Shumate v. Heman

Background

A man named August Heman went to court to collect on a special tax bill the City of St. Louis had issued in his favor for building a sewer in the Euclid Avenue sewer district. Property owners who were assessed to pay the cost of that sewer resisted payment. The trial court ruled for Heman, the Missouri Supreme Court affirmed that judgment (reported as Heman v. Allen), and the property owners brought the dispute to the United States Supreme Court.

Reasoning

The narrow legal question was whether the city’s charter, its ordinances, the contract that followed, and the assessment against property owners were void because they allegedly violated the Fourteenth Amendment under the rule announced in Norwood v. Baker. The Supreme Court treated this case as governed by a recent, similar decision involving French v. The Barber Asphalt Paving Company and relied on that authority. Applying the same reasoning, the Court rejected the property owners’ constitutional challenge and affirmed the Missouri court’s judgment, leaving the assessment and contract enforceable.

Real world impact

The decision means the assessed property owners must pay the special sewer tax and contractors or claimants relying on similar city-issued special tax bills can enforce them in court. The ruling reinforces that, under the facts presented, municipal charters and improvement assessments like this one will be upheld. It follows prior related decisions and does not announce a new nationwide constitutional rule beyond those precedents.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Harlan, joined by Justices White and McKenna, dissented, saying the controlling question had been addressed in related cases and explaining his disagreement in those opinions.