City of Attalla v. Dean Sausage Co.
Alabama Court of Civil Appeals
889 So. 2d 559 (2003)

- Written by Darius Dehghan, JD
Facts
The sewer system in the city of Attalla (the city) (defendant) was operated by the city. The city provided sewer service to persons and businesses located outside the city’s corporate limits but within the city’s police jurisdiction. These businesses included Dean Sausage Company, Inc., Machine Products Company, Inc., and Trambeam, Inc. (the businesses) (plaintiffs). The city’s sewer system was experiencing overflows, such that the city had to raise funds to pay for rehabilitating the sewer system. The city did not collect any taxes in its police jurisdiction. Thus, the city requested that the businesses consider voluntary annexation into the city in order to help the city secure the tax revenues needed to rehabilitate the sewer system. The businesses disregarded this request. Subsequently, in an effort to reduce expenses, the city enacted Ordinance 758(01), which terminated sewer service in its police jurisdiction. The businesses brought suit, contending that the city was required to provide sewer service in its police jurisdiction. The trial court ruled in favor of the businesses. The city appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Pittman, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.