CHAPTER 194 - MILTON
AN ACT TO RE-INCORPORATE THE TOWN OF MILTON.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met (two-thirds of all members elected to each House of said General Assembly concurring therein):
Section 1. Corporate Name and General Powers:--The inhabitants of the Town of Milton, in Sussex County, Delaware, and their successors within the limits hereinafter prescribed, or hereafter established, are hereby constituted, created and established a body politic and corporate forever, by the name and style of the "TOWN OF MILTON", hereinafter called the Town. Under that name they shall have perpetual succession; may have and use a corporate seal, which may be altered, changed or renewed at pleasure; may sue and be sued; for any public, municipal, educational or charitable purposes, may acquire by gift, grant, purchase, lease, demise, bequest, or otherwise hold, real and personal property within and without the limits hereinafter prescribed; for the common benefit may dispose of real and personal property owned or held by it; and shall possess, in addition to the powers expressly enumerated or specifically mentioned in this Act, all powers which, under the Constitution of the State of Delaware, it is now, or in the future may be, lawful for this Act to enumerate.
All powers of the Town, whether expressed or implied, shall be exercised as prescribed by this Act. If no procedure or manner of exercise be prescribed herein the same shall be exercised as prescribed by an appropriate ordinance or resolution of the Mayor and Council of said Town.
Section 2. Corporate Limits:--The corporate limits of the Town hereby are established as follows:
Beginning at a point on the Southwest prong of Paynter's Mill Pond; thence South sixty-four and one-half (64 1/2) degrees East two thousand eight hundred and ninety-two (2892) feet; thence North sixty and one-quarter (601/4) degrees East one hundred thirty-nine (139) feet to the run of Round Pole Branch; thence down the same to Broadkiln Creek; thence up the same to Sand Haul; thence North fifteen (15) degrees West to the public road leading to the Delaware Bay; thence with the same in a westerly direction to the western limits of the present Town; thence South fourteen (14) degrees East three thousand nine hundred fifty-one (3951) feet to a point on the Northwest prong of the Mill Pond, aforesaid; and thence with the same to the place of beginning.
The foregoing description is according to a survey and plot made by John C. Hazzard, surveyor, during the year 1887; which plot is now on file in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds, in and for Sussex County, at Georgetown, Delaware, and the same, or the record thereof, or a duly certified copy of said record, shall be evidence in all Courts of Law and Equity of this State.
The Town, by resolution of its Mayor and Council, at any time and from time to time hereafter, may cause a resurvey or any supplemental survey of the Town, or any part thereof, to be made and a plot or plots to be prepared therefrom. When any such resurvey or supplemental survey and any plot prepared therefrom shall have been (1) approved by resolution of the Mayor and Council, (2) signed by the Mayor, who shall affix thereto the municipal corporate seal of the Town, attested by the Secretary of the Mayor and Council, and (3) such plot recorded in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds, aforesaid, then such survey and plot, or the record thereof, or a duly certified copy of such record, shall be evidence in all Courts of Law and Equity of this State.
Section 3. Mayor and Council:--All powers and authorities delegated by this Act, either expressly or by implication, to the municipal corporation of the Town of Milton, except as may expressly appear herein to the contrary, are hereby vested in a Mayor and a Town Council. Together they shall sometimes be referred herein as the Mayor and Council. Separately, the Town Council shall sometimes be referred to herein as the Council.
The Mayor and Council shall exercise all such powers and authorities as are hereby or hereafter vested in them in the manner prescribed by this Act, or any amendment or supplement thereto, as the case may be. In the event that the manner of exercising any such given power or authority shall not be thus prescribed it shall be exercised in the manner prescribed by an appropriate ordinance or resolution of the Mayor and Council.
Section 4. Mayor:--The Mayor shall be any person appointed or elected to that office as hereinafter provided who shall have taken the oath of office and who is (1) a qualified voter, as hereinafter defined, (2) above the age of twenty-five years and (3) a freeholder of real estate situate within the corporate limits of the Town. If any incumbent at any time throughout his tenure of office fails to maintain any one of the foregoing qualifications for said office, such failure, ipso facto, shall vacate his office.
Section 5. Council:--The Council shall be composed of six members. Each member shall be any person appointed or elected to that office as hereinafter provided who shall have taken the oath of office and who is a qualified voter, as hereinafter defined. At no time shall less than three members of Council and/or their respective wives or husbands be freeholders of real estate situate within the corporate limits of the Town. If any incumbent at any time throughout his tenure of office fails to maintain the qualifications of a qualified voter, such failure, ipso facto, shall vacate his office. If one or more incumbents and/or their respective wives or husbands, as the case may be, fail to maintain their status as freeholders, as aforesaid, at any time throughout their tenure in office and thereby the number of members of Council and/or their respective wives or husbands who are such freeholders is reduced to less than three, then such failure, ipso facto, shall vacate the office or offices, as the case may be, of such member or members who shall have been the last in point of time to maintain his, her or their freeholder status, as aforesaid. If the result of an annual election shall disclose the highest number of votes to have been cast for any number of persons not then having a freeholder status, as aforesaid, which when added to the number of holding over members of Council not then having a freeholder status, as aforesaid, shall exceed three, then in such event only that number thereof, in the order of the highest number of votes received by them, which when added to the number of holding over members of Council not then having a freeholder status, as aforesaid, shall equal three shall be deemed to have been elected to office. The remaining persons elected to office of member of Council at such election shall be determined by and in the order of the highest number of votes cast for those persons only who then have a freeholder status, as aforesaid.
Section 6. Present Mayor and Council:--The present incumbents of the offices of Mayor and Council of the Town are hereby appointed to serve in the same offices, respectively, under this Act and shall continue to so serve as long as they maintain their respective qualifications, as aforesaid, until their successors are duly elected and qualified.
Section 7. Annual Election:--An annual election shall be held in the Town on the first Saturday in March of each calendar year.
At the annual election to be held on the first Saturday in March, A. D. 1946, a Mayor and two members of Council shall be elected. The Mayor shall be elected for a term of one year and until his successor shall be duly elected and qualified. The Mayor thus elected shall succeed to the expiring term of Josiah D. Robbins. The two members of Council shall be elected for a term of two years and until their successors shall be duly elected and qualified. The two members of Council thus elected shall succeed to the expiring terms of T. Harold Palmer and Clyde Betts.
At the annual election to be held on the first Saturday in March, A. D. 1947, a Mayor and two members of Council shall be elected. The Mayor shall be elected for a term of one year and until his successor shall be duly elected and qualified. The Mayor thus elected shall succeed to the expiring term of the Mayor who shall have been duly elected to that office at the annual election held in the year 1946. The two members of Council shall be elected for a term of two years and until their successors shall be duly elected and qualified. The two members of Council thus elected shall succeed to the expiring terms of Joseph M. Lank and William B. Wagamon.
At the annual election to be held on the first Saturday in March, A. D. 1948, a Mayor and four members of Council shall be elected. The Mayor shall be elected for a term of one year and until his successor shall be duly elected and qualified. The Mayor thus elected shall succeed to the expiring term of the Mayor who shall have been duly elected to that office at the annual election held in the year of 1947. Three of the four members of Council shall be elected for a term of two years and until their successors shall be duly elected and qualified. The three members of council thus elected shall succeed to the expiring terms of James T. Johnson, Floyd Hurley and one of the two members of Council who shall have been duly elected to that office at the annual election held in the year of 1946. One of the four members of Council shall be elected for a term of one year and until his successor shall be duly elected and qualified. The member of Council thus elected shall succeed to the expiring term of one of the two members of Council who shall have been duly elected to that office at the annual election held in the year of 1946.
Thereafter, on the first Saturday in March of each and every year a Mayor shall be elected for a one year term and until his successor shall have been duly elected and qualified and three members of Council shall be elected for two year terms and until their respective successors shall have been duly elected and qualified.
In the event that during any given year the number of new members of Council who shall be elected, as aforesaid, and thereafter qualify therefor shall be less than the number of members of Council whose terms of office would ordinarily expire during such year, then those members of Council who shall continue in office as the result of such failure of their successors to be duly elected and qualified shall be determined by lot.
