Town of Scott v. City of Merrill
| Decision Date | 06 March 1962 |
| Citation | 113 N.W.2d 846,16 Wis.2d 91 |
| Parties | TOWN OF SCOTT, a Wisconsin municipal corporation, Respondent, v. CITY OF MERRILL, a Wisconsin municipal corporation, Appellant. |
| Court | Wisconsin Supreme Court |
On February 6, 1961, two different individuals gave newspaper publication of their intention to circulate two different annexation petitions. A different territory was described in each notice. One territory was located to the west of the City of Merrill and the other to the south. However, both territories cornered each other at the southwest edge of the City of Merrill. Both territories were located in the Town of Scott. Each territory was less than one square mile in size, but both territories combined exceeded one square mile. On or about February 16, 1961, both annexation petitions were circulated in their respective territories. The required signatures were obtained on the petitions. On April 11, 1961, the common council of the City of Merrill adopted two different ordinances annexing the two territories. The two newspaper notices, the two petitions and the two ordinances were identical in form except for the descriptions of the two territories. The City of Merrill did not apply for the circuit court approval described in sec. 66.021(11)(b), Stats.
George G. Russell, City Atty., Merrill, for appellant.
Schmitt, Wurster & Tinglum, Merrill, Paul D. Hilton, Merrill, of counsel, for respondent.
The gravamen of the complaint is the appellant's alleged 'circumventing and evading the requirements of Section 66.021(11)(b) pertaining to annexation of areas of one square mile or more of territory'. The defendant's demurrer to the complaint has squarely raised the issue whether it is lawful for a city to employ separate annexation proceedings of smaller areas in order to obviate the statutory requirement of applying to the circuit court for a determination that the annexation is in the public interest. If the two regions in question were annexed in a single proceeding, the total land would clearly have exceeded a square mile and necessitated a circuit court review.
Does severance into two separate transactions constitute a proscribed subterfuge? Is the technique proper craftsmanship within the law or an unchartered maneuver dehors the law? In tax parlance, has the City of Merrill 'evaded' the requirements of sec. 66.021(11)(b), Stats., or has it merely 'avoided' them? We are of the opinion that there was no impropriety in the city's procedure, and its demurrer to the complaint should have been sustained.
The motives of a city council in annexation proceedings cannot be inquired into where its actions are in accordance with the statutes. Schmid v. City of Stanton (1958), 164 Cal.App.2d 683, 689, 331 P.2d 78, 82. See also, State ex rel. Boroo v. Town Board (1960), 10 Wis.2d 153, 162, 102 N.W.2d 238. However, even if we assume on this demurrer that the purpose of the City of Merrill was to circumvent the provisions of sec. 66.021(11)(b), this would not render the process actionable. We are unable to read into the annexation statutes a legislative expression which interdicts smaller, parallel annexations. The legislature has required a circuit court determination that an annexation is in the public interest when the territory to be annexed is a square mile or more in area; but it has not required a determination if the...
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