CHAPTER 106 - STATE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT
AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 63 OF VOLUME 29, LAWS OF DELAWARE, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE STATE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met (three-fourths of all members elected to each branch thereof concurring therein):
Section 1. That Chapter 63 of Volume 29, Laws of Delaware, as amended by Chapter 54 of Volume 32, Laws of Delaware, and as further amended by Chapter 66 of Volume 35, Laws of Delaware, be and the same is hereby further amended by striking out and repealing Section 15 thereof, and by inserting in lieu thereof a new Section, to be styled Section 15, as follows:
Section 15. That the said Department shall, within thirty days after the passage of this amendment, prepare a budget for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, 1936; and shall, upwards of thirty days before the thirtieth day of June of each year, prepare a budget for the next succeeding fiscal year.
It shall estimate the probable amount of revenue which it will have for its use during the fiscal year 1936, and during each succeeding year, from all sources, basing its estimate for the budget of 1936 upon available appropriations of the General Assembly and the revenues and experiences of the fiscal year 1935, and for each succeeding year, upon available appropriations of the General Assembly and the revenues and experiences of the year during which the budget shall be made. It shall estimate the probable cost of maintenance of its organization, such as the salaries of its regular and usual employees, its offices, and the expenses thereof, and such other expenses as are commonly known as overhead expenses; and the fixed charges, if any, of any State Highways constructed or reconstructed from the proceeds of bonds issued under the provisions of any Act relating to the said department, itemized; and the estimated costs of maintenance of any State highways which have not been constructed or reconstructed from the proceeds of such bonds. If there is any excess of revenue for the year 1936, or for such succeeding year, estimated as aforesaid, the said department may proceed, to ascertain what amount of money, if any, such excess of revenue will warrant being borrowed for the construction or reconstruction of State Highways. No amount shall be borrowed greater than an amount upon which such excess of revenue will pay the fixed charges on such highways as it is proposed to construct or reconstruct from the proceeds of bonds proposed to be issued. If it should be found that such excess of revenue warrants the borrowing of any money, and the budget is certified to by a certified public accountant selected by the department and approved by the Auditor of Accounts, the said department shall certify to the Governor, the Secretary of State and State Treasurer, the said budget and the certification of such accountant and the amount which said excess of revenue shall warrant to be borrowed, and the said Governor, Secretary of State and State Treasurer shall, and they are hereby authorized and directed to sell, execute and deliver bonds in conformity with the provisions of this Act, to an amount so certified by the Department as warranted to be borrowed, upon the further request of said Department, that bonds to such amount be sold.
If, at the end of any year there are any monies resulting from annual appropriations unexpended and to the credit of the Department, it may use such monies for any of the purposes of this Act, but it shall not include the amounts of such monies in ascertaining the excessive revenue in its budget.
Section 2. That the said Chapter 63 of Volume 29, Laws of Delaware, as amended as aforesaid, be and the same is hereby further amended by striking out and repealing Section 16 thereof, and by inserting in lieu thereof a new Section to be styled Section 16, as follows:
Section 16. That the bonds issued under the authority of this Act shall be in denominations of one hundred 0100.00) dollars, or multiple thereof, with coupons thereto attached for each one half year's interest thereon. The said bonds shall be numbered consecutively, and shall be dated the first day of January of the year in which they shall be requested to be sold by the Department, in accordance with the provisions of Section 19 hereof. They shall bear interest from and after that date at a rate not exceeding four and one-half (41/2%) per centum per annum, interest payable semiannually, on the first day of January and July in each year in which such bonds remain unpaid, at the Farmers' Bank of The State of Delaware, at Dover, upon presentation of a coupon representing such semi-annual interest.
The principal of said bonds shall be payable at said bank forty years after the date thereof, or payable serially within forty years, each serial or annual payment to be approximately one-fortieth of the total amount currently authorized and to be issued. Payment shall be made on presentation and surrender of said bonds, but the said bonds or any of them may be redeemed, at the option of the State, at the rate of one hundred and five per centum (1055) of the principal debt of the bond redeemed, on any first day of January or first day of July after the said bond or any of them shall have been issued one year, upon thirty days' notice published in one newspaper in the City of Philadelphia, and one newspaper published in the State of Delaware, indicating by their numbers the bonds thereby called and elected to be redeemed. The denomination, form and rate of interest shall be as decided by the Governor, Secretary of State and State Treasurer, or a majority of them.
All said bonds shall be signed by the Governor, Secretary of State, and State Treasurer, on behalf of The State of Delaware, and shall have the Great Seal of the State impressed thereon.
The signature of the said Treasurer shall be engraved, printed or written on such coupon, and when printed or engraved shall have the same effect as if written, and the coupon attached to each bond shall be numbered consecutively, and bear the number of the bond to which it is attached to identify it therewith.
