119 P. 286 | Mont. | 1911
delivered the opinion of the court.
At the general election held in November, 1910, there was submitted to the electors of Granite county the question whether the board of commissioners of the county should issue its bonds to secure a loan of $50,000 to provide funds to build, furnish, and equip a county courthouse and to secure ground for site purposes, in addition to that already owned by the county, in case it should be found necessary. On a canvass of the returns it was found by the board of commissioners that, of the total of 1,302 qualified electors in the county, 483 had voted in favor of issuing the bonds, and 378 had voted adversely. The board thereupon declared that the loan had been approved by the requisite majority of the electors, and was proceeding to issue and sell the bonds under the authority thus assumed to have been given. The plaintiff, an elector and taxpayer of the county, thereupon brought this action to enjoin the board and its members from proceeding further in the premises. It is alleged in the amended and supplemental complaints that the proceedings of the board were nugatory and that the bonds were invalid: (1) Because the board failed first to determine that it was necessary to purchase additional ground for site purposes
“Whereas it is considered by a majority of the board of county commissioners of Granite county, Montana, that it is necessary in order to furnish and provide suitable, secure and safe storage room for the county records of the county, and for the convenience of the county officers of this county and for holding the district court of said county, that a new, modern, fireproof, secure and convenient courthouse for said county should be erected; and whereas, it may be necessary to secure additional ground for a site for said courthouse in addition to the ground already owned by the county; and whereas, there are not sufficient funds in the treasury of said county to pay the costs of securing such additional ground for the
“It is therefore ordered by the board, that at the general election in the county of Granite, to be held on the 8th day of' November, 1910, at the regular established polling places in the various precincts in the county, there shall be submitted, to the qualified electors of said county who are duly registered according to law and entitled to vote at such election, the question and proposition as to whether coupon bonds of the said county amounting in the aggregate in the sum of fifty thousand dollars, bearing date the first day of March, 3911, and bearing interest at the rate of 4% per cent per annum, payable semiannually from date, which shall be payable in twenty years, from the date thereof, and five thousand [dollars] worth thereof shall be redeemable in ten years from the date thereof, and five thousand dollars worth thereof shall be redeemable in ten years, on the first day of March, in each and every year, after, ten years.
“Such bonds to be issued and sold for the purpose of providing a fund for said county for the purpose of the construction of a county courthouse at the county seat at Philipsburg, Montana, and for the purchase of additional ground for the site
□ “For authorizing and giving the authority to the county commissioners of Granite county, to issue and sell coupon interest-bearing bonds of said county in the sum of fifty ($50,000.00) thousand dollars, bearing interest at 4% per cent, redeemable in ten years, payable in twenty years, for the purpose of the construction of a county courthouse for the said county and the purchase of additional ground therefor, and the furnishing and equipment thereof.
“It is further ordered that [at] said election separate ballots be provided and the same duly numbered and perforated, as the regular ballots are, with the following proposition clearly stated thereon; that is to say, the form of the ballot to be used at said election for the purpose of voting upon such proposition shall be substantially as follows, to wit:
| | “Against authorizing and giving the authority to the county commissioners of Granite county, to issue and sell coupon interest-bearing bonds of said county in the sum of fifty ($50,000.00) thousand dollars, bearing interest at 4% per cent, per annum, redeemable in ten years, payable in twenty years, for the purpose of the construction of a county courthouse for the said county and the purchase of additional ground therefor, and- the furnishing and equipment thereof.”
The above order .was thereafter duly published as the notice of election. The ballot used at the election was prepared in conformity with the order of the board, the clerk causing to be printed thereon the usual instructions as to how the elector should indicate his choice. On February 23, 1911, a special meeting was held by the board pursuant to notice given on February 17. The notice stated the purpose of the meeting as follows: “Said meeting is called for the purpose of adopting a form of bond, fixing the denomination of the same, and for the purpose of advertising the sale of courthouse bonds, and to do
By way of preliminary, it may be remarked that the validity of the proposed bond issue is questioned solely on the ground that the -board was guilty of an omission to observe the requirement of the law in substantial particulars. There is no allegation or suggestion of fraud or willful wrongdoing, by which the plaintiff or any other elector was misled so that he lost his vote.
While, in a strict sense, a county is not a municipal corporation, yet, in the sense that, it is a body corporate with such powers only -as are expressly conferred by the Code and special statutes, and such as are necessarily implied from those expressed (Rev. Codes, sec. 2870), it comes within the rules and
“1. The board of county commissioners has jurisdiction and power: * * * (8) To purchase, receive by donation, or lease any real or personal property necessary for the use of the county, preserve, take care of, manage and control the same; but no purchase of real property must be made unless the value of the same has been previously estimated by three disinterested citizens of the county, appointed by the district judge for that purpose, and no more than the appraised value must be paid therefor.”
