197 Iowa 136 | Iowa | 1924
Two principal questions are presented on this appeal. It is urged (1) that the board of supervisors was without authority to establish the drainage district, and (2) that the amount of the assessments upon plaintiffs’ lots is excessive and inequitable in comparison with that upon other land and lots in the district, and not in proportion to benefits.
It has been held that, on appeal to the district court from the action of the board of supervisors in levying assessments to pay the cost of such an improvement, the appellant is confined to the objections filed before the board, unless the appeal presents the question of the jurisdiction of the board to act at all. Lightner v. Board of Supervisors of Greene County, 145 Iowa 95. The amendment to the objections filed in the lower court raised the question that the board of supervisors had no power or jurisdiction to establish the drainage district in question, for the reason that the district was wholly within the limits of an incorporated town. Under the authority cited, we think the question was one that could properly be raised for the first time on appeal; but, in view of our conclusion upon the merits of the question, the appellant was in no manner prejudiced by the action of the court in striking the amendment.
‘ ‘ The board of supervisors shall have the same power, right and authority to establish a levee or drainage district that includes the whole or any part of any incorporated town or city, including cities acting under special charter, as they have to establish districts as hereinbefore provided, and they shall have the same power, right and authority with respect to the assessment of damages and benefits within such towns or cities as they have in other cases provided for in this act * *
It is conceded that this, section empowers the board to establish a drainage district that includes within its limits the whole or any part of an incorporated town, with other territory lying outside the corporate limits of the town; but it is insisted that it does not authorize the establishment of such a district wholly within the limits of the town.
Much that could be convincingly said respecting the right of a municipality to control the territory lying within its limits, and its power to provide adequate drainage and sewerage for the property lying therein, and the conflict of authority that would ensue if the jurisdiction of the board of supervisors in respect to the establishment of drainage districts should be extended to cover such territory, is fully answered by the statute. The statute is broad enough to confer authority to establish a drainage district wholly within the limits of a town, since under it the power is given to include in such a district the whole or any part of the territory within the corporate limits, without any restriction of the right to establish a district wholly within such limits. And inasmuch as authority is expressly given to include the whole of the territory.of a town, there is no reason, based upon considerations of inexpediency, lack of necessity, or conflict of authority, why such a limitation should be implied.
Tt is evident that no such limitation was in the legislative mind; for by Chapter 224 of the Acts of the Thirty-seventh Gen
Again, by Chapter 414 of the Acts of the same General Assembly it is provided that the rights granted to cities and towns under the chapters of the Code relating to sewers and to the protection of city property from floods “shall not be exclusive of any right of the board of supervisors to establish a drainage district or districts within or which shall include the whole or any part of any such city or town” under the chapter of which Section 1989-a38 is a part.
These statutes by their very terms effectually dispose of any contention that, because of any overlapping of powers or any exclusive right in cities or towns to control or dispose of surface or flood water within their limits, any restriction upon the power' of the board of supervisors to establish drainage districts wholly within the limits of such municipalities exists, by implication or otherwise. It is unnecessary, in this view of the' matter, to discuss the cases from other states cited by appellants, further than to say that they arose under statutes very different from
The contention in respect to the amount of the assessments laid upon appellants’ lots is that they are inequitable in comparison with the amount assessed against town property and other lots or tracts of agricultural land in the district.
“Approximation is the best that any board or court can do, and, if the basis of the board is fair, it does not justify our interference where the evidence fails to show an erroneous classification or one that materially departs from the purview of the statute in making computation.” Rogers v. Board of Supervisors, 195 Iowa 1, 5.
A presumption is entertained in favor of the action of the commissioners, the board, and the court below. The report of the commissioners spreading the assessment is presumed to be correct. Hatcher v. Board of Supervisors, 165 Iowa 197. It requires a strong and satisfactory showing to justify this court in interfering with the concurrent findings of the board and of the district court. Thomas v. Board of Supervisors, 194 Iowa 1316. To justify a modification of an assessment such as these, there must be evidence that impeaches the officially expressed judgment of the commissioners' and board in making the assessment, and a showing that essential elements which should enter into the estimate were not considered, or that an erroneous assessment and an inequitable apportionment were made. Rogers v. Board of Supervisors, supra.
In making .the assessment, an amount was put against each tract upon which tile was laid, because of the drainage facilities afforded by the presence of the tile in the land. This was in proportion to the amount of tile upon each tract. The amount that should be paid on account of the drainage of streets, alleys, and highways was determined, and the amount to be assessed against a railroad right of way lying within the district. The sum of the amounts so fixed was deducted from the total cost of the improvement, and the balance was assessed against the land and lots within the district. The lands were classified as high, low, wet, or swamp, and the method followed in determining the amount to be so assessed to each tract was substantially that approved by this court in Pabbeldt v. Hamilton County, 144 Iowa 476, and Obe v. Board of Supervisors, 169 Iowa 449. There was added to the amount so arrived at, in the case of tracts found to be benefited by the laying of tile upon them, the amount previously determined as proper on that account. The assessments laid upon all the land outside of the town plat were arrived at in the same manner. We -are satisfied that the result, so far as relates to appellants’ lands, and in comparison with other agricultural land in the district, was not inequitable.
The portion of the land in the district platted into town lots, while such that it would have been designated as high, had it been agricultural lands, was in fact considered as low land. The result of this was that a given area of platted land bore an
The judgment is — Affirmed.