Vickroy v. Ferndale Borough

Citations

• 259 Pa. 321
• 102 A. 958
• 1918 Pa. LEXIS 411

Syllabus

<p>Boroughs — Eminent domain — Parks—Appropriation of land— Act of May 14., 1915, P. L. 312-1+12 — Indebtedness in excess of statutory limit — Failure to submit to vote of people — Failure to pay— Mandamus — Courts—Power over process.</p> <p>1. Any' court having jurisdiction to hear and determine civil cases has control over its own processes of execution, but such power may not be exercised arbitrarily but only when • sufficient legal reason is shown for the court’s interference.</p> <p>2. The right of boroughs to appropriate land for park purposes is purely statutory and can be exercised only as the terms and conditions of the statutes have been complied with.</p> <p>3. Under Section 3 and 4 of the Act of May 14, 1915, P. L. 312-412, giving boroughs the right to appropriate land for public park purposes, a borough will not be liable for the value of land appropriated where the value of such land exceeds one and one-half mills on the dollar of valuation of all property offices, professions, and persons in the borough upon which county taxes are rated and levied, except as the appropriation is approved by a majority vote of the borough. '</p> <p>4. Land appropriated by a borough ordinance for park purposes exceeded in value one and one-half mills on the dollar of the valuation of all property, offices, professions and persons in the borough, and such appropriation was not approved by a majority of the borough electors. The borough was without funds to pay the amount of the award, from which no appeal had been taken and upon which judgment- had been entered. The persons whose land had been taken issued a mandamus execution against the borough. At the instance of the borough the court made an order directing the borough to pay on account of the award “annually such an amount as will not exceed a total of one and one-half mills on the dollar, in three years, calculated on the basis of the valuation of property in said borough at the rate as may from time to time be ass