Ankeny v. City of Spokane

Citations

• 92 Wash. 549
• 159 P. 806
• 1916 Wash. LEXIS 816

Syllabus

<p>Municipal Corporations — “Local Improvements” — Permanency —Electrical Energy fob Lighting Systems — Statutes. 3 Rem. & Bal. Code, § 7892-6, authorizing cities to order the construction of a street lighting system for a local improvement district and assess the cost of the same together with the cost of furnishing electrical energy therefor, is not unconstitutional in that the furnishing of electrical energy is not a “local improvement” within Const., art. 7, § 9, vesting power in cities to make local improvements by assessments; notwithstanding the operation was limited to a period of ten years, since permanency is not an essential element, and the plant would be of no benefit to the property without the electrical energy.</p> <p>Same. The fact that the cost of operation exceeds the cost of the plant is not an objection to local assessments in that it is properly a subject for general taxation, where the system has a local situs and does not extend over the city at large.</p> <p>Same. The assessment is not void because some of the features of the system are purely ornamental, as the character of the plant is largely in the discretion of the city; and it cannot be said as a matter of law that ornamental posts and lamps so far depart from ordinary construction as to exceed the limits of the power of the city.</p>