Killeen

Plaintiff, as a representative of a class, filed this taxpayer’s suit against defendants, City of San Bruno, city council members, the city’s finance director and the city engineer (city) to enjoin the use of city employees to perform work, in violation of section 37902 of the Government Code, which provides: “When the expenditure *481 required for a public project exceeds three thousand five hundred dollars ($3,500), it shall be contracted for and let to the lowest responsible bidder after notice.” The lower court, after a hearing, denied the taxpayer’s motion for a preliminary injunction, and this appeal ensued.

As the appeal is from an order denying a preliminary injunction, the facts are derived from the pleadings and supporting memoranda. During the summer of 1974, San Bruno, a general law city, began replacing at least 70 service lines connecting certain businesses to a new water main, at a total cost in excess of $3,500. To perform this work, the city chose to use only its own employees; no contracts were let for any of the work done. The parties here stipulated that these water main connections were a “public project” within the meaning of that term in section…