Just compensation
It’s not uncommon for the powers that be to forget the public use portion of the fifth amendment but when they claim that the benefit is considered just compensation, they’re really reaching:
Kruses didn’t take $5,000 offered; now city says project benefits will be only payment
The city took the property to install a sewer:
Even though [city officials] offered the Kruses $5,000 for the property late last year hoping to avoid an expensive condemnation process – an offer the Kruses rejected – Water Resources Program Manager Ted Nitza said a cash payment now would be “inappropriate because we feel the benefits of the project (to the Kruses) exceeds the value of what was taken.”
