County of Jefferson v. City of Mt. Vernon

Citations

• 145 Ill. 80
• 33 N.E. 1091

Syllabus

<p>1. Special Assessment—Special Taxation—of the ordinance for a;local improvement. In a proceeding by a city or village to make a local improvement by special assessment or special taxation, an ordinance specifying the nature, character, locality and description of the improvement is necessary, and is binding on the .commissioners in their action. If there is any mistake in such ordinance, the commissioners appointed to make the assessment, or apportion the special tax, have no power to correct the same.</p> <p>2. Same—power of commissioners. The commissioners appointed by the court to make the assessment of a special tax for a local improvement have nothing to do with the character or extent of the improvement. Their only duty is to assess the amount of the cost of the improvement, excluding street crossings, upon the property abutting on the street sought to be improved.</p> <p>3. If it is necessary to assess the cost of a given number of yards upon the lots in proportion to their frontage upon the street to be paved, then the commissioners will be controlled by the ordinance as to the width of the street. If the city has made a mistake as to the width of the street, that can not be rectified by the commissioners. Whether the improvement provided for in the ordinance will cover the entire street or leave a strip unimproved, is a subject which does not concern the commissioners, and one upon which they have no power to act.</p> <p>4. Same—assessment roll varying from the ordinance. Where the assessment roll, made out and returned by the commissioners, charges more square yards of improvement against the owner of property abutting on the street sought to be improved, than would have been charged against it had the commissioners followed strictly the width of the improvement as specified in the ordinance, the asesssment of the special tax should not be confirmed, but the court should modify the assessment to obviate the error.</p> <p>5. Same—-questioning the action