Okeson v. City of Seattle

In 1999, the city of Seattle (hereinafter Seattle) passed Ordinance 119747, transferring the responsibility to pay for streetlights from Seattle’s general budget to Seattle City Light (hereinafter City Light) customers in Seattle. After questions were raised as to the legality of the ordinance, Seattle brought a declaratory action to validate the ordinance. The trial court initially ruled against Seattle; however, after the legislature amended the statute *544regarding municipally owned utilities, the trial court reversed its earlier decision and entered a summary judgment order upholding the…