Section 8. Elective Offices:--The office of Mayor and the six offices of members of Council shall be elective. All other offices of the Town, as hereinafter provided, shall be appointed and the officers to fill the same shall be selected by a majority vote of the whole number of the Mayor and Council at an annual, monthly or special meeting called for that purpose, as the case may be.
The qualifications for the offices of Mayor and members of Council shall be as more particularly set forth in Sections 4 and 5, respectively, of this Act.
In the event of a vacancy in any elective office, aforesaid, created by death, resignation, failure to maintain the qualifications therefor, or any other cause whatsoever, the Mayor and Council shall fill such vacancy for the residue of the whole term with a qualified person: Provided, however, if a vacancy shall be created in an office of member of Council, the unexpired term of which shall be for more than one year, the Mayor and Council f. shall fill such vacancy with a qualified person until the next annual election and until a successor shall be elected thereat and qualified. At such next annual election there shall be elected a qualified person to fill the unexpired term of said office.
If any elective officer shall be found guilty of any crime or misdemeanor during his term, thereby he shall be disqualified to act further and his office shall, ipso facto, be vacated and shall be filled as in the case of other vacancies. Such fact, however, shall not disqualify him from becoming a candidate for an elective office at any annual election after his guilt shall have been established, provided he otherwise meets the qualifications of a candidate for the elective office to which he may thereafter aspire.
Section 9. Filing of Candidates for Elective Offices:--Any qualified voter of the Town who as of 12:00 o'clock noon of the Saturday preceding any annual election would be qualified to take oath of office and act if elected, or any other qualified voter acting for him and in his behalf, may file a Certificate of Intention to be a candidate for any elective office to be filled at such annual election. No special form shall be required in respect of any such Certificate of Intention, except that it shall set forth in writing:
(1) The candidate's full name;
(2) The length of residence in the (a) Town, (b) Sussex County and (c) State of Delaware;
(3) The candidate's age;
(4) Whether or not the candidate is a freeholder of real estate within the corporate limits of the Town in his own right, or in the right of himself or herself and wife or husband, or in the right of his or her wife or husband, as the case may be; and
(5) Whether or not any taxes and/or other charges due the Town are unpaid and in default, and shall be signed by the candidate, or other qualified voter acting for him and in his behalf.
Any such Certificate of Intention shall not be filed or received after 12:00 o'clock noon of the Saturday preceding any such annual election.
Certificates of Intention, as aforesaid, shall be received by the Mayor or Secretary of the Mayor and Council. The Secretary, or in his absence, the Mayor, shall sit at the Town Hall, or other usual meeting place of the Mayor and Council, between the hours of 11:00 o'clock A. M. and 12:00 o'clock noon of the Saturday preceding any such annual election to receive Certificates of Intention.
Section 10. Ballots:--At 8:00 o'clock P. M. of the Saturday next preceding any annual election the Mayor and Council, without call or notice, shall sit in stated meeting; which meeting shall be public and shall be held at the usual place for holding meetings of the Mayor and Council. At such meeting they shall review all Certificates of Intention filed with and received by the Mayor and/or Secretary of the Mayor and Council. If it shall appear that any such Certificate was filed within the time prescribed by Section 9 of the Act and that the Candidate therein named, as of 12:00 o'clock noon of said day, would be qualified to take oath of office and act if elected to the office specified therein, then it shall be resolved that the name of such candidate be placed upon the official ballot of such election. If it shall not so appear, then it shall be resolved that the name of such candidate shall not be placed upon such official ballot.
After all such Certificates shall have been received and acted upon, as aforesaid, then the Mayor and Council shall determine the number of ballots to be printed and shall direct the Secretary to cause the same to be printed and delivered at the opening of the polls to the persons appointed, or selected, to hold the annual election. In the event there are more candidates for a given elective office than there are offices to be filled, the number of ballots to be printed shall not be less than the number of qualified voters in the Town entitled to vote at such annual election. Each official ballot of such election shall contain the names of all the candidates as shall have been resolved by the Mayor and Council to be placed thereon and under proper headings designating the respective offices for which they are candidates, the number of offices to be filled and the number of candidates under each heading to be voted for.
Qualified voters may also prepare and cast their own ballots, either printed or written: Provided, that such ballots shall not contain a name or names other than those whose names are entitled to be printed upon the official ballot.
Section 11. Qualified Voters:--At each annual election every person, male or female, above the age of twenty-one years, who shall have been a resident of the State of Delaware at least one year and a bona fide resident within the corporate limits of the Town for at least three months preceding such election shall have one vote if, and only if, all Town taxes, assessments and charges levied against such person during the fiscal year ending on December 31st preceding such election shall have been paid at the time of said election.
Section 12. Election Board:--Each annual election shall be held under the supervision of an Election Board consisting of an Inspector and two Judges. The Inspector and each Judge shall be a qualified voter of the Town. The Election Board shall be appointed by the Mayor and Council at its annual organization meeting to serve for a period of one year and until their respective successors shall have been duly appointed and qualified.
Section 13. Hours, Place and Notice of Annual Election:--Each annual election shall be held on the day hereinbefore prescribed from hour of one o'clock to the hour of six o'clock in the afternoon of said day at the Town Hall or, if it be not available for any reason, at such other public and convenient place as the Mayor and Council shall select by resolution. The polling place shall not be changed at any time within twenty days prior to any annual election, unless the cause be fire, storm or other cause beyond control of the Mayor and Council.
Due notice of the date, hours and place of each annual election shall be given by the Secretary of the Mayor and Council who shall post not less than five printed or written notices thereof conspicuously in not less than five of the most public places within the corporate limits of the Town not less than twenty days before the day of such annual election. Any change in the polling place made necessary for any cause, as aforesaid, within twenty days of any annual election shall forthwith be noticed by the Secretary in the manner aforesaid.
Each notice of an annual election shall state the qualifications to vote and the manner of voting thereat.
Section 14. Manner of Holding Annual Elections:--The Secretary of the Mayor and Council shall deliver the official ballots of each annual election to the Election Board at the opening of the polls.
If for any reason there shall not be present at the opening of the polls the three members of the Election Board, or any one of them, then in such case the qualified voters then present shall, by viva voce, select a qualified voter or voters to so act in the place and stead of such absent member or members of the Election Board. Persons so selected, upon taking the oath or affirmation of office, shall, throughout such election, and until the results thereof are determined and enrolled, enjoy the same rights and powers and perform the same functions and duties as the regularly appointed members of the Election Board for whom they are selected to act.
The Election Board shall be the judge of the election and shall decide upon the legality of the votes offered.
All votes shall be offered in person. Each qualified voter calling for a ballot shall be entitled to receive one from the Election Board. No voter shall vote for more candidates than there are offices to be filled at the election, and in voting shall cross out the names of all candidates for whom the voter does not desire to cast his vote.
The Election Board shall keep a true and accurate list of all persons voting at such election. The Election Board shall have the power to subpoena persons, officers of the Town and books, records and papers relative to the determination of the validity of any vote or votes offered. If a majority of the Election Board shall not be satisfied that any person offering to vote at the election possesses the qualifications of a qualified voter they shall receive the ballot but shall not count it, and shall return it in a separate package to the Mayor and Council with the name of the person presenting the ballot.
Upon the close of the election, the votes shall be read and counted publicly and the person having the highest number of votes for each office shall be declared by the Election Board to have been duly elected. In the event of a tie vote for any office, the Election Board shall determine the tie by lot.
All ballots cast and all records of the election kept by the Election Board shall be preserved by it for the period of ten days, save and excepting those ballots offered by persons who shall not have satisfied a majority of the Election Board that he or she or they possess the qualifications of a qualified voter; which latter ballots shall be preserved by the Mayor and Council for a period of ten days.
The Election Board shall enroll in an election book to be provided by the Mayor and Council, a minute of each annual election containing the names of the persons chosen. They shall subscribe the same and give to the persons elected certificates of their election. The election book, containing such minutes, shall be preserved by the Mayor and Council, shall be open to public inspection at all reasonable times and shall be evidence in any Court of Law and Equity.
