Electro-Jet Tool & Manufacturing Co. v. City of Albuquerque

OPINION

MONTGOMERY, Justice.

Article II, Section 20, of the New Mexico Constitution provides: “Private property shall not be taken or damaged for public use without just compensation.” In this ease we consider the meaning of the phrase “for public use” in the context of an inverse condemnation claim for damage to a property owner’s buildings caused by a municipality’s maintenance of nearby drainage ditches.

I

The plaintiff is Electro-Jet Tool and Manufacturing Company, Inc. (“ElectroJet”). It owns one or more buildings and other facilities on the north side of Albuquerque, New Mexico, not far…