Murphy v. Summersett

Citations

• 84 Wash. 565
• 147 P. 199
• 1915 Wash. LEXIS 812

Syllabus

<p>Municipal Corporations — Assessments — Appeal — Necessity. The general local improvement law, 3 Rem. & Bal. Code, § 7892-1 et seq., providing for notice to abutting owners of a bearing upon assessment rolls for local improvements, and for appeals to the superior court, and providing (§ 7892-70) that rights of action under existing laws, not commenced at the time the act takes effect, shall proceed under the provisions of the act, supersedes the prior acts whereby the property owners could obtain relief by an action in equity, and owners must now appeal or abide by the decision of the council, where the act went into effect before the assessment roll was made out, although the proceedings were commenced prior thereto under which the contract for the work was made.</p> <p>Same — Assessments—Appeal—Change of Procedure — Rights of Contractor. Although the new act could not affect any of his rights under his contract, a contractor for a local improvement has no such interest in the procedure by which the rights of the parties assessed could be asserted by action in equity, as to be able to object to a change in the procedure requiring owners to appeal to the superior court from a confirmation of the assessment roll, which manifestly did not prejudice his rights under his contract.</p> <p>Judgments — Res Judicata — Matters and Parties Concluded. A judgment in mandamus, at the suit of a contractor against a city, compelling the city to levy an assessment to pay the cost of a local improvement, is not res judicata, upon an appeal by a particular property owner, upon the question of the amount of benefits, if any, legally assessable against his’ property, he not being a party to the former action and the question of benefits not being there involved; the former decision being merely that property owners were liable for assessment to the extent of the benefits received by them.</p>