Section 15. Holding Over:--In the event no qualified candidate shall file for a given elective office at a given annual election, as aforesaid, then in such event no annual election shall be held in respect of said office and the incumbent whose term otherwise would expire on the election and qualifications of his successor shall hold over for the full term, as though he had been re-elected to such office.
In the event but one qualified candidate shall file for a given elective office at a given annual election, as aforesaid, then in such event no annual election shall be held in respect of said Office. Rather, the Election Board shall enroll and certify the election to office of such candidate for want of a contest of his candidacy.
Section 16. Compensation of Elective Officers:--The Mayor shall be paid Five Dollars ($5.00) for each stated and regular monthly meeting and Two Dollars and Fifty Cents ($2.50) for each special meeting of the Mayor and Council actually attended by him. Each member of Council shall be paid Three Dollars ($3.00) for each stated and regular monthly meeting and Two Dollars ($2.00) for each special meeting of the Mayor and Council actually attended by him. The Mayor and each member of Council shall receive no other compensation from the Town for their services to it as such.
Section 17. Annual Organization Meeting and Appointment of Non-Elective Officers and Employees:--At 8:00 o'clock in the afternoon of the Saturday next succeeding any annual election the Mayor and Council, without call or notice, shall sit in annual meeting. The meeting shall be public and held at the usual meeting place of the Mayor and Council.
The newly elected officers shall first take and subscribe the oath of office. The newly elected officers shall then assume the duties of their respective offices.
The Mayor and Council shall then proceed to organize for the ensuing year. The Mayor shall be the Chairman of the Mayor and Council and of all such standing committees as shall.be established by ordinance or resolution for the better government of the Town and the management of its affairs. There shall be selected from among the members of Council a Vice-Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and the members of all such standing committees as shall have been established by ordinance or resolution, as aforesaid. An Assistant Secretary and an Assistant Treasurer, either of whom may or may not be a member of Council, may also be appointed.
The Mayor and Council shall then proceed to appoint for the ensuing year
(1) an Alderman,
(2) a Police Force,
(3) a Town Collector,
(4) a Board of Assessment,
(5) a Board of Health,
(6) an Election Board,
(7) a Town Auditor,
(8) a Town Solicitor, and
(9) such other minor, appointive officers, employees and agents as shall be established or required by ordinance for the better government of the Town and the management of its affairs, none of whom shall be the Mayor or a member of Council.
No person shall hold more than one of the offices or appointments mentioned in the two immediately preceding full paragraphs hereof at any given time, except that the same person may be appointed to membership upon more than one standing committee or hold more than one of the minor, appointive offices, aforesaid.
All such officers and appointees, as aforesaid, shall hold office until the next succeeding annual organization meeting and until their respective successors shall have been duly appointed and qualified.
All such officers and appointees, as aforesaid, excepting members of standing committees and minor, appointive officers, employees and agents, aforesaid, shall take and subscribe the oath of office before entering upon the duties of their respective offices.
The Secretary of the Mayor and Council shall enroll in an appointment book to be provided by the Mayor and Council a minute of each appointment to each appointive office of the Town. Such minute shall set forth the name of the appointee, the date of his appointment, the rate of compensation to be by him received and the term of his appointment. The appointment book containing such minutes shall be preserved by the Mayor and Council, shall be open to public inspection at all reasonable times and shall be evidence in any Court of Law or Equity.
If for any reason no annual organization meeting be held on the day hereinbefore stated or any appointment hereinbefore prescribed be not made thereat or any appointee shall fail or neglect to qualify, such further appropriate actions as may be required to complete the organization of the Mayor and Council and to fill all of the .appointive offices of the Town shall be taken as soon thereafter as may be at any monthly or special meeting of the Mayor and Council held subsequent to such annual organization meeting.
If for any reason a vacancy occurs in any appointive office, aforesaid, the same shall be filled for the unexpired term thereof as soon thereafter as may be by the Mayor and Council at any monthly or special meeting thereof held thereafter.
Section 18. Compensation of Appointive Officers:--The Mayor and Council by ordinance or resolution shall fix the salary or rate of pay of each appointive officer, employee and agent of the Town. Except in the case of minor, appointive officers, employees of the Town mentioned in Section 17 (9) hereof, the salary or rate of pay of any other appointive officer shall not be increased during any given appointive year. No appointive officer, employee or agent of the Town shall receive from the Town any other compensation whatever for his services and labor as such other that the salary or rate of pay fixed by the Mayor and Council, as aforesaid.
Section 19. Oath of Office:--Each officer of the Town, elective or non-elective, excepting members of standing committees as such and the minor, appointive officers, employees and agents of the Town, before entering upon the duties of his office must take and subscribe an oath or affirmation to perform the duties of his office impartially and with fidelity.
Section 20. Regular Monthly Meetings:--The Mayor and Council shall hold one regular monthly meeting each month without call or notice. The day and hour of such meetings shall be determined and may be changed from time to time by ordinance or resolution of the Mayor and Council.
Section 21. Special Meetings:--Special meetings may be called by the Mayor or any two members of Council. The call shall be addressed to the Secretary in writing and shall state the day, hour and place of such meeting and the business or matters to be acted upon thereat. Upon receipt thereof the Secretary forthwith shall forward a true copy thereof to the Mayor and each member of Council by enclosing the same in a sealed wrapper addressed to the last known post office address of each said Mayor and member of Council and depositing the same in the United States mail, sufficiently stamped, in the main post office of the Town at least forty-eight (48) hours before the time of such special meeting: Provided, that a written waiver of such call and/or notice, signed by the Mayor and all members of Council prior to or at such special meeting, shall render unnecessary such call and/or notice and shall validate the holding of such special meeting at the time and place specified in such waiver and the transaction of such business and matters thereat as shall likewise be specified in such waiver. In the absence of the Secretary and Assistant Secretary or their refusal or neglect to forward copies of the call, as aforesaid, the Mayor or two members of Council issuing the call, as the case may be, shall have full authority to forward said copies of the call to the Mayor and each member of Council, as aforesaid.
The Mayor and Council shall have the same power and authority to enact all ordinances, adopt all resolutions, pass all motions, make all orders and transact all business at any special meeting called and noticed, as aforesaid, as said Mayor and Council have at regular monthly meetings.
Section 22. Place and Manner of Holding Meetings:--All meetings of the Mayor and Council shall be held in some public room in the Town Hall of the Town, or when it be not available, then in some public room elsewhere in the Town as determined by resolution of the Mayor and Council.
All such meetings shall be open at all times to any qualified voter of the Town, except at such time or times as the Mayor and Council shall deem it to be advisable to discuss any matter in executive session: Provided, however, that no vote or ballot shall be taken by the Mayor and Council upon any matter coming before them except in open, public session. Any vote or ballot taken by the Mayor and Council upon any matter or subject while in executive session shall be absolutely null and void.
The order of business and rules of procedure of all meetings of the Mayor and Council shall be established and altered from time to time by rules adopted by the Mayor and Council.
Section 23. Quorum:--A majority of the whole number of the Mayor and Council shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business properly coming before any meeting thereof. Less than a quorum may adjourn any meeting from time to time and may compel the attendance of absent members in such manner and under such penalties as may be prescribed by ordinance adopted by a majority of the entire number of the Mayor and Council.
Section 24. Rules and Minutes:--The Mayor and Council shall determine and establish their own rules of procedure and order of business. They shall keep a journal and the Secretary shall record and subscribe therein the proceedings of each meeting thereof. Such record shall set forth the full text of every ordinance, resolution, yule, motion and nomination proposed or offered thereat. The yea and nay votes by roll call shall be taken and recorded upon all ordinances voted upon by the Mayor and Council.
Section 25. Contracts With Mayor and Members of Council:--It shall be unlawful for the Mayor and Council to make or enter into any contract or agreement for materials, supplies, work, labor or services for the use and benefit of the Town with the Mayor or any member of Council, or with any partnership in which any of them is a partner, or with a corporation in which any of them is an officer, director or stockholder, or with any firm in which any of them has a financial interest, except with the unanimous consent of the Mayor and all members of Council. It shall be the duty of the other party to any such contract or agreement to fully disclose to the Mayor and Council any such relationship to, or interest in, such other party of the Mayor and/or any member of Council. Any such contract shall be absolutely null and void without such full disclosure and/or unanimous consent.
