Londoner v. Denver

Facts

The charter of the city of Denver empowered the city to make local improvements and to assess the cost upon the properties specially benefited. The plaintiffs owned corner lots and were assessed a tax for paving done to the street which their land abutted. Under the charter, the city clerk was to notify the owners of real estate to be assessed by publication for ten days in a newspaper of general circulation. In this case, the notice did not fix the time for a hearing, but stated that written complaints filed within thirty days would be heard before the city council before the passage of any ordinance assessing the cost. The plaintiffs filed a timely paper with objections, but instead of affording them an opportunity to be heard upon their allegations, the board of the city council met and adopted a resolution to assess the tax. The plaintiffs sought relief from the tax in the State Court of Colorado, claiming the process of assessing the tax denied them due process of law. The trial court granted relief to the plaintiffs, but the Supreme Court reversed, holding that the tax assessed was in conformity with the Constitution and the laws of the State.