Texas Supreme Court holds city’s civil-enforcement of utility payment ordinance was not an unconstitutional taking
City of Baytown v Alan Schrock, 20-0309 (Tex. May 13, 2022)
In this takings case, the Texas Supreme Court held the City of Bayton (City) did not commit a taking by withholding utility service in order to collect unpaid utility bills.
Schrock owned property that he would lease to tenants. The City’s ordinances required landlords to either guarantee payment for utility bills or to file a declaration with the City stating that the landlord would not guarantee its tenant’s utility payments. The City also had an ordinance prohibiting the connection of new utility services at properties encumbered by outstanding utility bills. At some point, utility bills for the City’s water service to the property went unpaid and Schrock did not file any declaration. Schrock contested unpaid amounts (pointing to his tenant as the responsible party) but the City, after a hearing, placed a lien on the property. The City then refused to connect utilities to the property when one of Schrock’s tenants requested it, which caused the tenant to cancel the lease. Because no utilities were connected, no tenants rented, the property fell into disrepair. Schrock sued the City for inverse condemnation and other claims, primarily alleging that the City’s refusal to reconnect his utility service violated Tex Loc. Gov’t Code § 552.0025 (which prohibits municipalities from conditioning utility service connections on payment of outstanding utility bills incurred by other customers residing at the same address.). The trial court ruled for the City, but the court of appeals reversed, noting a fact question existed. The City appealed.
A regulatory takings claim is one in which “the plaintiff complains that the government through regulation so burdened his property as to deny him its economic value or unreasonably interfere with its use and enjoyment.” The Court made a distinction between a regulation that directly regulates land use and one which merely impairs the use of the property because of its enforcement. The Court held that the City’s providing utilities to the property was a service; its regulation of that service was not a regulation of the property itself. The true nature of Schrock’s claim lies in the City’s wrongful enforcement of its ordinance, not in an intentional taking or damage of his property for public use. The Court noted that nearly every civil-enforcement action results in a property loss of some kind. Property damage due to civil enforcement of an ordinance unrelated to land use, standing on its own, is not enough to sustain regulatory takings claims.
If you would like to read this opinion click here. Justice Bland delivered the opinion. Justice Young delivered a concurring opinion, in which Justice Lehrmann, Justice Blacklock, and Justice Busby joined.