Section 26. Duties and Powers of Mayor and Council:--Not by way of limitation upon the power vested in the Mayor and Council to exercise all powers delegated by this Act to the municipal corporation of the Town of Milton except as may expressly appear herein to the contrary, but, rather, by way of enumeration and for purposes of clarity, the Mayor and Council are vested by this Act with the following powers, to be exercised by said Mayor and Council in the interest of good government and the safety, health and welfare of the Town, its inhabitants and affairs, that is to say,
(9) To prevent vice, drunkenness and immorality.
(10) To provide for and preserve the health, peace, safety, cleanliness, ornament and good order of the Town and its inhabitants.
(11) To prohibit all gaming and fraudulent devices.
(12) To prohibit, restrain, license or regulate all public sports, exhibitions, shows, parades, productions, circuses or other public performances, amusements and games.
(13) To ascertain, locate, lay out, establish, open, change, alter, widen, abandon, regulate the use and enjoyment of, prevent or remove any obstruction of, level, grade, flag, dress, macadamize, pave, gravel, shell, improve, dredge, erect, remove, repair or replace any new or present street, highway, lane, alley, watercourse, park, lake, strand, crosswalk, wharf, dock, sewer, drain, aqueduct or pipe line, or portion thereof, or any new or present sidewalk, curb or gutter, or portion thereof, in the Town; to specify the grade thereof, the materials to be used in the doing thereof and the manner in which the same shall be done; and to enter into contracts or agreements for the doing thereof, including contracts or agreements with the State Highway Department of the State of Delaware for the permanent maintenance, repair and upkeep of any street, lane, alley, roadway or other highway within the Town.
(6) To regulate or control the observance of the Sabbath Day.
(7) To establish and regulate pounds and to restrain, prohibit and impound any domestic or wild animal, beast, bird or fowl running at large and to authorize the destruction of the same.
(8) To locate, regulate, license, restrain or require the removal of slaughter houses, wash houses, laundries, canning establishments, phosphate, fish, fertilizer or manure plants or establishments, swine pens, privies, water closets and any businesses or buildings or conditions detrimental to the public health or constituting a public nuisance or of an offensive or noxious nature.
(9) To enforce the removal of snow, ice, dirt or other foreign substance from sidewalks and gutters by owners or abutting owners.
(10) To prohibit, remove, or regulate the erection and maintenance of, any stoop, step, platform, bay window, cellar door, gate, area, descent, sign, post, or any other erection or projection in, over, upon or under any street, highway, alley, lane, watercourse, park, lake, strand, sidewalk, crosswalk, wharf, dock, sewer, drain, aqueduct or pipeline of the Town.
(11) To define, prevent, abate or remove nuisances, obstructions or any condition detrimental to the public safety, health or welfare.
(12) To provide an ample supply of pure water for the Town and its inhabitants and to this end to acquire, lease, erect, construct, maintain, operate, extend, enlarge, renew, replace, control and dispose of wells, reservoirs, pumps, machines, stations, tanks, standpipes, water mains, fire hydrants and all other equipment, property or rights used in and about the collection, storage, purification, conveyance, distribution or sale of water; to regulate and prescribe for what private or public purposes the water furnished by the municipal corporation may be used, the manner of its use, the amounts to be paid by the users thereof, the means whereby such amounts shall be collected and the fines or penalties, or both, for any willful or negligent injury or damage to or interference with the water system or equipment of the Town; to furnish, or refuse to furnish, water from the Town system to places and properties outside the Town limits; and to contract for and purchase water and distribute the same to users within or without the Town with the same full powers as though such water had been initially reduced to usefulness by the municipal corporation itself.
(13) To provide, construct, extend, maintain, manage, and control a sewer system and/or a sewage treatment and disposal plant and facilities for the health, sanitation and convenience of the inhabitants of the Town; to regulate and prescribe for what private or public purposes the system may be used, the manner of its use, the amounts to be paid by the users thereof, the means whereby such amounts shall be collected and the fines or penalties, or both, for any willful or negligent injury or damage to, or interference with the said system, plant or facilities; to furnish or refuse to furnish, sewer disposal service from the Town system to places and properties outside the Town limits; in the interest of the public's health, to compel any and all properties in the Town to be connected to the sewer system of the Town; and to contract for and purchase sewer disposal service and to resell the same to users within or without the Town with the same full powers as though such service had been initially provided by the facilities therefor of the municipal corporation itself.
(14) To provide, construct, extend, maintain, manage and control a plant and system, or plants and systems, for the generating, manufacturing and distributing of electric current or gas, or both, to the inhabitants of the Town and for lighting the streets, highways, lanes, alleys, watercourses, parks, lake, strands, sidewalks, crosswalks, wharves, docks, public buildings or other public places of the Town and to this end to acquire, lease, erect, construct, maintain, operate, extend, enlarge, renew, replace, control and dispose of transmission and distribution lines, pipes, mains and other conveyances for any such current or gas as may be necessary properly to light the Town and to furnish proper connections for electric current and gas to the properties of the inhabitants of the Town who may desire the same; to regulate and prescribe for what private or public purpose the current or gas furnished by the municipal corporation may be used, the manner of its use, the amount to be paid by the users thereof, the means whereby such amounts shall be collected and the fines or penalties, or both, for any willful or negligent injury or damage to or interference with the electric or gas system or systems of the Town; to furnish or refuse to furnish, electric current or gas from the Town's system or systems to places and properties outside the Town limits; and to contract for and purchase electric current or gas and distribute the same to users within or without the Town with the same full powers as though such current or gas had been initially reduced to usefulness by the municipal corporation itself.
(15) To fully control within the Town the drainage of all water and, to that end, to alter or change the course and direction of any natural water course, runs or rivulet within the Town, to regulate, maintain, clean and keep the same open, clean and unobstructed, and to provide, construct, extend, maintain, manage and control a surface water drainage system and facilities for the health, sanitation and convenience of the inhabitants of the Town.
(16) To provide, construct, extend, maintain, manage and control jetties, bulkheads, embankments, flood gates, piers, boardwalks or fills for the preservation of any strand or high land within the limits of the Town or contiguous thereto, to the end that the same may be preserved, properly protected and the general public might enjoy the use thereof.
(0) To grant franchises or licenses to any responsible person, firm, association or corporation, for such period of time, upon such terms, restrictions, stipulations and conditions, and for such considerations as the Mayor and Council shall deem wise, to use the present and future streets, highways, lanes, alleys, watercourses, parks, lakes, strands, sidewalks, crosswalks, wharves, docks, and other public places of the Town for the purpose of furnishing heat, light, power, gas, water, sewer, drainage, electric current, telephone, telegraph, railroad excepting railroads or railways engaged in interstate commerce, bus, taxi or other transportation, carrier or public service to the Town and to the persons, firms, or corporations residing or located therein and for the purpose of transmitting the same from or through the Town to points outside the limits thereof, and for the purpose of erecting wharves and piers, and for the purposes of vending any article of merchandise or service upon, or from any vehicle upon, any such present and future street, highway, lane, alley, etc.: Provided, that no exclusive franchise or license shall be granted for any such purpose to any person, firm, association or corporation whomsoever.
(18) To regulate and control the exercise of any license or franchise mentioned in Section 26 (17) of this Act or intended so to be.
(19) To direct, regulate and control the planting, rearing, treatment and preserving of ornamental shade trees in the streets, highways, avenues, parks and grounds of the Town and to authorize and prohibit the removal or destruction of said trees.
(20) To direct the digging down, draining, filling up or fencing of lots, tracts, pieces or parcels of ground in the Town which may be deemed dangerous or unwholesome or necessary to carry out any improvements authorized by this Act.
(21) To provide for or regulate the numbering of houses and lots on the streets, and the naming of streets and avenues.
