16-726. Claims and accounts payable; filing; requirements; disallowance; notice; costs.
All liquidated and unliquidated claims and accounts payable against a city of the first class shall: (1) Be presented in writing; (2) state the name and address of the claimant and the amount of the claim; and (3) fully and accurately identify the items or services for which payment is claimed or the time, place, nature, and circumstances giving rise to the claim.
As a condition precedent to maintaining an action for a claim, other than a tort claim as defined in section 13-903, the claimant shall file such claim within ninety days of the accrual of the claim in the office of the city clerk.
The city clerk shall notify the claimant or his or her agent or attorney by letter mailed to the claimant's address within five days if the claim is disallowed by the city council.
No costs shall be recovered against such city in any action brought against it for any claim or for any claim allowed in part which has not been presented to the city council to be audited, unless the recovery is for a greater sum than the amount allowed with the interest due.
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Annotations
Noncompliance with the filing requirement of this section may be asserted as a defense in an action to recover on a claim against a city of the first class. Niemoller v. City of Papillion, 276 Neb. 40, 752 N.W.2d 132 (2008).
Where a claim is not filed with the city clerk — the person designated by statute as the authorized recipient — a substantial compliance analysis is not applicable. Niemoller v. City of Papillion, 276 Neb. 40, 752 N.W.2d 132 (2008).
The 90-day "condition precedent" under this section is a procedural precedent to commencement of a claim, and noncompliance is an affirmative defense which must be raised before the first tribunal or agency charged with determining the cause of action or the defense is waived. Crown Products Co. v. City of Ralston, 253 Neb. 1, 567 N.W.2d 294 (1997).