AN ACT TO AMEND AN ACT ENTITLED "AN ACT TO REINCORPORATE THE TOWN OF DELMAR," BY PROVIDING FOR A REFERENDUM VOTE BEFORE MAKING ANY INCREASE IN WATER RENTS.
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 House thereof concurring therein):
Section 1. That Chapter 182, Laws of Delaware, Volume 45, be and the same is hereby amended by striking out the period at the end of paragraph (d) Section 20 thereof and by substituting a semi-colon in lieu thereof and adding the following words immediately after the semi-colon:
"; provided, however, that the Council shall not increase the water rents now charged the citizens of the Town of Delmar nor enter into any agreements to increase said water rents beyond the prices charged at the time of the passage of this Act."
Section 2. That Chapter 182, Volume 45, Laws of Delaware, be and the same is hereby further amended by adding an additional paragraph to be designated "e" at the end of Section 20 of said chapter, as follows:
e. (1) Before making any increase or agreement for increase in water rents charged citizens of the Town of Delmar, the Council shall by resolution state the amount of such proposed increase, the purpose for which such proposed increase is to be made, and the time and place for a hearing at which all interested citizens may be heard upon the resolution.
(2) Notice of the time and place of the hearing on the resolution concerning an increase in water rents or charges shall be printed in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town at
least one week before the time set for the hearing, which hearing shall be held at the time and place designated in such printed notice.
(3) If after the hearing the Council is still favorable to an increase or agreement for an increase in water rents charged citizens and residents of the Town of Delmar, then a second resolution shall be passed by the Council within thirty (30) days after the said hearing, ordering a special election to be held not less than thirty (30) days and not more than sixty (60) days after the date of the second resolution, such special election to be for the purpose of voting for or against the proposed increase or proposed agreement for increase.
(0) The notice of the time and place for holding the said special election shall be printed in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks prior to the date set for the election. The said special election shall be conducted by a Board of Electors as provided in the Charter of the Town of Delmar as the same appears in Chapter 182 of Volume 45, Laws of Delaware, and in the manner in which an annual Town election is conducted.
(3) The Council shall cause to be prepared, printed and have available for distribution a sufficient number of ballots not less than five (5) days prior to the date of the special election.
(4) At the special election, every person who had a right to vote at the last preceding annual Town election shall have one vote for every dollar and fractional part of dollar tax paid by him or her respectively during the year preceding said election, and every owner of property, whether individual, partnership or corporation, shall have one vote for every dollar or part of dollar of the tax paid by said owner during the year preceding said election, and the said vote may be cast either in person or by proxy.
(5) The Board of Election shall count the votes for and against the proposed increase in water rent or proposed agreement for increase in water rent and shall announce the results thereof by certificate under their hands of the number of votes
cast for and against the proposed increase or proposed agreement for increase and shall deliver the same to the Council, which said certificate shall be entered on the minutes of the Council, and the original shall be filed with the papers of the Council.
(8) If the number of votes cast against the proposed increase of charges for water rents or against the agreement proposing an increase in water rents shall be greater than the number of votes favorable to such proposed increase or proposed agreement for increase then the Council shall not put into effect any increase in water rents and shall not conclude any proposed agreement for an increase in water rents charged to the residents of the Town of Delmar. The water rents shall only be increased or an agreement increasing such rents shall only be concluded by the Council if a majority of the votes cast at said special election shall favor such proposed increase or such proposed agreement for increase in water rents.