Taylorville Sanitary Dist. v. Winslow

• Decision Date: 24 April 1925
• Docket Number: No. 16337.,16337.
• Citation: 317 Ill. 25,147 N.E. 401
• Parties: TAYLORVILLE SANITARY DIST. v. WINSLOW.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

317 Ill. 25

147 N.E. 401

TAYLORVILLE SANITARY DIST.

v.WINSLOW.

No. 16337.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

April 24, 1925.

Proceedings by the Taylorville Sanitary District for levy of a special assessment to pay for local improvement. From a county court judgment confirming said assessment, and overruling objections of William Winslow, he appeals.

Affirmed.Appeal from Christian County Court; C.J. Vogelsang, Judge.

W. S. Greer, of Taylorville, for appellant.

H. B. Hershey and J. E. Hogan, both of Taylorville, for appellee.

STONE, J.

The question involved in this case is whether a sanitary district, organized under and by virtue of an act entitled ‘An act to create sanitary districts and to provide for sewage disposal,’ approved June 22, 1917 (Laws 1917, p. 396), in force July 1, 1917, has authority to construct a local improvement by special assessment, as provided by section 19 of the act as amended in 1923. (Laws 1923, p. 340). The Taylorville sanitary district is composed of territory partly within and partly without the city of Taylorville. On August 6, 1924, the board of trustees of that district passed an ordinance providing for the construction of a combined storm-water and sanitary sewer, to be laid in Pine street, in the city of Taylorville, for a distance of 670 feet. The ordinance provided for the levy of a special assessment against certain property, among which are the lots owned by appellant in this case. Appellant filed objections to the confirmation of the assessment. His objections were overruled, and judgment was entered confirming the assessment. He brings the case here for review.

This ordinance was passed under the authority granted to sanitary districts by section 19 of the Sanitary District and Sewage Disposal Act of 1917 as amended. That section is as follows:

‘The board of trustees shall have the power to build and construct and to defray the costs and expenses of the construction of drains, sewers, or laterals, or drains and sewers and laterals and other necessary adjuncts thereto, including pumps and pumping stations, made by it in the execution or in furtherance of the powers heretofore granted to such sanitary district by special assessment or by general taxation, or partly by special assessment and partly by general taxation, as they shall by ordinance prescribe. It shall constitute no objection to any special assessment that the improvement for which the same is levied is partly outside the limits of such sanitary district, but no special assessments shall be made upon property, situated outside of such sanitary district, and in no case shall any property be assessed more than it will be benefited by the improvement for which the assessment is levied. The proceedings for making, levying, collecting and enforcing of any special assessment levied hereunder, the letting of contracts, performance of the work and all other matters pertaining to the construction and making of the improvement shall be the same as nearly as may be as is prescribed in an act entitled ‘An act concerning local improvements,’ approved June 14, 1897, and amendments thereto. Whenever in said act the words ‘city council’ or the words ‘board of local improvements' are used the same shall apply to the board of trustees constituted by this act, and the word ‘mayor’ or ‘president of the board of local improvements' shall apply to the president of the board of trustees constituted by this act, and the words applying to the city or its officers in that act shall be held to apply to the district created under this act and its officers.’

Appellant challenges the right of this district to levy a special assessment on the ground that section 19 is unconstitutional.

At the outset of the consideration of the constitutional question involved in this case, it will be remembered that it has been frequently stated by this court that the Constitution of the state is not to be regarded as a grant of power to the legislative department, but rather as a limitation upon its power. All legislative power is vested in the General Assembly, subject to the restrictions contained in the Constitution. Every subject within the scope of civil government, which is not withdrawn from the authority of the Legislature, may be acted upon by it. Sawyer v. City of Alton, 3 Scam. 127;People v. Salomon, 51 Ill. 37;Ruggles v. People, 91 Ill. 256;Harris v. Board of Supervisors, 105 Ill. 445, 44 Am. Rep. 808;Wilson v. Board of Trustees, 133 Ill. 443, 27 N. E. 203;Marshall v. Upper Cache Drainage District, 313 Ill. 11, 144 N. E. 321.

Coming, then, to the question as to what, if any, limitations have been placed by the Constitution upon the right of the Legislature to authorize sanitary districts, such as the one involved here, to construct local improvements and pay for the same by special assessments, as provided by section 19 of the act, counsel for appellant contends that section 9 of article 9 and section 31 of article 4 of the Constitution prohibit the delegation of such power to sanitary districts organized under the act in question; that while the latter section authorizes the General Assemblyto permit the owners of lands to construct drains, ditches, and levees for agricultural, sanitary, and mining purposes, and to pay for the same by special assessment upon the property benefited, that section cannot be held to apply to a district organized for sanitary and sewage disposal purposes.

Section 9 of article 9 of the Constitution is as follows:

‘The General Assembly may vest the corporate authorities of cities, towns and villages, with power to make local improvement by special assessment or by special taxation of contiguous property, or otherwise. For all other corporate purposes, all municipal corporations may be vested with authority to assess and collect taxes; but such taxes shall be uniform, in respect to persons and property within the jurisdiction of the body imposing the same.’

Section 31 of article 4 of the Constitution provides as follows:

‘The General Assembly may pass laws permitting the owners of lands to construct drains, ditches and levees for agricultural, sanitary or mining purposes, across the lands of others, and provide for the organization of drainage districts and vest the corporate authorities thereof, with power to construct and maintain levees, drains and ditches, and to keep in repair all drains, ditches and levees heretofore constructed under the laws of this state, by special assessments upon the property benefited thereby.’

Section 1 of the act concerning sanitary districts, referred to, provides in part as follows:

‘That whenever any area of contiguous territory shall contain one or more incorporated cities, towns or villages or parts of one or more incorporated cities, towns or villages, and shall be so situated that the construction and maintenance of a plant or plants for the purification and treatment of sewage and the maintenance of a common outlet for the drainage thereof, will conduce to the preservation of the public health, the same may be incorporated as a sanitary district under this act in the manner following.’

This section also provides the manner by which legal voters residing within the limits of the proposed district may, by a petition to the county judge of the county in which the proposed district or the major portion thereof is located, cause the matter of the organization of such district to be submitted to a vote of the people of such territory. The act also provides for the appointment of trustees and prescribes their powers. By section 4 of the act the trustees, when appointed, are declared to be the corporate authorities of...