Kimble v. City of Peoria

Citations

• 140 Ill. 157
• 29 N.E. 723

Syllabus

<p>1. Municipal corporation—ordinance—validity—prior appropriation. A city charter prohibited the making of any contract or the incurring of any expense unless an appropriation was first made concerning the same, and also required all ordinances to be published within thirty ■days after their passage. The fiscal year of the municipality began on January 1, and all appropriations were required to be made during the first quarter of the fiscal year. In the proper time $1500 was appropriated for printing. When an ordinance was passed enough of the ■appropriation remained unexpended to pay for the publication of the .same : Held, that the ordinance was valid, and that if other debts contracted thereafter for printing were in excess of the appropriation, that •could not affect the validity of the ordinance.</p> <p>2. Where an ordinance is passed and published in the proper mode, it will become a valid ordinance, although the city authorities may have exceeded their authority in incurring or contracting a debt for its publication. If the appropriation was exhausted when such ordinance was published, any tax-payer of the city might, no doubt, in an ■appropriate action, enjoin the payment of the debt thereby incurred, but that would in no way affect the validity of the ordinance.</p> <p>3. Ordinance for paving—cost to be paid by special taxation— sufficiency. An ordinance for the improvement of a street by special taxation, provided that the curb-stones already set, when necessary, should be taken up and re-set, so as to leave a roadway sixty feet wide in the center of the street; -that the space between curb-stones ’■ a graded and paved with paving brick of the best quality made; that the roadway should be excavated a depth of ten inches below the permanent pavement grade; that upon the bed so excavated, a bed of gravel five inches in depth should be placed, and after being rolled and pressed in shape, the brick pavement should be laid upon the gravel bed in such manner as