(22) To regulate, control or prevent the use or storage of gunpowder, fireworks, tar, pitch, resin and all other combustible materials, and the use of candles, lamps and other lights in stores, shops, stables and other places; to suppress, remove, or secure any fireplace, stove, chimney, oven, broiler, or other apparatus which may be dangerous in causing fire,
(23) For the prevention of fire and the preservation of the beauty of the Town, to regulate and control the manner of building or removal of dwelling houses and other buildings; to establish a code for the same and to provide for the granting of permits for the same; to establish a building line for buildings to be erected; zone or district the Town and make particular provisions for particular zones or districts with regard to building or building materials; and, generally, to exercise all the powers and authorities vested in the legislative body of cities and incorporated towns under and by virtue of Chapter 179, Revised Code of Delaware, 1935, and all amendments thereto.
(24) To acquire, build, erect and maintain a suitable place as a lock-up or jail for the Town which shall be used as a place of detention for persons convicted of violation of law or ordinance, or for the detention of persons accused of violation of law or ordinances for a reasonable time, in cases of necessity, prior to hearing and trial; and to provide for the restraint, support and employment of paupers, beggars and vagrants: Provided, that the jails of Sussex County may be used for any such purpose, in which event the Town shall pay for the board of persons committed thereto for violations of ordinances of the Town which are not violations of any general law of the State.
(25) To acquire, build, erect and maintain buildings and facilities necessary or required for housing and equipping offices of the Town.
(26) To regulate or prevent the use of guns, air guns, spring guns, pistols, sling shots, beanshooters, and any other devices for discharging missiles which might cause bodily harm or injury to property; and to regulate or prevent the use of fireworks, bombs and detonating works of all kinds.
(27) To provide for the punishment of a violation of any ordinance of the Town by fine or imprisonment, or both, not exceeding One Hundred Dollars or thirty days, and for working any person sentenced to such imprisonment during the term thereof, and for the punishment of any person who shall refuse to so work when ordered.
(28) To provide for the organization of a fire department and the control and government thereof; to establish fire limits and do all things necessary for the prevention or extinguishment of fires; and, in their discretion, to contribute, donate or give an amount or amounts, not to exceed in the total during any given fiscal year seven per centum (7%) of the total taxes levied on real estate, unto any Volunteer Fire Company or Companies incorporated under the Laws of Delaware, or any Volunteer Fire Association or Associations maintaining and operating firefighting equipment and service in the Town: Provided, that any such contribution, donation or gift may be made subject to such conditions and stipulations as to the use thereof as the Mayor and Council shall deem advisable.
(29) To purchase, take and hold real and personal property when sold for any delinquent tax, assessment, water rent, electric bill, gas bill, license fee, tapping fee, charge growing out of abatement of nuisances and the like, laying out and repairing sidewalks, or other charge due the Town and to sell the same.
(30) To levy and collect taxes for any and all municipal purposes upon all property within the Town both real and personal, which is taxable by Law for Sussex County purposes: Provided, that the amount to be raised from this source in any one fiscal year shall not exceed the amount required to meet all sinking fund, amortization and interest requirements of all outstanding bonds or other indebtedness of the Town for such fiscal year, plus an additional amount not exceeding Eighty-five Cents (850) per One Hundred Dollars ($100) of the assessed valuation for such property.
(31) To levy and collect a personal or per capita tax upon all persons otherwise qualified to vote at any annual municipal election to be used for any and all municipal purposes and not to exceed the sum of Three Dollars ($3.00) in any one year for each such person.
(32) To levy and collect taxes upon all telephone, telegraph, power poles, pipe lines, rail lines or other constructions or erections of a like character erected within the limits of the Town, together with the wires or other appliances thereto or thereon attached, expressly excepting all telephone, telegraph, power lines or poles and rail lines owned or operated by any railroad or railway company engaged in interstate commerce, for any and all purposes, and to this end may at any time direct the same to be included in or added to the City Assessment. In case the owner or lessee of such constructions or erections, wires or other appliances shall refuse or neglect to pay the taxes levied thereon, in addition to the remedies for the collection thereof set forth in Section 49 of this Act, the Mayor and Council shall have authority to cause the same to be removed.
(33) To license, tax and collect fees annually for any and all municipal purposes (including the cost and expense of advertising the Town) of such various amounts as the Mayor and Council from time to time shall fix, from any individual, firm, association or corporation carrying on or practicing any business, profession or occupation within the limits of the Town: Provided, however, that nothing herein shall be so construed as to make it mandatory upon any resident of the State to apply for a license in order to sell in the Town any farm produce or products grown upon a farm owned by the vendor or any member of the family with whom he resides.
(34) To determine from which authorized sources and in what proportions taxes shall be levied and used each year to raise the revenue or funds required to meet the general expenses of the municipal corporation and all funding, amortization and interest requirements on its outstanding bonds or other indebtedness.
(35) To provide for the collection of and disbursement of all monies to which the Town may become entitled by law, including licenses and fines, where no provision for the collection and disbursement thereof is otherwise provided in the Act.
(36) To borrow money in the name of the Town for any proper municipal purpose and in order to secure the payment of the same to issue bonds or other kinds or forms of certificate or certificates of indebtedness pledging the full faith and credit of the Town, or such other security or securities as the Mayor and Council shall select, for the payment of the principal thereof and the interest due thereon, all of which bonds or other kinds or forms of certificates of indebtedness issued by the Town shall be exempt from all State, County or municipal taxes: Provided, that in no event shall the indebtedness of the Town, for any and all purposes, at any one time exceed in the aggregate twenty per centum (20%) of the assessed value of all real and personal property in the Town subject to assessment for the purpose of levying the annual tax hereinbefore mentioned.
(37) To acquire lands, tenements, personality, property, easements, rights of way, or any interest in property, either within or without the limits of the Town, by way of condemnation and eminent domain, for any proper and lawful municipal purpose or whenever required properly to carry out, exercise or fulfill any power conferred upon or delegated to the municipal corporation by the Act.
(38) To appropriate money to pay the debts, liabilities and expenditures of the Town, or any part or item thereof, from any fund applicable thereto, and to transfer temporarily money from one fund to another fund of the Town in case of emergency.
(39) To sell and convey or lease and demise any and all real and/or personal property, or both, now or hereafter owned by the Town and to execute to the purchaser or purchasers thereof proper deeds, assignments, bills of sale or other legal assurances of title for the same: Provided, that before any such property having a then market value in excess of Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) shall be sold, a special election authorizing the sale shall be held in substantial conformity with the provisions of this Act relating to special elections held for the purpose of bonding or increasing the municipal debt of the Town.
(40) To provide for the payment of any tax, fine, penalty, license, forfeiture, assessment, fee, charge or other amount due the Town by the performance of labor or service for the Town by any person owing the same.
(41) To inquire into and investigate the conduct of any office, officer, agent or employee of the Town or any municipal affair and for any such purpose or purposes may subpoena witnesses, administer oaths or affirmations, and compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of books, papers or other evidence by summary process.
(42) To make, adopt and establish all such ordinances, regulations, rules and by-laws, not contrary to the laws of this State and the United States, as the Mayor and Council may deem necessary to carry into effect any of the provisions of this Act or any other law of the State relating generally to municipal corporations or which they may deem proper and necessary for the good government of the Town, the protection and preservation of persons and property and of the public health and welfare of the Town and its inhabitants: Provided, that any ordinance relating to the public health of the Town and its inhabitants, or designed to prevent the introduction or spread of infectious or contagious diseases, or to prevent nuisances affecting the same, shall apply not only within the corporate limits of the Town but as well to all areas and persons outside the Town within one mile from said limits.
Section 27. Duties and Powers of Mayor:--The Mayor shall preside at all meetings of the Mayor and Council.
He shall be chairman of and preside over all standing committees at each regular monthly meeting of the Mayor and Council.
He shall be the director of the public's safety and, as such, shall superintend the activities of the Police Force of the Town and make report thereon at each regular monthly meeting of the Mayor and Council.
He shall be the chief executive officer of the Town and, as such, shall have general superintendence of all municipal affairs, shall receive complaints of nuisances, violations of laws, ordinances, rules and regulations of the municipality, shall supervise generally the execution and enforcement of all work, service, activities, resolutions, ordinances, rules and regulations of the Town.
He shall also sign all licenses or permits issued to any person, firm, association or corporation in pursuance of any action of the Mayor and Council: Provided, that where such action requires the payment of a fee to the Town for any such license or permit the same shall be null, void and of no effect until countersigned by the Town Collector as evidence of his receipt of such fee.
