CHAPTER 171 - AUTHORIZING TRUSTEES OF SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 111 (REHOBOTH) TO ISSUE BONDS
AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE BOARD OF SCHOOL TRUSTEES OF SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 111 OF SUSSEX COUNTY TO .PROCURE A SITE AND THEREON TO ERECT AND FULLY EQUIP A NEW SCHOOL BUILDING IN THE TOWN OF REHOBOTH, AND TO BORROW MONEY TO PAY FOR THE SAME BY ISSUING BONDS TO SECURE SAID LOAN.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met:
Section 1. That the Board of School Trustees of School District No. 111, Sussex County, being commonly known as Rehoboth School District No. 111, and its successors in office be and it is hereby vested with all authority and power necessary to procure a site within the limits of the Town of Rehoboth and to erect and construct thereon a twelve-grade school building and fully to equip and furnish the same for school purposes, and to take and keep title to the said school building in the name of the Board of School Trustees of School District No. 111, Sussex County.
And it is hereby authorized and empowered to borrow at its discretion a sum of money not to exceed One hundred sixty thousand ($160,000.00) Dollars, to be used for carrying out the above named purposes
Section 2. That the Board of School Trustees of School District No. 111, Sussex County, in case they shall not be able to procure by agreement with the owner or owners a lot of land suitable and proper for the erection of said high-school building, shall be and hereby is authorized to conduct condemnation proceedings and thereby to obtain the aforesaid lot of land which proceedings, insofar as is reasonable, shall be the same in all respects as the proceedings by statute authorized for the State Highway Department in order to enable it to obtain land for public roads.
Section 3. That the Board of Education of the State of Delaware through its appropriate agencies shall render to the Board of School Trustees of School District No. 111, Sussex County, even though the purposes named in this Act are not to be carried out with funds appropriated by the State or applied under the direction of the State Board of Education all such expert advice and assistance as they are required to and do in practice render to School Districts which construct or remodel school properties with the aid of State funds or according to plans submitted by the State Board of Education or some agency thereof.
Section 4. That it shall be the duty of the State Board of Education to accept and make use of said building after its completion as a part of the public school system of the State under the direction of the Board of School Trustees at Rehoboth, and for such school there shall be allocated and expended its proportional part of the educational funds of the State so as to support and operate an efficient and adequate school for elementary, grammar, and high-school students.
Section 5. That the Board of School Trustees of Rehoboth, for the purpose set forth in Section 1 of this Act, shall have full power and authority to issue and sell Bonds of the said Board of School Trustees of Rehoboth in an amount not exceeding, in the aggregate, the sum of One hundred sixty thousand ($160,000.00) Dollars, and said Bonds shall be known by whatever name the Board of School Trustees shall determine.
Section 6. That the said Bonds shall be authorized by a resolution of the Board of School Trustees and shall be issued in one or more series, shall bear such date or dates, mature at such time or times, not exceeding twenty-five (25) years from their respective dates, bear interest at such rate or rates, not exceeding four and one-half (41/25) per centum per annum, payable at such time, be in such denominations, and payable at such place or places as such resolution or subsequent resolutions may provide. The Bonds may or may not be coupon Bonds and may or may not be registered Bonds, as the said Board of School Trustees shall determine. Any or all of said Bonds may be redeemed at the option of the Board of School Trustees at par and accrued interest at any interest period after the expiration of five (5) years from the date of said Bonds; provided, however, that if the said Board of School Trustees shall elect to redeem any or all of said Bonds as aforesaid, such redemption shall be made in pursuance of a notice signed by the Chairman and one other member of the Board of School Trustees, published once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper or newspapers published and circulating in Sussex County, Delaware. Such notice shall indicate the Bonds called, and in making such call or calls for redemption the said Board of School Trustees shall begin with the lower numbers and select serially the Bonds to be called, and, provided further, that if the Bonds issued under the provisions of this Act shall be "Registered Bonds", such Bonds shall not be called until two weeks after notice has also been sent in writing by registered letter to the registered owners of the Bonds to be called.
The interest on any of said Bonds so called shall cease from the date named in any of said calls for redemption.
Section 7. That the Board of School Trustees shall direct and effect the preparation and sale of the Bonds which are authorized by this Act at such time or times and upon such terms as the said Board of School Trustees may deem expedient. Provided that such Bonds may, in no event, be sold for less than their face value and, provided that the said Board of School Trustees shall sell and dispose of the same on the most advantageous terms obtainable after having advertised the same in at least two daily papers published in the State of Delaware for at least three consecutive issues in each paper. All monies arising from the sale of said Bonds shall be used for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Ad.
