Section 61. A town acquiring a plant may provide by ordinance or by-law for the equitable assessment upon the owner or occupant of any premises of the cost, or any part thereof, of laying and maintaining pipes, conduits, conductors or other appliances thereon. Payment of such assessments shall not be compulsory, but it shall be a condition precedent to the supplying of gas or electricity to the occupants of such premises, and may be required before providing appliances therefor.

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Terms Used In Massachusetts General Laws ch. 164 sec. 61

  • Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
  • Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.