He shall, sign all deeds, leases, bonds, certificates of indebtedness, contracts, agreements, or other formal documents to which the municipal corporation is a party and shall affix thereto the municipal corporate seal when properly authorized by the Mayor and Council.
He shall have the same right as any member of the Council to vote on any matter properly brought before any meeting of the Mayor and Council and may appoint a member of Council to preside temporarily while he makes a motion, moves the adoption of a resolution, motion, ordinance, rule or regulation, or seconds any to them, or debates any question from the floor.
He shall exercise such other powers and perform such other duties as may be prescribed by this Act, any other law of the State of Delaware, or any resolution or ordinance of the Mayor and Council.
Section 28. Duties and Powers of Vice-Chairman:--The Vice-Chairman shall perform all the duties and exercise all the powers of the Mayor during any period of absence or disability of the Mayor and during any period that a vacancy shall exist in the office of Mayor.
Section 29. Duties and Powers of Secretary:--The Secretary shall keep and have charge and custody of the books, journal, records, papers, files, minutes and other effects of the Mayor and Council and of the Town, except where any such book, journal, record, paper, file or other effect of the Town is directed by this Act to be kept by some other official thereof. He shall keep all such books, journals, records, etc., in a safe and secure place.
He shall keep a full and complete record of all transactions, proceedings and actions of the Mayor and Council. He shall be an ex-officio member of all committees and shall keep a record of the transactions and proceedings of the same.
He shall have the custody of and keep in a safe place the municipal corporate seal of the Town and when authorized by the Mayor and Council shall attest the affixing thereof to any document.
He shall permit the Mayor or any other member of Council, or any other person authorized so to do by this Act or by the Mayor and Council, to inspect any record, book, paper or document of the Town in his possession at any time.
He shall also sign all warrants on the Treasurer for the payment of any Town moneys: Provided, that any such warrant shall not authorize any depository of Town moneys to pay out any funds thereon until the same shall be countersigned by the Treasurer.
He shall permit any qualified voter of the Town, or his attorney or accountant, in the presence of the Mayor or any other member of Council, to inspect at any convenient time any book, paper or document of the Town in his possession not expressly declared by this Act to be open to public inspection: Provided, that such inspection be preceded by a written request of such voter specifying the record, book, paper or document desired to be examined and setting forth such voter's reasons for desiring to examine the same.
He shall perform such other duties and exercise such other powers as shall be prescribed by this Act or any resolution or ordinance of the Mayor and Council.
Section 30. Duties and Powers of Assistant-Secretary: The Assistant-Secretary, if any be appointed, shall perform all the duties and exercise all the powers of the Secretary during any period of absence or disability of the Secretary or during any period that a vacancy shall exist in the office of Secretary.
At all other times he shall be under the supervision of the Secretary and shall perform such acts relating to the office of Secretary as that office shall authorize and direct, for which acts the Secretary shall be held responsible.
Section 31. Qualifications, Duties and Powers of Treasurer: --The Treasurer may only be appointed from among those members of Council who are required by Section 5 of this Act to have and maintain a freeholder status as therein more particularly prescribed. Before entering upon the duties of his office as Treasurer he shall give bond to the Town in the penal sum of not less than Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) and with such surety as shall be approved by the Mayor and Council, conditioned upon the faithful performance of the duties of his office and the restoration unto the Town, in case of his death, resignation or removal from office, of all books, papers, vouchers, monies and other property of whatsoever kind in his custody or possession belonging to the Town and shall contain therein a warrant for the confession of judgment in the penal sum thereof against him and his surety.
He shall receive and be custodian of all the funds of the Town and shall deposit and keep them in such banking institutions as the Mayor and Council shall designate as depositories of the Town.
He shall pay out the monies in any depository of the Town upon checks or warrants drawn on the Treasurer by order of the Mayor and Council and signed by the Secretary.
He shall keep a true, accurate and detailed account of all monies received and all monies paid out by him. He shall preserve all vouchers for monies paid out by him and his books and accounts shall at all times be open to the inspection of the Mayor and Council and the Town Auditors. He shall make such reports and at such times as the Mayor and Council shall direct.
Annually and prior to January 15 of each year he shall prepare an annual report of the financial condition of the Town, showing all receipts and disbursements during the previous fiscal year and submit the same, in triplicate, together with his affidavit that the same is true and correct, to the Secretary who shall forthwith deliver one copy to the Town Auditors and one copy to the Mayor and retain the remaining copy for the use and inspection of the Mayor and Council.
The Treasurer shall perform such other duties as the Mayor and Council may from time to time prescribe and require.
Section 32. Duties and Powers of Assistant Treasurer:--The Assistant-Treasurer, if any be appointed, shall perform all the duties and exercise all the powers of the Treasurer during any period of absence or disability of the Treasurer or during any period that a vacancy shall exist in the office of Treasurer. Before he may be permitted to perform any such duties or exercise any such powers the Mayor and Council, if they deem it to be necessary, may require him to enter into a like bond as that required of the Treasurer.
At all other times he shall be under the supervision of the Treasurer and shall perform such acts relating to the office of Treasurer as that officer shall authorize and direct, for which acts the Treasurer shall be held responsible.
Section 33. Qualifications, Duties and Powers of Alderman:--The Alderman shall be a qualified voter of the Town and a substantial freeholder of the Town or, in the alternative, he may be a Justice of the Peace of the State of Delaware with offices in the Town with no further qualifications required. Before entering upon the duties of his office he shall give bond to the Town in the penal sum of not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) and with such surety as shall be approved by the Mayor and Council with the same conditions and warrant of attorney to confess judgment as required by this Act of the bond of the Treasurer.
In the performance of his duties he shall have all the powers and be subject to all the limitations of a Justice of the Peace of the State of Delaware for Sussex County, except as otherwise provided herein.
He shall have the same jurisdiction of such a Justice of the Peace over all breaches of the peace or other offenses of a criminal nature committed within the limits of the Town to arrest, hold to bail, fine and imprison offenders as well as jurisdiction over all violations of any Ordinance of the Town enacted in pursuance of this Act or any other law of the State of Delaware and to impose all fines and penalties within the limits prescribed thereby. He shall have the same jurisdiction of such a Justice of the Peace in all matters of a civil nature arising out of the collection of taxes, license fees and assessments and the recovery of amounts or charges arising out of the construction of sidewalks, curbs, pavements and the like, abatement of obstruction of sidewalks, curbs, pavements and the like, abatement of obstructions, nuisances, unsanitary conditions and the like, and all other charges or amounts due which may arise in the proper government and management of the Town and the conduct of its affairs under this Act or any other applicable law of the State of Delaware.
He shall have the power to charge, assess and collect fees the same as those charged, assessed and collected by such a Justice of the Peace or, if there be none such of a like or similar nature, the fee shall be established by ordinance.
At every regular monthly meeting of the Mayor and Council he shall report in writing all fines and imprisonments imposed by him and all fines, penalties and other monies received by him during the preceding month for the use of the Town. He shall pay all such monies to the Treasurer within ten (10) days after each regular monthly meeting of the Mayor and Council.
He shall keep a docket in which all his official acts shall be entered which shall be open to public inspection and examination at all times.
Section 34. Qualifications, Duties and Powers of Police Force:--The Police Force shall be composed of a Chief of Police and such additional number of Police as the Mayor and Council shall appoint from time to time.
Each member of the Police Force shall be above the age of twenty-one years, of good character and reputation and possessed of such other qualifications as the Mayor and Council may prescribe.
The Police Force shall be subject to the direction of the Mayor and Council and the supervision of the Mayor.
Each member thereof shall be vested within the Town limits and within one mile outside said limits with all the powers and authority of any Constable of Sussex County and in case of pursuit of an offender their powers and authority shall be without territorial limitation.
The Police Force shall preserve the public peace and order of the Town. They shall compel obedience to all ordinances of the Town and all laws of the State of Delaware within the limits of the Town.
