Town of Bithlo v. Bank of Commerce
| Citation | 92 Fla. 975,110 So. 837 |
| Parties | TOWN OF BITHLO v. BANK OF COMMERCE. |
| Decision Date | 24 November 1926 |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Error to Circuit Court, Organge County; Alexander Akerman, Referee.
Action by the Bank of Commerce against the Town of Bithlo. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendant brings error.
Reversed.
Syllabus by the Court
Express and implied powers of municipality can be exercised only through appropriate officers or agents duly authorized. Municipalities can exercise only such powers as are conferred by express provisions of law, or such as are by fair implication properly incident to or included in the powers expressly conferred for carrying out municipal purposes, and these fictions can be exercised only through appropriate officers or agents duly clothed by authority of law.
Warrants on municipal treasurer can be issued only in manner and for purposes prescribed by law. Warrants or drafts upon the treasurer of a municipal corporation can be issued only in the manner and for the purposes prescribed by law, and when they are issued for a purpose or in a manner not authorized by law, they are void and cannot be collected.
Municipal warrant in hands of purchaser for value without notice is subject to defense of illegality (Rev. Gen. St. 1920, §§ 1828, 1895). If a warrant is illegally issued it can make no difference that it is in the hands of a purchaser for value without notice of any illegality or irregularity in the warrant, as warrants or orders drawn by one or more municipal officers upon another, in the disbursement of the funds of the municipality and payment of its indebtedness, are not to be regarded as negotiable or commercial paper cutting off equities against the municipality.
Johnston & Garrett, of Kissimmee, for plaintiff in error.
The town of Bithlo, defendant in the trial court, is a municipal corporation existing under the general laws, without any special charter. Under date of March 2, 1923, the mayor and city clerk of the town issued a warrant in words and figures as follows:
'Town of Bithlo, State of Florida:
M. M. Macy, City Clerk.
'H. E. Trowbridge, Mayor.'
Indorsed in blank on back as follows: 'Barton Pittman.'
The warrant was indorsed by Barton Pittman. The plaintiff, Bank of Commerce, paid a valuable consideration to Barton Pittman for the warrant, and became a holder thereof without notice of any invalidity other than such as might appear from the face of the warrant.
The town council of Bithlo never passed on any item of indebtedness in favor of Barton Pittman, never authorized the execution of the alleged warrant, and never received from this plaintiff any consideration for it. On the date of the warrant the town was indebted to Barton Pittman in an amount equal to the face of the warrant, which sum has never been paid. The warrant was presented to the town treasurer and payment refused. A judgment was entered for the plaintiff.
Municipalities can exercise only such powers as are legally conferred by express provisions of law, or such as are by fair implication and intendment properly incident to or included in the powers expressly conferred for carrying out municipal purposes, and these functions can be exercised only through appropriate officers or agents duly clothed by authority of law. Liberis v. Harper, 89 Fla. 477, 104 So. 853; 19 R. C. L. 1066.
'A warrant is the command of the council, board, or official whose duty it is to pass upon the validity and determine the amount of a claim against the municipality, to the treasurer to pay money out of any funds in the city treasury, which are or may become available for the purpose specified, to a designated person whose...
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