Galati v. Lake Havasu City

In Galati v. Lake Havasu City, 186 Ariz. 131, 134, 920 P.2d 11, 14 (App. 1996), the Court addressed whether a city was entitled to immunity under A.R.S. 12-820.01(A)(1) for its failure to fund improvements of a road. 186 Ariz. at 134, 920 P.2d at 14. There, a motorist was injured in a car accident and sued the city, alleging that the city was negligent in its design and maintenance of the road. Id. at 133, 920 P.2d at 13. The trial court granted the city's motion for summary judgment on the ground that the city was immune from liability for its decision not to redesign or allocate funds for reconstruction of the road. Id. On appeal, the city argued that because street design and funding decisions are the exercise of legislative functions, it could not be sued for dangerous roadway design when the correction of such a design requires the allocation of limited financial resource. Id. at 134, 920 P.2d at 14. The city, however, failed to point to any evidence demonstrating that it had made an affirmative decision not to fund street improvements. Id. Instead, it asserted that the "prioritization of road construction projects makes its failure to fund the project the same as a decision not to fund." Id. The Court disagreed, stating that the "absence of a decision to fund a street improvement project is not the exercise of a legislative function . . . ." Id. Thus, the city was not entitled to immunity.