34 Wis. 381 | Wis. | 1874
We are of the opinion that the plaintiff is entitled to the relief demanded in the complaint, upon the ground that no petition was presented to the common council signed by the owners of three-fifths of the number of feet frontage in the block fronting upon the street to be improved, as required by the city charter. The charter is clear and explicit that the common council shall have no authority to make such an improvement at the expense of the adjoining lots unless such a petition is presented (sec. 3, ch. 13 of the charter as found in ch. 59, P. & L. Laws of 1868); and the court below finds upon the evidence that no such petition was ever presented to the common council. This was a jurisdictional defect in the proceedings for assessing the expense of the local improvement upon the adjoining property, and rendered the tax certificate in question void. The cases decided by this court referred to on the brief of counsel for the plaintiff, establish this doctrine beyond controversy.
But it is said that the petition which was presented to the common council represented on its face that the signers owned three-fifths of the frontage ; and that, under the allegations in the complaint, the plaintiff should not have been permitted to show that any one of the persons signing the petition was not the owner of the property set opposite his name, or that the name of an owner had been signed to the petition without authority. Upon that subject the complaint states and alleges, in substance, that no petition was ever presented to the com
Without considering the other questions raised and discussed by counsel on their briefs, we think, for the reasons given, the judgment of the circuit court must be affirmed.
By the Court. —Judgment affirmed.