City Wins Right to Levy Special Street Assessments
A landmark court decision by Judge Greene clears the path for city infrastructure funding by upholding the legality of special assessments for street improvements.
Judge Greene rendered a decision yesterday in the cases of the City vs. P. H. Lewis, the City vs. P. Clancy, and the City vs. the Terry estate, regarding the grading of Columbia Street and the laying of sidewalks. The decision is in favor of the City on all points, settling the question of whether property owners can resist paying special assessments for street improvements. Judge Greene held that the city charter confers the power to levy special assessments as an exercise of the taxing power, not as an exercise of the power of eminent domain, and therefore it is constitutional. The ruling establishes that failure to complete some parts of an improvement does not bar the collection of taxes on the portions actually completed, and that claims for damages against the city must be settled as separate actions rather than by refusing to pay the assessments.
“The decision now rendered is in favor of the City, on all the questions, and settles that of the points upon which the persons resisting the payment of assessments for street improvements stood.”
This 1886 ruling was foundational for Seattle's ability to fund its rapid expansion through Local Improvement Districts (LIDs). Today, these mechanisms remain central to the city's civic arguments regarding how to distribute the financial burden of infrastructure upgrades in a growing, densifying landscape.
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