“ (9) To cause to be erected and furnished a courthouse, jail, hospital, and such other public buildings as may be necessary. # # *
“ (27) To issue on the credit of the county, coupon bonds to an amount sufficient to secure the necessary funds for the procurement of necessary building sites, for the construction of necessary public buildings and for the construction of bridges and highways, in accordance with the provisions of Articles III and IV, Chapter II, Title II, Part IV, of the Political Code.” (Rev. Codes, sec. 2894.) Article IV of the Political Code of 1895, referred to in the last subdivision of this section, comprises sections 2933 to 2938 of the Revised Codes.
Section 2905 also confers the power, among others, to issue bonds for the purchase of necessary building sites, and for the construction of necessary public buildings.
Section 2934 declares: “Whenever it is necessary to submit to a vote of the electors of the county the question of making a loan, the board must first determine the amount necessary to be raised.”
There is nowhere in the Codes any provision requiring the power of the board to be put in motion by petition. It may, therefore, proceed upon its own initiative and determine whether it is necessary to effect a loan and what amount is required.
In Hefferlin v. Chambers, 16 Mont. 349, 40 Pac. 787, this court in construing section 5, Article XIII, of the Constitution, which prohibits a county from incurring indebtedness or liability for any single purpose in an amount exceeding $10,000, expressly held that the purchase of a site and the erection of a courthouse thereon is a single purpose within the meaning of the prohibition. And in the case of Yegen v. Board of County Commissioners, 34 Mont. 79, 85 Pac. 740, in which this court, in considering the validity of a statute creating a state board of health, and referring to certain provisions therein which authorized the board of county commissioners to erect a detention hospital, said: “While these sections do not in express terms
But counsel for plaintiff say that subdivision 8 of section 2894, supra, prohibits the board from purchasing any real estate, unless its value has been previously estimated by three disinterested citizens, appointed as therein provided. This is true, but it does not follow that the price must be ascertained before the issue of bonds may be voted by the electors. The prohibition becomes operative only when the time has arrived when it becomes necessary to fix the terms of the purchase.
2. Nor do we think the bonds should be held invalid either because the ballot used by the electors did not permit them to vote upon the proposition exactly in the form in which it was stated in the proclamation, or because the option to redeem was not reserved in the terms stated therein. The only question
"While the form of bond adopted incorporated the proposition as printed upon the ballot, it was not incumbent upon the board to have it so. The amount and purpose of the loan, as stated in the ballot, was all that was required to be stated.
3. The statute authorizing special meetings of boards of county
4. Was a majority of the vote east in favor of the issuance
Section 2933, supra, of the Revised Codes, and section 2937, read as follows:
“See. 2933. The board of county commissioners must not borrow money for any of the purposes mentioned in this title, or for any single purpose to an amount exceeding ten thousand dollars without the approval of a majority of the electors of the county, and without first having submitted the question of a loan to a vote of such electors.”
“Sec. 2937. ■ If a majority of the votes east are in favor of the loan, then the board may make the loan, issuing bonds, or otherwise, as may seem best for the interests of thé county.”
But counsel for plaintiff insist that since the Constitution is only a limitation upon the power of the legislature, and the provision thereof quoted above goes no further than to declare that indebtedness beyond the amount mentioned shall not be contracted without the approval of a majority of the electors “voting at an election to be provided by law,” it does not operate as a limitation upon the power of the legislature, but is only a requirement without the observance of which the proposed debt cannot be contracted, and hence that the legislature is free to declare that a county cannot issue bonds for any purpose unless they are authorized by a larger vote than that required by the Constitution. We shall not stop to examine this contention. Assuming that it is based upon sound principle, in the absence of an intention clearly expressed by the legislature to the contrary, we are not at liberty to conclude that it in the enactment of section 2933, supra, purposed to add any requirement to that prescribed by the Constitution. Though the language of the section deviates from that employed in the Constitution, it was evidently enacted in pursuance thereof and must be held to mean the same. That this is true is clear from the position occupied by the section in the Article in which it is found and the subject with which it deals, as well as from the provision found in section 2937, which follows substantially
"We are of the -opinion that the proceedings of the board, though irregular, were in substantial compliance with the law; that the election was properly conducted; and that authority to issue the bonds was granted by a majority of the electors, as required by the Constitution and the statutes made in pursuance thereof.
The order granting the injunction is, accordingly, reversed, and the cause is remanded.
Reversed and remanded.