The North Carolina Court of Appeals has upheld the legality of a legislative act to transfer control of the Asheville water system away from the city in a ruling Tuesday morning, according to court documents.
The city had appealed a provision of the the 2013 legislation, entitled the “Water/Sewer Act,” which would place control of Asheville’s water in the hands of the Buncombe County Metropolitan Sewerage District, arguing that the law violated the state constitution. A previous ruling in Superior Court in favor of the city’s claims of constitutional violations was overturned by the Court of Appeals, which says that the General Assembly does in fact have the power to pass laws effecting the transfer of the system.
While the Court of Appeals states in its official decision that Asheville has the right to challenge the legislation in court, it found “that the Transfer Provision does not violate
constitutional provisions” and that “The General Assembly’s power includes the authority to organize and regulate the powers of our State’s municipalities and other political subdivisions.”
The court cited previous rulings in Charlotte in favor of the state’s right to transfer control of a water system from a municipality as precedence for its decision. The court added that “we are not to be concerned with the ‘wisdom and expediency’ of the legislation, but whether the General Assembly has the ‘power’ to enact it.”
It also cited a 2008 ruling by the North Carolina Supreme Court against Asheville’s claims to control of the water system based on its link to health and sanitation, in which former Chief Judge John Martin ruled that “the mere implication of water or a water system in a legislative enactment does not necessitate a conclusion that it relates to health and sanitation in violation of the Constitution.”
According to a report on the ruling by the Asheville Citizen-Times, Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer says the city will appeal the ruling to the North Carolina Supreme Court.
To read the N.C. Court of Appeals ruling in full, check out appellate.nccourts.org.
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