Williams v. City of Barbourville
| Decision Date | 22 February 1952 |
| Citation | 246 S.W.2d 591 |
| Parties | WILLIAMS et al. v. CITY OF BARBOURVILLE. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky |
H. M. Tye, Barbourville, for appellants.
Kenneth H. Tuggle, Charles G. Cole, Jr., Barbourville, Skaggs, Hays & Fahey, and Franklin P. Hays, all of Louisville, for appellee.
This is an appeal from a judgment validating a proposed bond issue by the City of Barbourville to erect a flood wall and also a bond issue for the construction of a sewer system by the City. The City brought an action against R. E. Williams, a resident and taxpayer of the City, to test the validity of the bond issues. The flood wall project will be discussed first.
The city council enacted an ordinance on September 20, 1949, calling for an election to determine if the City should incur an indebtedness of $260,000 for the purpose of constructing a flood wall. On November 8, 1949, more than two-thirds of those voting approved the $260,000 expenditure. The city council, on November 2, 1950, enacted an ordinance providing for the issuance of Flood Control Bonds in the amount of $260,000 and the levy of a tax sufficient to pay the principal and interest and authorizing the public sale of the bonds. The assessment preceding the last assessment for city taxes in the City showed the value of assessable property to be $2,046,723, plus $141,000 in bank shares. The debt of a fourth class city is limited by Section 158 of the Constitution to an amount equal to five per cent. of the value of the taxable property in the City. The City concedes that this indebtedness will exceed the constitutional limitation. In order to circumvent this limitation the City contends that a state of emergency exists and it is authorized by Section 158 of the Constitution to exceed the debt limitation, since it may be exceeded in case of an emergency when the public health and safety so require.
The facts in this case are similar to those in Hill v. City of Pineville, 314 Ky. 359, 235 S.W.2d 776. Barbourville is located on the Cumberland River and is subjected to recurring floods which cause extensive property damage. During these floods approximately eighty per cent. of the area of the City is submerged in whole or in part. Silt, debris and raw sewage are left on the streets when the water recedes. These conditions create a serious health menace and tend to produce epidemics. In recent years the timber of the Cumberland watershed has been depleted to a great extent; consequently, there is much soil erosion, which tends to fill the river bed, and this in turn materially affects the height of the flood waters. Three weeks after the decision in the Pineville case, Barbourville suffered the second worst flood in its history. Under similar facts, we held that an emergency existed in Pineville, which authorized the City to exceed the debt limitation of Section 158 of the Constitution. The reasoning in that case applies with equal force to the situation in Barbourville. It is our conclusion that an emergency exists and the City of Barbourville is authorized to exceed the constitutional debt limitation.
The question arises as to whether the City may levy a tax in excess of the maximum rate specified in Section 157 of the Constitution. Section 159 of the Constitution provides that, when a city is authorized to contract an indebtedness, it shall be required to provide for the collection of an annual tax sufficient to pay the interest and create a sinking fund for the payment of the principal within not more than forty years from the time of contracting the same. In Ballard v. City of Shelbyville, 180 Ky. 135, 201 S.W. 452, the City issued bonds for the construction of a sewer system. It was held that, where a bond issue was authorized by a vote of the people, it is the duty of the City, under Section 159, to levy an additional tax, if it be necessary, to provide for the payment of the interest on the bonds and for a sinking fund for the payment of the principal, even though it may exceed the maximum tax rate. We have declared that it was the intent of the framers of the Constitution to prohibit the creation of indebtedness by taxing districts without making provisions for its payment. Griffin v. Clay County, 304 Ky. 592, 201 S.W.2d 733. Since this is an authorized indebtedness within Section 158, provision must be made for its payment in order to carry out the intent of the framers of our Constitution. It is not only proper, but...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Davis v. WATER-SEWER AND SANITATION COM'N OR COM'RS
...846. Walker v. City of Maysville, 310 Ky. 118, 220 S.W.2d 96. City of Hazard v. Salyers, 311 Ky. 667, 224 S.W.2d 420. Williams v. City of Barbourville, Ky., 246 S.W.2d 591. II. The ordinances authorizing the issuance and sale of the revenue bonds are not arbitrary or discriminatory and are ......
-
Perkins v. City of Frankfort
...of course, guarantees that rates will be fixed at such an amount that a constant surplus will be guaranteed. In Williams v. City of Barbourville, Ky., 246 S.W.2d 591, where the revenue bonds were proposed for a project under which the existing water and electric system would be combined wit......
-
Magoffin County v. Rigsby
...years by a special tax levy as provided in § 159. In Hill v. City of Pineville, 314 Ky. 359, 235 S.W.2d 776, and Williams v. City of Barbourville, Ky., 246 S.W.2d 591, we held that the construction of a flood wall was an emergency under § The trial judge having reached the conclusion that t......
-
Skidmore v. City of Elizabethtown
...types of things as recreational facilities, McKinney v. City of Owensboro, 305 Ky. 254, 203 S.W.2d 24; utilities, Williams v. City of Barbourville, Ky., 246 S.W.2d 591; or toll roads, Guthrie v. Curlin, Ky., 263 S.W.2d 240. Usually, the revenue is paid by persons who receive some incividual......