpose of funding her said debt aforesaid, issue her bonds under her seal, signed by her mayor and city clerk, for said sum of one hundred and four thousand dollars, ($104,000,) payable $8,000 each year for a period of thirteen years, commencing two years after date, to bear interest at 4 per cent. per annum, the interest payable semi-annually, principal and interest payable at the National Branch Bank of Madison, in said city, said bonds to be of the denominations of $50, $100, $500, and $1,000 each, and called “Funding Bonds of the City of Madison,” with interest warrants attached,...