They shall deliver all persons committed to prison to the warden of the Sussex County Jail for imprisonment or imprison such offender to the Town jail for the period of his commitment. They shall arrest any offender on view or on warrant, deliver the offender to the County or Town jail and there detain him until such reasonable time as the charge against him may be heard and determined, and bring him before the Alderman for hearing or trial. If the Alderman be absent or otherwise unable to hear and determine the charge within a reasonable time the offender may be taken before any Justice of the Peace of Sussex County who, in such event, is hereby vested with full authority to hear and determine the charge against the offender.
It shall be the duty of the Police Force to suppress rioters, disorderly or turbulent assemblages of persons in the Town, or the disorderly conduct of any person therein. In cases of emergency arising during the course of the performance of this duty and in all cases involving resisting of an officer or arrest any member of the Police Force may call upon any person within hearing for aid and assistance and thereby such person, throughout the continuance of such emergency, shall be vested with the same powers and authority of a member of the Police Force.
The Chief of Police shall keep and maintain a police blotter upon which he shall record a minute of all arrests and the disposition thereof and all reports of violations and the investigations thereof by the Police Force.
Section 35. Qualifications, Duties and Powers of the Town Collector:--The Town Collector shall be above the age of twenty-one years, a qualified voter and a freeholder of the Town. Before entering upon the duties of his office he shall give bond to the Town in the penal sum of not less than Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) and with such surety as shall be approved by the Mayor and Council with the same conditions and warrant of attorney to confess judgment as required by this Act of the bond of the Treasurer.
Upon the receipt of any warrant from the Mayor and Council so to do the same shall be his sufficient authority, and he thereby shall be required to collect and receipt for any tax, assessment, rental, license fee, charge or other amount due the Town as shown or described therein, or in any list accompanying the same, from the persons, firms, associations or corporations named or described therein, or in any list accompanying the same, or against any property, real or personal, described therein, or in any list accompanying the same, upon or against which such tax, assessment, rental, license fee, charge or other amount due might have been levied, assessed, laid or charged in pursuance of this Act. In effecting any such collection he shall be empowered to pursue any of the remedies, powers and methods of collection provided in Section 49 hereof. Any such warrant received by him shall be returned by him to the Mayor and Council together with a final settlement and return of his actions thereon within the time provided by this Act or, if not provided for herein, within the time specified by the Mayor and Council in the Warrant itself.
The powers and authorities vested in a Town Collector in respect of a given warrant delivered unto him, as aforesaid, shall not expire at the end of his term of office but shall continue in full force and effect with respect thereto until the final return day of said warrant.
A supplementary warrant may issue in respect of any uncollected amounts shown upon any final return of any warrant or supplementary warrant theretofore issued by the Mayor and Council. Any such supplementary warrant shall be delivered to the Collector to which the preceding warrant for the collection thereof was delivered or unto his successor in office, as the case may be. In any event, all steps and actions taken in respect of the collection of the amounts shown therein under any and all prior warrants issued for the collection thereof shall be as valid and as binding upon all parties in interest as though the same had been already taken under and by virtue of such supplementary warrant and in all such cases the lien date of any supplementary warrant shall revert back to the date of the delivery of the original warrant issued for the collection thereof, regardless of the delivery date of such supplementary warrant.
In the event the final return upon any warrant or supplementary warrant shall not clearly establish that all reasonable efforts have been made to collect any uncollected amounts shown upon the return thereof, the Mayor and Council shall proceed to collect the same in the name of the Town from the Collector making such return and his surety.
Upon the death, resignation or removal from office of any Collector, all warrants held by him shall forthwith be finally returned by him or his personal representative, as the case may be, regardless of the return date specified therein. Failure so to do for a period of thirty days after the happening of any such event shall entitle the Mayor and Council to proceed to collect all uncollected and unaccounted for amounts set forth in such warrant from the collector or his estate and his surety, as the case may be. In any proper case and upon good cause shown the Mayor and Council may extend the time for any such final return in any such event for a further period of thirty days.
The Town Collector shall pay over to the City Treasurer, at least monthly, and oftener if required by the Mayor and Council, all monies received or collected by him under and pursuant to any warrant delivered unto him.
He shall keep a full and strict account of all monies received and paid over by him together with full and complete duplicates of receipts given by him and original receipts received by him, all of which shall be open to inspection at any time by the Mayor and Council or the Town Auditors and shall be returned by him to the Mayor and Council with his final return on the warrant.
Section 36. Qualifications, Duties and Powers of the Board of Assessment:--The Board of Assessment shall consist of three members. Each member shall be above the age of twenty-one years, a qualified voter and a substantial freeholder of the Town.
It shall be their duty to make a fair and impartial annual assessment and list of all property subject to taxation by the Town as more particularly mentioned and described in sub-Sections 26 (30) and (32) of this Act.
It shall be their duty to prepare a full and complete annual list of persons subject to a personal or per-capita tax as more particularly mentioned and described in sub-Section 26 (31) of this Act.
It shall be their duty to prepare such further assessment lists, taxable lists, water rent lists, sewer rent lists, licensee lists and the like and perform such other duties as the Mayor and Council shall require and prescribe from time to time.
By and with the consent and approval of the Mayor and Council they may employ such assistants and assistance as they shall require to perform their duties properly.
Section 37. Qualifications, Duties and Powers of the Board of Health:--The pertinent provisions of Chapter 25, Revised Code of Delaware, 1935, and all amendments and supplements thereto and all other Statutes of the State of Delaware, as the same, or any of them, relate to local Boards of Health, their appointment, tenure, qualifications, duties, functions, powers and authority are hereby incorporated by express reference thereto in this Act insofar as the same relate to a Board of Health of the Town of Milton subject, however, to the following amendments, and only the following amendments, insofar as the same, or any of them, relate to the local Board of Health of said Town:
(1) The Board of Health shall be composed of three members, one of whom shall be a physician duly authorized to practice medicine with offices in the Town and the other two of whom shall be qualified voters of the Town;
(2) The Board of Health shall be appointed each year at the annual organization meeting of the Mayor and Council of said Town; and
(3) Before assuming the duties of their respective offices each member shall take and subscribe the oath of office prescribed by this Act.
Section 38. Qualifications, Duties and Powers of the Town Auditors:--The Town Auditors shall be three in number. Each Auditor need not be a qualified voter or resident of the Town but each shall be a substantial freeholder of the Town or a member of a partnership, firm or association or an executive officer of a corporation which owns substantial freehold interests in the Town.
It shall be their duty at the end of each fiscal year to audit the books and accounts of the Town and of all officers of the Town whose duties include the collection, custody and/or disbursement of any monies belonging to the Town, including the books of the Alderman and the record of all fines, penalties and costs imposed or collected in pursuance of any judgment, order or decree made. On or before the first day of February next after the end of any fiscal year they shall prepare and deliver to the Mayor and Council three copies of a detailed report of every and all accounts, books and records by them examined and audited and shall post five copies thereof in five public places in the Town where they shall remain until after the next annual election of the Town. They shall also cause a detailed financial statement of all receipts and disbursements of Town monies during the preceding fiscal year to be prepared and published in some newspaper of general circulation published in Sussex County, Delaware, between the tenth and twentieth days preceding the annual election of the Town to be held next following the end of such fiscal year.
In the performance of their duties the Town Auditors shall have full and complete access to all records, books and accounts of Mayor and Council, the Town and any officer thereof and they are authorized and empowered to engage and employ at the expense of the Town all such clerks, assistants and accountants as in their judgment they may require to properly perform their duties.
Section 39. Qualifications, Duties and Powers of the Town Solicitor:--The Town Solicitor shall be a member in good standing at the Bar of the State of Delaware with offices in Sussex County.
It shall be his duty to give legal advice to the Mayor and Council and other officers of the Town relating to the powers, authority and duties of their respective offices and the affairs and functions of the Town.
If at any time a majority of the whole number of the Mayor and Council become dissatisfied with his services he may be dismissed for no other cause, notwithstanding the fact that his term shall not have expired.
Section 40. Fiscal Year:--The fiscal year of the Town shall begin with January 1st of one year and end with December 31st of the same year.
Section 41. Budget:--Annually and not later than December 31st of each year the Mayor shall prepare and deliver to the Mayor and Council a rough draft of a Town Budget containing a financial plan for conducting the affairs of the Town for the forthcoming fiscal year.
