City of Wauwatosa v. Milwaukee County

The complaint was grounded upon sec. 59.07 (52) (a), Stats., 1 which authorizes the defendant to reimburse municipalities in which county buildings are situated for the expense of the transmission and disposal of sewage from such buildings. Our decision turns upon the meaning of the word “may” as used in the section. If the word “may” means “may” and is discretionary, the trial court was correct in dismissing the complaint, but if “may” means must or shall and is thus mandatory, a reversal is required.

The facts are not in dispute. For many years in what was the town of Wauwatosa the defendant…