Coatesville Borough v. Coatesville Electric Light, Heat & Power Co.
Coatesville Borough v. Coatesville Electric Light, Heat & Power Co.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
On April 13, 1892, the borough of Coatesville enacted an ordinance granting to the defendant the power and authority to use and occupy the streets of the borough for the erection of poles and wires to supply light, heat and power by electricity to such persons as might desire the same, and providing by sec. 6 of the ordinance as follows :
“ That the poles, wires and all otTier appliances erected in,
And by sec. 8 as follows :
“ That power at any and all times to change and alter the provisions of this ordinance or any of them is hereby reserved to the corporate authorities of the borough.”
By a separate ordinance approved the same day it was enacted:
Sec. 1. “ That no special taxes or payments in the nature thereof to or for or on account of said borough shall be levied, assessed or exacted from said company in any one year by the corporate authorities of the borough, unless said company shall have earned sufficient profits from which to pay a dividend of • 6% on its present capital stock for such year. Provided, however, that said company shall at all times be at liberty to appropriate any or all of said profits to the increase, improvement and repair of its plant, in which event the power to impose special taxes or payments in the nature thereof shall not be exercised if such appropriation reduces said profits below 6% of its present capital stock.” '
Sec. 2. “ When such taxes shall be imposed they shall not exceed in any one year 4-10% upon the present capital stock of the company.”
It is admitted that the defendant company erected its poles and strung its wires in accordance with the provisions of the two above quoted ordinances, and further, that for the years ending May 4, 1904, and May 4, 1905, it owned, maintained and used 860 poles, with wires suspended thereon, upon the highways and streets of the borough.
On May 4, 1903, the borough enacted an ordinance providing as follows:
Sec. 1. “ That from and after this ordinance all the telegraph,
Sec. 2. “ Said tax shall be due and payable to the borough treasurer on the first day of April of each year. If not paid within thirty days thereafter the borough treasurer is authorized to collect the same by law.”
The plaintiff did not aver or prove that any profits had been earned, and the defendant contends that the ordinances under which the poles were erected, and its business conducted, were valid under authority of the municipality, and that after acceptance by the company they became an irrevocable contract, controlled only by the terms imposed therein.
In Commonwealth v. Pottsville Water Co., 94 Pa. 516; Commonwealth v. Railroad Co., 164 Pa. 252; and Erie v. Griswold, 5 Pa. Superior Ct. 132, affirmed in 184 Pa. 435, the question presented was whether the commonwealth or a municipality could annul, by a repealing statute or ordinance, an exemption from taxation acquired through a charter grant ora contract which had been accepted and executed in good faith by the expenditure of large sums of money, and where the state or municipality had received proportionate^ advantages, and it was held that the contract was binding on the state and municipality.
The case here presented is entirely different, there is no analogy between ordinances and contracts in derogation of the police power of a municipality, and ordinances relating to its business affairs: Seitzinger v. Electric Co., 187 Pa. 539. A municipality cannot bargain away its right to exercise at all times its police power; nor enter into any contract by which the free exercise of the police power which is delegated to it by the state can be abridged, limited or destroyed: McKeesport v. Railway Co., 2 Pa. Superior Ct. 242; New Hope Borough v. Western Union Tel. Co., 16 Pa. Superior Ct. 306, affirmed in 202 Pa. 532 ; North Braddock Borough v. Traction. Co., 8 Pa. Superior Ct. 233 ; Kittanning, Electric Light, etc., Company v. Kittanning Borough, 11 Pa. Superior Ct. 31; Erie
Independent of this lirite of decisions it is to be noticed that by section 8 of the ordinance of April 13, 1892, the borough expressly reserved the right at any and all times to change and alter its provisions, so that all subsequent action of the defendant was in the light of this reserved power.
The judgment is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.