Section 8. That the form of said Bonds with the coupons that may be attached thereto shall be prescribed by resolution of the Board of School Trustees, and said Bonds shall be signed by the Chairman and Secretary of the Board of School Trustees and sealed with some seal which the Board of School Trustees are hereby authorized to select and adopt as their own for this purpose and shall be exempt from State, County and municipal taxes. As said Bonds and coupons attached thereto shall be paid, the same shall be cancelled as the said Board of School Trustees shall direct.
Facsimile signatures of the Chairman and Secretary of the Board of School Trustees may be imprinted upon the coupons that may be attached to said Bonds in lieu of the respective signatures of the said Chairman and Secretary.
Section 9. That the faith and credit of School District No. 111, Sussex County, shall be deemed to be pledged for the due payment of all of the Bonds and interest thereon that may be issued under the provisions of this Act.
Section 10. That the Board of School Trustees of Rehoboth shall be and hereby is authorized to provide funds for the payment of the interest and annual payments on such Bonds which without further authority shall be provided for by an additional tax levy on the real and personal property subject to taxation for County purposes in School District No. 111, Sussex County, and by a poll tax on all persons twenty-one years of age and upward residing in the District of such amount as shall be determined by the Board of School Trustees of the aforesaid District.
The rules governing the assessment and collection of taxes for the purpose of discharging the indebtedness represented by the Bonds authorized by this Act shall, in so far as it is reason- able, be the same in all respects as the rules which govern the Board of School Trustees at present in respect to the taxes for the purpose of raising additional funds for the maintenance and operation of the Rehoboth School, except that the Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer of Sussex County shall pay the proceeds of any such tax so levied directly to the Board of School Trustees of Rehoboth who shall give the aforesaid Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer a receipt for those funds, which receipt shall operate as a complete discharge to the aforesaid County officer from his responsibility for these funds: Provided that the sums levied and assessed under and by virtue of this Section shall not exceed the interest on the Bonds then outstanding and the par value of the Bonds called in for that year by more than twenty (20%) per centum of the aggregate amount of said interest and par value of said Bonds.
Section 11. That all monies collected by virtue of the provisions of this Act either from the sale of Bonds or from taxes levied for the discharge of the indebtedness represented by these Bonds shall be deposited and kept in the Farmers Bank, at Georgetown, until they are used by the Board of School Trustees to effect the provisions of this Act.
Section 12. That any Bond issued pursuant to this Act may contain a recital that it is issued pursuant to this Act, which recital shall be conclusive evidence of its validity and of the regularity of its issuance.
Section 13. That before any Bonds shall be authorized and issued under the provisions of this Act, a Special Election shall be held in the Rehoboth School Building in the same manner as other school Elections, of which Election notice shall be given by advertisements published in at least two newspapers in Sussex County at least once a week for at least two weeks before the day of said Election; the last publication thereof to be at least five days before the said Election, and also by notice posted on the door of the Rehoboth School. In all of said advertisements and notices the amount of Bonds proposed to be issued and the purposes and reasons therefor shall be set forth plainly and in detail. At such Election there shall be provided a sufficient number of ballots on which shall be printed the words "For the Bond Issue" and an equal number of ballots on which shall be printed the words "Against the Bond Issue", and each voter shall be entitled to receive both of said ballots, one of which the voter may deposit as his or her ballot. But any voter may prepare his or her own ballot and deposit that in lieu of the ballot provided as aforesaid. The polls for said Election shall be opened at one o'clock P. M. of the day advertised for the said Election according to said advertisements and remain open until eight o'clock P. M. of the said day and the said Election shall be held by such persons as shall be designated by the Board of School Trustees of District No. 111, Sussex County, and if the persons so designated are not present at the time for, opening the polls, the voters present may, by viva voce vote, name election officers consisting of an inspector, two judges and two tellers to hold said Election.
At the conclusion of said Election immediately after eight o'clock P. M. the ballot box shall be opened and the election officers shall count the votes in public and publicly announce the result of. the Election. The result so announced shall immediately be certified, in writing, to the Board of School Trustees and shall be conclusive in the determination of the rights of the Board of School Trustees in respect to this Act, except that upon the application of twenty-five (25) voters of the aforesaid District filed with the Board of School Trustees before the expiration of one week from the date of the Election an appeal may be taken to the Board of School Trustees of District No. 111, Sussex County, on any question of the qualification of electors who 'voted at the aforesaid School Election or any question as to whether or not a majority of the votes was obtained either for or against the Bond issue.
An appeal from the decision of the Board of School Trustees may be taken to the Resident Judge of Sussex County, provided that it is taken by means of a written application within one week from the determination of the appeal to the Board of School Trustees.
In all cases the determination of the Resident Judge of Sussex County upon the facts in dispute shall be final and conclusive.
Approved May 19, 1937.