71 P. 1060 | Utah | 1903
The relief sought by the plaintiff in this action is the issuance of a writ of prohibition in accordance with sections 3654, 3655, Revised Statutes 1898, against the defendants in their capacity as city councilmen of Logan City. The pertinent allegations of the affidavit, upon which the relief sought by the plaintiff is predicated, are as follows: “That said defendants, constituting the city council of Logan City, heretofore, to-wit, on the 4th day of July, 1902, caused a special election to be held for the purpose of submitting to the qualified electors of said Logan City the question of bonding said city in the sum of $65,000 for the building and establishing of an electric light plant to be owned by said municipality, and for the supplying of
The only question involved is whether the issuance and sale of the proposed bonds would increase the indebtedness of Logan City beyond the limit fixed by the Constitution. Article 14, sec. 3, of that instrument, provides that: “No debt in excess of the taxes for the current year shall be created by any county or subdivision thereof, or by any school district therein, or by any city, town or village, or any subdivision thereof in this State; unless the proposition to create such debt, shall have been submitted to a vote of such qualified electors as shall have paid a property tax therein, in the year preceding such election, and a majority of those voting thereon shall have voted in favor of incurring such debt. ’ ’ Section 4 provides that: ‘ ‘ When authorized -to create indebtedness as provided in section three of this article, no county shall become indebted to an amount, including existing indebtedness, exceeding two per centum. No city, town, school district or other municipal corporation, shall become indebted to an amount, including existing indebtedness, exceeding four per centum of the value of the taxable property therein, the value to be ascertained by the last assessment for 'State and county purposes, previous to the incurring’ of such indebtedness; except that in incorporated cities the assessment shall be taken from the last assessment for city purposes: Provided, That no part of the indebtedness allowed in this section, shall be incurred for other than strictly county, city, town, or school purposes: Provided, further, That any city or town, when authorized as provided in section three of this article, may be allowed to incur a larger indebtedness, not exceeding four per centum additional, for supplying such city or town with water, artificial lights or sewers, when the works for supplying such water, light and sewers, shall be owned and controlled by the municipality. ’ ’
The antecedent of the relative phrase, “not exceed
Our construction of the provisions in question is in harmony with the construction of the same by the Legislature in the passage of the foregoing section, and by this court in the case of the State ex rel. v. City Council, 23 Utah 13, 64 Pao. 460.
The judgment of the lower court is affirmed, with cost.