AN ACT AUTHORIZING "THE TOWN OF SMYRNA" TO BORROW NOT IN EXCESS OF TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS ($200,000) AND TO ISSUE BONDS THEREFOR FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE EXTENSION AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE WATER AND SEWER SYSTEMS, THE ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM AND THE STREETS OF THE TOWN OF SMYRNA.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met (two-thirds of all the Members elected to each Branch of the Legislature concurring therein):
Section 1. That The Town of Smyrna, a municipal corporation created by and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware, be and it is hereby authorized and empowered to borrow on the faith and credit of The Town of Smyrna a sum of money not in excess of Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($200,000) for the purpose of the extension and improvement of the water and sewer systems, the electrical distribution systems and the streets of The Town of Smyrna.
Section 2. That the Mayor and Council of The Town of Smyrna, for any one or more of the purposes set forth in Section 1 of this Act, shall have full power and authority to issue bonds of The Town of Smyrna to an amount not exceeding in the aggregate the sum of Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($200,000) and that said bonds shall be known as Smyrna Water and Sewer, and/or Electrical and/or Street Bonds, Series of 195... , the year in which the bonds are issued, the title of said bonds to state therein the purpose or purposes for which they are issued, but omitting from the title of said bonds any of the said authorized purpose or purposes for which the Mayor and Council decide not to issue any of said bonds.
Section 3. That the said bonds shall be issued in one or more series, shall bear interest date or dates, shall mature at such time or times, not exceeding twenty-five (25) years from
their respective dates, shall bear interest at such rate or rates not exceeding four per centum per annum, shall be payable at such time or times and at such place or places and shall be in such denominations and shall contain such other provisions all as the Mayor and Council of The Town of Smyrna may duly provide by resolution and as shall be set forth in the said bonds.
The said bonds may be or may not be coupon bonds and may be registered or not registered as the Mayor and Council shall deem advisable. The bonds may be issued in serial form and with or without callable provision or provisions at par and at accrued interest, at such interest date or dates and upon the expiration of such period or periods of time thereafter, as the Mayor and Council may by resolution provided and as shall be set forth in the bonds and if the bonds contain any callable provision, the redemption shall be made upon such notice and in such manner and at such time or times as the Mayor and Council shall provide by resolution and as shall be set forth in the bonds. Interest on all bonds shall cease from the redemption date or the maturity date, as the case may be and all other details and provisions of the bonds shall be as provided by resolution of the Mayor and Council and as set forth in the bonds.
Section 4. That the Mayor and Council of The Town of Smyrna shall direct and effect the preparation and sale of the bonds which are authorized by this Act, at such time or times, at such price or prices, not less than par, and upon such terms as the Mayor and Council shall deem advisable and provide by resolution, and the moneys arising from the sale of such bonds shall be used for the carrying out of any one or more of the purposes for which the said bonds are issued, provided that the expenses of the bond issue may be paid from the moneys arising from the sale of the bonds.
Section 5. That the form of said bonds and the form of any coupons which may be attached thereto shall be as prescribed by resolution of the Mayor and Council and all such bonds shall be signed by the Mayor of The Town of Smyrna and by the Treasurer of The Town of Smyrna and shall be sealed with the corporate seal of the said municipal corporation and the said bonds shall be exempt from all state, county and municipal taxation. As the said bonds, and any coupons thereto originally at-
tached, shall be paid, the same shall be cancelled as the Mayor and Council may direct. Facsimile signatures of the Mayor of The Town of Smyrna and of the Treasurer of The Town of Smyrna may be imprinted upon any and all coupons that may be attached to the bonds, in lieu of the signatures of the said Mayor and of said Treasurer in their own original handwriting, but the bonds shall each be signed by the said Mayor and the said Treasurer in their own original handwriting.
Section 6. That the Mayor and Council of The Town of Smyrna are hereby authorized and required to levy and raise by taxation in each and every year such sums of money as may be required to pay the interest on said bonds while all or any of said bonds remain unpaid, and also to levy and raise by taxation from time to time such sum or sums of money as shall be needed to establish such sinking fund as the Mayor or Council may at their discretion authorize for the redemption of the said bonds, or any of them, at or before their maturity and such sum or sums of money as shall be required to otherwise pay and redeem any or all of said bonds at or before their maturity, in accordance with the terms of said bonds. Taxes for interest on said bonds and for the payment of said bonds shall be levied and raised as taxes for general municipal purposes in the said Town are levied and raised, and shall be in addition to the taxes levied and raised for any and all other municipal purposes.
Section 7. That the bonds authorized by this Act may be issued at one time and in one series, or at different times in different series as the Mayor and Council may from time to time determine, and authority to issue and sell bonds under this Act shall not be deemed to be exhausted until the aggregate of the amount of bonds issued under this Act shall be Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($200,000). However, the authority to issue bonds under this Act shall terminate on December 31, 1957 and if any part of the bonds so authorized by this Act have not actually been issued by December 31, 1957, then all authority to issue the remaining bonds so authorized by this Act shall cease. The bonds authorized to be issued under this Act shall be in addition to all present existing and outstanding bonds of The Town of Smyrna and also in addition to any bonds which may hereafter be issued as a refunding of any or all of the present outstanding bonds of The Town of Smyrna.
