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Publicly Owned Utilities And The Problem Of Municipal Debt Limits, Lawrence L. Durisch

Michigan Law Review

The far-reaching contest being waged between the advocates of municipal ownership of public utilities and the private ownership group, between those who "want the government to get out of business" and those who desire to see an increase in its proprietary functions, has produced a number of sharp legal controversies. One of the most interesting of these, recently litigated in a number of state courts, is whether an obligation incurred for the purchase or repair of a municipally-owned utility is a "municipal debt" within the meaning of constitutional or statutory debt limits. Because of the wide-spread interest in, and the …