The Governor and the State Treasurer and the Secretary of State at any and at all times, upon the recommendation of the State Highway Department, shall have the power and authority, when they deem it advisable, to redeem and/or refund any or all bonds theretofore issued at a specified redemption rate, and to issue a like amount of new or refunding bonds in lieu thereof, and apply the proceeds from the sale thereof to the payment of the bonds redeemed.
If bonds are issued in serial form, whereby the principal of one-fortieth of the authorized issue is payable each and every year thereafter, the State Treasurer shall annually deduct from the monies appropriated for the use and purposes of the said Department such an amount as shall be necessary to pay the principal on all bonds due during the current fiscal year, and such money so deducted shall be so used by the State Treasurer; and the provisions of Section 14 of this Act, requiring an annual deduction for payment into the sinking fund of the State, shall not apply to any such serial bonds.
Section 3. That the said Chapter 63 of Volume 29, Laws of Delaware, as amended as aforesaid, be and the same is hereby further amended by striking out and repealing Section 17 thereof, and by inserting in lieu thereof a new Section to be styled Section 17, as follows:
Section 17. That the said bonds shall be substantially in the following form, to-wit:
United States of America
The State of Delaware
No ______ State Highway Loan of 19__.
These presents certify and make known that The State of Delaware is held and firmly bound unto the bearer in the sum of ____ Dollars ($___
), lawful money of the United States of America, which the said State promises and binds itself to pay to the bearer at the Farmers' Bank of The State of Delaware, at Dover, on the first day of January, A. D. 19___, with interest at the rate of ____ per centum, per annum, likewise payable at the Farmers' Bank of The State of Delaware, at Dover, on the first days of January and July of each and every year, while the said principal sum remains unpaid, upon the presentation of the coupon as hereto annexed representing such semi-annual installments of interest, provided, however, and it is expressly stipulated, that the said State reserves the right and power at its option to call in, pay and redeem this bond at the rate of one hundred and ___ per centum of the principal debt hereof on the first day of January and July in or after the year A. D. 19__ pursuant to the notice in that behalf prescribed by an Act of the General Assembly under authority of which this bond is issued; and provided further, that when this bond shall be called by the notice aforesaid, interest hereon shall cease to accrue from and after the first day of January or July (as the case may be) next succeeding the date of such notice.
Dated at Dover the first day of January, A. D. 19__
Witnesseth the Great Seal of The State of Delaware, and the hands of the Governor, Secretary of State and State Treasurer, the day and year aforesaid.
____________________
Governor
____________________
Secretary of State
____________________
State Treasurer
And the coupons shall be in the following form, to-wit:
No _____
The State of Delaware will pay to the bearer at the Farmers' Bank of The State of Delaware, at Dover, on the first day of _____, A. D. _____, the sum of _____ Dollars, for six months' interest on bond No ___ State Highway Loan of 19__
Dated January 1, 19__
____________________
State Treasurer
It shall be the duty of the State Treasurer to provide a record of the proper size and form to be retained in his office so ruled as to afford a separate space for each coupon and the space at the top of each page of said record for each bond when paid, and each space at the top of said record shall bear the same number or class as the bond, the record whereof is intended to be preserved. As the said coupons are paid, it shall be the duty of the State Treasurer to mark the same in red ink across the face "Paid", cut each of them in two lengthwise, paste the pieces in the aforesaid spaces for each coupon in the record aforesaid, and as the said bonds shall be paid and redeemed the State Treasurer shall cause the same to be cancelled by making lines with red ink through the signatures of the Governor, Secretary of State and State Treasurer, also by writing across the face thereof, in red ink, the word "This bond paid and redeemed this _______ day of _____ A.D. _____
___________________
State Treasurer
When paid and redeemed the said bonds shall be pasted in the proper spaces aforesaid.
Section 4. That the said Chapter 63 of Volume 29, Laws of Delaware, as amended as aforesaid, be and the same is hereby further amended by striking out and repealing the second paragraph of Section 20 thereof, and by inserting in lieu thereof a paragraph as follows:
The State Treasurer is hereby authorized and directed to disburse monies in the State Treasury to the credit of the department upon its warrants signed by the Chairman and the Secretary or the chief engineer, stating the use of the monies for which such warrant calls and in accordance with the provisions of Section 20, of Chapter 15, of the Revised Code, provided that no funds resulting from the sale of bonds herein provided for shall be expended or used except for the construction or reconstruction of the State Highways as aforesaid, provided, nevertheless, that such funds from the sale of said bonds may be used for the construction of Secondary roads, to match Federal funds where required by an Act of Congress of the United States of America.
Approved April 18, 1935.