Kansas Town Co. v. City of Argentine
Kansas Town Co. v. City of Argentine
Opinion of the Court
The validity of the special taxes or assessments in question is attacked on three grounds : First, that the ordinance providing for the making of the improvements was unauthorized and void because enacted before the expiration of twenty days from the last publication of the resolution declaring that the improvements were necessary; second, that the ordinance was unauthorized and void because it included certain portions of Strong Avenue which were not: embraced in the previous resolution; and, third, because the contract for the work was let without there being first made by the city engineer an estimate of the cost thereof as required by law.
The engineer’s estimate of the cost of the proposed improvement was $1.03 per square yard for a total of 9,950 square yards, based on bonds of the city at ninety cents on the dollar. This should have been an estimate of the cost for cash, or bonds at par. But the actual cost for cash is readily ascertained from the estimate made; and, as the . . n,i contract price for the work was less than such estimated cost for cash, we think the erroneous basis used by the engineer is not of sufficient importance to invalidate the subsequent proceedings. It appears, also, when the work had been completed, that the number of square yards of macadam exceeded that stated in the preliminary estimate by lj571 square yards. It is not necessary that an estimate should have been made of the total amount of the work to be done or of its gross cost; but it is sufficient if it was for the cost per square yard, as was done in this case. ■ Gilmore v. Norton, 10 Kan. 491. Such estimate is controlling as to the price at which the improvement may be contracted. The contract that was entered into for the work was at a certain price per square yard. This estimated cost was the essential fact to be ascertained and observed in the making of the improvement. A mere error by the engineer in his ■original estimate of the number of square yards in the surface to be improved, certainly cannot have the effect to invalidate all subsequent proceedings.
Perceiving no error in the record, the judgment is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- The Kansas Town Company v. The City of Argentine
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- 1. Stkeet-Improvement Assessment, City oe Second Class — valid, though ordinance passed, but not published, prematurely, where no objection till ivorlc done. An assessment levied upon certain lots in a city of the second class to pay the cost of improvements made on a street upon which such lots abut, is not invalid merely because the ordinance authorizing such improvement was passed before the expiration of twenty days after the last publication of the resolution declaring the necessity for the same, when the ordinance was not published and no other steps were taken towards the doing of the work until after said twenty days, and when no objection was made by property owners until after the work had been completed. 2. -not enjoined because ordinance embraced portions of street not in resolution, ivhere excess insignificant and easily separated. The levying of an assessment on abutting property for street improvements duly authorized by resolution, will not be enjoined merely because the ordinance providing for the same embraces certain portions of the street in excess of the limit fixed by the precedent resolution, when the excess is comparatively insignificant and can be easily and definitely separated from the legally authorized work, both as to quantity and cost. 3. -- not void because estimate based on bonds at discount where contract less than cash basis easil,ij ascertainable. The preliminary estimate, made by the city engineer for the cost of a proposed street improvement, should be based upon the cost thereof for cash; but the subsequent proceedings will not be held void from the mere fact that such estimate was based upon payment in city bonds at ninety cents on the dollar, when the cost for cash can be ascertained readily and certainly from the estimate made, and when the contract price for the work is less than such ascertainable cash estimate.