Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. Sacramento Municipal Utility Dist.

Plaintiff sues to enjoin the issuance of $12,000,000 of defendant’s power bonds, to prevent the levying and collection of such taxes, as are necessary to pay for the bonds, and for declaratory relief against the taxes.

The defendant is a municipal utility district made up in part of unincorporated territory, seeking to erect an electric power plant, and to distribute and sell power therefrom. Bonds have been voted to finance this project and are about to be issued and sold.

The plaintiff company, which is the present supplier of electric power to this territory, attacks the constitutionality of the organic act under which the defendant was formed (Deering’s Gen.Laws Cal. 1931, Act 6393), because that act does not provide for any hearing as to whether property included within the district will be *686 benefited by the proposed improvements. A great amount of plaintiffs property is within the district.

I. Preliminary Issues.

There are six preliminary issues in this case, raised on the motion to dismiss, which do not relate to the merits of the controversy, namely: Whether the plaintiff is barred by (1) laches; (2) the statute of limitations; (3) res adjudicate; (4) prematurity;…