Section 8. That the faith and credit of The Town of Smyrna are hereby pledged for the due payment of the interest and of the bonds that may be issued under the provisions of this Act.
Section 9. That before any bonds shall be issued under the provisions of this Act, the said bond issue shall be approved by a referendum vote of the qualified voters of The Town of Smyrna. Notice of the holding of such referendum election shall be authorized by resolution of the Mayor and Council, published once a week for at least three consecutive weeks in a newspaper published in The Town of Smyrna, and if there be none such then in a newspaper published elsewhere in Kent County, Delaware. Such notice shall set out in summary form the amount and the purpose or purposes of such bond issue, the date and place of the holding of such referendum election and the hours the polls will be open, and the polls shall be open at least five (5) hours.
At such referendum election every resident and also every nonresident taxable of said Town, of the age of twenty-one years or upwards, who has by the time of voting paid all town taxes theretofore assessed to him, and/or assessed against the property he owns at the time of the referendum election, shall be entitled to vote and shall have one vote for each dollar, or fractional part of a dollar, of taxes paid by him according to the last town assessment and tax payment records preceding the referendum election. The Judge of the election shall note on the outside of each ballot, before he deposits the ballot in the ballot box, the number of votes to which each voter is entitled in accordance with the Town assessment and tax records.
In cases of jointly owned property, the votes of the owners of shares or interests therein shall be in accordance with their respective shares or interests, or if all owners of a property appear at the polls and so consent, all of the votes may be cast by the owner of any share or interest therein, except that the spouse first voting may cast all the votes in reference to property held by husband and wife, as tenants by the entirety. If both husband and wife, holding property as tenants by the entirety, present themselves to vote at the same time, each shall have the right to vote one-half of the votes to which they are entitled as the joint owners of such property. Life tenants shall have the entire vote as to the property so held by them for life, and holders of remainder or other like interests only shall have no vote by reason thereof.
The Mayor and Council shall provide sufficient official ballots which shall have printed thereon "FOR BOND ISSUE" and "AGAINST BOND ISSUE". Each voter shall indicate his preference by making a clearly legible mark by pencil or in ink opposite the words showing his preference, or by merely striking out the alternative to which he is opposed, or by said mark of preference and also by striking out the alternative to which he is opposed. Any other writing and/or form of marking a ballot, except the number of votes noted thereon by the Judge, shall render such ballot void. No voting by proxy shall be permitted.
The Mayor and Council shall, prior to the date of the referendum, appoint one Judge and two tellers to pass upon the qualifications and number of votes of each voter and to conduct the referendum election, and a majority of the election officers so appointed who are present at the opening of the polls shall fill any vacancy among the election officers. A majority of the election officers shall be sufficient to decide the qualifications and the number of votes to which any voter is entitled. The Mayor and Council, prior to the date of the referendum election, shall designate either the Town Manager or other town employee familiar with the Town assessment and tax payment records to be present during the entire period of the election with the last Town assessment and tax payment records for the inspection of the election officers. The referendum election shall be held no sooner than thirty days after the approval of this Act by the Governor and may be held at such time thereafter as the Mayor and Council shall designate after first determining the need and extent of the present and probable future municipal requirements and after having first obtained such estimates of the probable cost of the same as the Mayor and Council deem necessary for their guidance.
The referendum election shall be held at such suitable place in the said Town as the Mayor and Council shall designate in such published note and the hours of the opening and closing of
the polls may be so advertised either as Eastern Standard Time or as Daylight Saving Time, whichever may be in general use in the said Town as of the date selected for such referendum election. The Judge of the election shall, in the case of a tie vote on the bond issue, cast the deciding ballot, otherwise such Judge of the election shall refrain from voting, but the election tellers may vote. The Mayor and Council may also appoint two or more clerks to assist the Judge and tellers. The election teller shall keep a separate tally sheet and their tally sheet shall be corn--pared and must agree as to the total votes cast "FOR THE BOND ISSUE" and the total votes cast "AGAINST THE BOND ISSUE" and any difference between such tally sheets shall be resolved by the Judge of the election. Both tally sheets shall then be certified and signed as correct by at least two of the election officers and shall be delivered to the Mayor, or if he not be available, to the Secretary of Council, or if he also not be available, to any other member of the Council immediately following the counting of the ballots, the comparison of the tally sheets and the certification that the same are in agreement.
The Mayor and Council shall at the next regular meeting after the election, or at a special meeting at the discretion of the Mayor and Council, duly receive the result of the referendum election and shall make such result a part of the minutes of such regular or special meeting, whereupon if a majority of the votes cast were "FOR THE BOND ISSUE" this Act thereupon immediately shall become effective and the bonds herein provided may be issued and sold as in this Act provided, providing no bond shall be issued after December 31, 1957 under the authority of this Act, but if at such referendum election the majority of the votes cast were "AGAINST THE BOND ISSUE", then no bonds shall be issued nor shall any money be borrowed under the authority of this Act.
Section 10. That a statement appearing in the bonds, which may be issued lawfully under the provision of this Act, to the effect that the bonds have been duly authorized, shall be deemed and held to be conclusive evidence in favor of the lawful holder of any of said bonds that the terms and conditions of this Act have been fully met and complied with.
Approved February 29, 1956.