St Louis Malleable Casting Co v. George Prendergast Construction Co

• Decision Date: 02 January 1923
• Docket Number: No. 154,154
• Citation: 260 U.S. 469,67 L.Ed. 351,43 S.Ct. 178
• Parties: ST. LOUIS MALLEABLE CASTING CO. v. GEORGE C. PRENDERGAST CONSTRUCTION CO
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

260 U.S. 469

43 S.Ct. 178

67 L.Ed. 351

ST. LOUIS MALLEABLE CASTING CO.

v GEORGE C. PRENDERGAST CONSTRUCTION CO.

No. 154.

Argued Dec. 7 and 8, 1922.

Decided Jan. 2, 1923.

Mr. Lambert E. Walter, of St. Louis, Mo., for plaintiff in error.

Mr. Wm. K. Koerner, of St. Louis, Mo., for defendant in error.

Mr. Justice McKENNA delivered the opinion of the Court.

Suit in equity to have declared invalid and canceled a tax bill issued against the property of plaintiff in error, herein designated as plaintiff, for the construction of sewers in Braden sewer district No. 2, city of St. Louis.

There is a charge of excess and resultant invalidity in the tax bill, because the taxing district (sewer district) does not contain tracts of land which it should contain and that are within its drainage area.

The Fourteenth Amendment is invoked against the tax: (1) In that the limits of the sewer district and the apportionment of the costs between the several lots or parcels of land and their respective owners, without a hearing being accorded, deny plaintiff due process of law. (2) In the exclusion from the district of tracts of land as above stated plaintiff is denied due process of law and the equal protection of the law.

There is an elaborate detail of the particulars upon which the charges are alleged to rest. The particulars include the charter of the city and the various ordinances passed in executing its purpose, the action of the board of aldermen, and the action of the board of public service in execution of the direction to contract for the construction of the sewers, and, when constructed, to cause the entire expense to be computed, to levy and assess such expense as a special tax in accordance with the requirements of the charter, and to issue a special tax bill against each parcel of ground liable.

And it is alleged that the defendant was awarded, under the requirement and directions of the ordinances, the contract, and received from the city special tax bills as authorized by the charter and ordinances, among which was one issued against the property of plaintiff for $9,168.86 which, it is alleged, purports to confer upon the holder thereof a lien authorized by the charter of the city.

The trial court, after reciting that it found 'in favor of the defendant on the issues joined' and that the plaintiff 'was not entitled to the relief prayed,' adjudged and decreed that the suit be dismissed.

The Supreme Court (231 S. W. 989) affirmed the decree. The court reviewed at length the pleadings of plaintiff and said that it, the plaintiff, made 'a very plausible case by the allegations of its petition, but it is not supported by either the evidence in the case or the finding of the trial court.' The conclusion of the court, therefore, was that there was no arbitrary or discriminating exclusion of property from the district that was within the benefit of the sewer, and, further, that:

'Defendant's evidence tended to show: The sewer, for proportionate part of the cost of which appellant's ground was assessed, had been fully completed when this suit was brought, and appellant had connected its said premises with this sewer and was in actual enjoyment of the benefits thereof. [Italics ours.] The evidence fails to show any act of commission or omission on the part of the contractor. The appellant does not question the utility of the sewer. Yet, without offering to pay any part of its cost, appellant comes into a court of equity and asks...