City of Erie v. Carey
City of Erie v. Carey
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
In the case of Erie v. Griswold, 5 Pa. Superior Ct. 182, 184 Pa. 435, it appeared that the paving ordinance was approved, the contract let and the paving actually done before the ordinance of September 16, 1895, repealing the “ rebate ordinance ” of April 1,1880, was adopted. It appears in the present case that the ordinance to pave East Tenth street, between Parade street and East avenue, and the repealing ordinance above referred to, were approved on the same day. It should be noticed also that in the Griswold case the street was paved upon the petition of the property owners, whilst in this case the property owners simply petitioned “ for a brick pavement if said street be paved.” All these facts are more fully set forth in the case stated. The learned judge of the court below held that, notwithstanding this difference of fact, the principle upon which the Griswold case was ruled is applicable and controlling in the present case and, therefore, abutters on the line of the improvement in question are entitled to a proportionate abatement from their general city taxes, as provided in the ordinance of 1880. He based this conclusion on the ground that at the time of the approval of the paving ordinance in question, “ the ordinance of April 1, 1880, providing for the abatement of taxes in all cases of paving at owners’ expense, had not been repealed, inasmuch as the repealing ordinance was by its terms not to take effect till January 1,1896.” In considering this question it will be well to keep prominently in view the terms of what is called the repealing ordinance. It is entitled, “ an ordinance abolishing abatement of taxes allowed on lots fronting on paved streets,” and it reads as follows: “ Section 1. That from and after the first Monday in January, A. D. 1896, no abatement of city taxes shall be allowed on any lot or lots by reason of the fact that said lot or lots front on any street which has been or may hereafter be paved at the expense of the owners of property abutting thereon. Section 2. That any ordinance or part thereof conflicting herewith be and the same is hereby repealed.” If the municipal authorities had intended their action to be wholly prospective in its operation, i. e., to affect only the paving of streets ordained after the date named, a simple repeal of the ordinance of 1880, with the proviso that the repeal should not take effect until the first Monday of January, 1896, would
The assignment of error is sustained, the judgment is reversed, and it is now ordered that judgment be entered for the plaintiff for the sum of $41.42.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- City of Erie v. E. B. Carey
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Municipal law~Ordinances in pari materia — Rules of construction— Abatement of taxes — Street pavement. Where an ordinance to pave a certain street in the city of Erie at the expense of the property owners and an ordinance providing that “from áncl after the first Monday in January, 1896, no abatement of city taxes shall be allowed on any lot or lots by reason of the fact that said lot or lots front on any street which has been or may hereafter be paved at the expense of the owners of property abutting thereon,” were approved on the same day (September 16,1895), held, that a property owner-is not entitled to a rebate of taxes for the year 1897, under an “ abatement” ordinance of April 1, 1880, for cost of paving done in 1896, under the paving ordinance of September 16, 1895. The two ordinances of September 16, 1895, are not repugnant, but harmonious, and must be construed together to mean that the intent of councils was that the ordinance of 1880 should not apply to, or be an implied part of,* the paving ordinance of 1895, and in so ordaining no vested right of the property owner was impaired. The case at bar is not ruled by Erie v. Griswold, 5 Pa. Superior Ct. 132 ; 184 Pa. 435, where the conditions were essentially different.