Wiggs v. Edgecombe County

The majority opinion overlooks the “well-established principle that municipalities, as creatures of the State, can exercise only that power which the legislature has conferred upon them.” Bowers v. City of High Point, 339 N.C. 413, 417, 451 S.E.2d 284, 287 (1994). *56Because of this principle, “[a] contract made by a municipality beyond its power is unenforceable.” Id., 451 S.E.2d at 288. The Supreme- Court in Bowers, while construing precisely the statutes at issue in this case, stressed: “The issue thus becomes whether the legislature authorized the city to enter contracts for separation…