From the rough draft submitted by the Mayor, the Mayor and Council, at their regular monthly meeting held during the month of January of each year, or at a special meeting held not later than February 1st of each year, shall prepare the Town Budget in final form.
The Budget shall contain the following information:
(4) A detailed, itemized estimate of expense of conducting each department and office of the Town for the current fiscal year.
(5) The value of supplies and materials on hand, together with the nature and kind of machinery, or other implements, and the nature thereof.
(6) The amount of outstanding debt of the Town, together with a schedule of maturities of bond issues.
(4) The itemized amounts required to meet the amortization, funding and interest requirements of the outstanding debt of the Town during the then current fiscal year.
(5) An itemized estimate of all amounts of money to be received by the Town from all sources during the then fiscal year, based upon the several rates of taxation, assessment, charges and fees in effect during the immediately previous fiscal year.
The Mayor and Council in conducting the affairs of the Town during any given fiscal year shall adhere to the Budget adopted by them insofar as is possible in the making of appropriations and the expenditure of Town funds.
Section 42. Annual Assessment List and List of Taxables: --Annually and on or before January 15th of each year the Board of Assessment shall prepare and deliver to the Mayor and Council an Annual Assessment List, and as many copies thereof as the Mayor and Council may require, of all property, real and personal, subject to taxation by the Town as mentioned or intended so to be in sub-Section 26 (30) and (32) of this Act. In making the assessment of all property mentioned or intended so to be in sub-Section 26 (30) of this Act, the rules and exemptions applicable by law to the County assessment thereof shall apply insofar as consistent with the provisions of this Act. Real and personal property shall be distinguished. All real estate shall be described with sufficient particularity to be identified. The principal improvements thereon shall be specified. All such property set forth in said list shall be assessed to the owner or owners if he or they be known. The post office address, if the same be known, or the last and best post office address ascertained upon reasonable inquiry, of each owner or owners shall appear under or opposite their respective names. If no such address can be obtained, the address used shall be the address of the situs of the property. If the owner or owners of any property contained in said list be unknown and cannot be found or ascertained upon reasonable inquiry, it shall be assessed to the last record owner as shown upon the public records in the Court House and Annex, at Georgetown. If a reasonable examination of such records shall not disclose a last record owner, it shall then be assessed to "Owners Unknown".
The Annual Assessment List, aforesaid, shall also include a list of all persons subject to a personal or per capita tax as more particularly mentioned or intended so to be in sub-Paragraph 26 (31) of this Act.
If required so to do by the Mayor and Council prior to December 1st preceding the final delivery date of any Annual Assessment Lists, the Board of Assessment shall also include therein a list of all individuals, firms, associations or corporations carrying on or practicing any business, profession or occupation within the limits of the Town as more particularly mentioned, or intended so to be, in sub-Section 26 (33) of this Act and the business or businesses, profession or professions, or occupation or occupations carried on by each of them, as aforesaid: Provided, that the failure of the Mayor and Council to so require the same to be included in the Annual Assessment List or the failure of the Board of Assessment to include the name of any such individual, firm, association or corporation or any business, profession or occupation so conducted by any of them in the list thereof shall in no wise affect or limit the power and authority of the Mayor and Council under sub-Section 26 (33) of this Act.
The Annual Assessment List shall clearly distinguish the assessed value of real from personal property, the assessed value of land from the improvements thereon, the persons subject to a personal or per capita tax from those who are not and, when properly included, the individuals, firms, associations and corporations conducting any business, profession or occupation, as aforesaid, from those who are not.
The assessed value of any property of the several members of the Board of Assessment shall be assessed by the Mayor and Council.
Section 43. Appeals from Assessment:--Immediately upon receiving the Annual Assessment List from the Board of Assessment, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Mayor and Council to cause a full and complete copy of the same to be posted in a conspicuous place in the Town Hall or some other public place in the Town and there it shall remain for the information of and examination by all concerned until the regular monthly meeting of the Mayor and Council to be held in the month of February following the delivery and receipt of said Annual Assessment List. Appended thereto and in five or more other public places in the Town the said Secretary shall also post a notice advising all concerned that at the regular monthly meeting of the Mayor and Council to be held during the month of February next and specifying the day, hour and place of said meeting, the Mayor and Council will hear and determine all Appeals from the said Annual Assessment List. Said notice shall designate the place where the Annual Assessment List is posted and any rules and regulations adopted by the Mayor and Council governing the procedure to be followed by any person desiring to appeal his assessment.
At the time and place fixed in the notice aforesaid the Mayor and Council, sitting as a Court of Appeals, shall hear and determine all appeals from the Annual Assessment List and shall correct and complete said Annual Assessment List in pursuance of any finding or decision reached by them on any such appeal or in pursuance of any clerical errors or omissions found therein. The findings and decisions of the Mayor and Council shall be final.
No Mayor or member of Council shall sit upon his own Appeal but, rather, the same shall be heard and determined by the other members thereof.
All members of the Board of Assessment shall be present throughout the time that the Mayor and Council shall sit as a Board of Appeals and shall furnish unto the Mayor and Council such information as they may require in respect of any assessment, name, matter or thing appearing upon the Annual Assessment List. The Mayor and Council shall have authority to enforce their attendance by appropriate process.
Section 44. Determination of Annual Revenue:--(1) At the regular monthly meeting held during the month of February of each year and after the Annual Assessment List has been completed in final form the Mayor and Council shall determine, to the best of their judgment and knowledge, the total amount necessary to be raised by the Town to meet all of the fixed and anticipated expenses and obligations of the Town, including reasonable and appropriate reserves, for the then current fiscal year as set forth in the Town Budget for such year plus a reasonable amount to cover unanticipated expenses and emergencies.
(2) They shall then proceed to determine from which sources of the authorized revenues of the Town the amount so determined by them shall be raised and, within the limits prescribed by this Act with respect to any such source, the amount to be raised from each such source.
(3) They shall then proceed to determine, assess, fix and/or levy (a) the rate of tax on real and personal property per $100 of assessed value, (b) the amount of personal or per capita tax upon each qualified voter, (c) the rate of tax upon all poles, constructions, erections, wires and appliances more particularly mentioned, bi* intended so to be, in sub-Section 26 (32) of this Act, (d) the several license fees to be charged for carrying on or conducting any of the several businesses, professions or occupations more particularly mentioned, or intended so to be, in sub-Section 26 (33) of this Act, (e) the several rates to be charged for furnishing water service, sewer service, electric service and/or gas service, and/or the like by the Town, and/or (f) the fees or rates to be charged in respect of any other authorized source of revenue, sufficient in their best judgment and estimation to realize the amount to be raised from each such source determined by them to be used, as aforesaid. Each such rate of tax, assessment, fee or charge so established by the Mayor and Council shall be uniform throughout the Town.
Section 45. Revision of Budget and Annual Revenues:-- At the first regular monthly meeting of the Mayor and Council held after the Annual Organization Meeting thereof in each year the Mayor and Council may
(1) Revise downward the detailed, itemized estimate of expense of conducting each Department and office of the Town for the then current fiscal year, which revision thereof shall be final.
(2) Revise downward the total amount necessary to be raised by the Town as determined by it in pursuance of paragraph (1) of Section 44 of this Act, which revision shall be final.
(3) Redetermine from which sources of the authorized revenues of the Town the amount finally determined by them shall be raised, which redetermination thereof shall be final.
(4) Redetermine, revise, reassess, refix and/or relevy downward any rate of tax, assessment, fee or charge theretofore determined in pursuance of paragraph (3) of Section 44 of this Act and/or determine, assess, fix and/or levy other rates of tax, assessment, fee or charge in accord with any actions taken by them in pursuance of sub-paragraphs (1), (2) and (3) of this Section of this Act, all of which actions shall be final.
If no actions be taken by the Mayor and Council in pursuance of sub-paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive, of this Section of this Act at the first regular monthly meeting of the Mayor and Council held after the Annual Organization Meeting thereof of any given year, then in such event all prior actions taken by the Mayor and Council with respect to any and all such matters and things therein referred to shall be final.
Section 46. Collection of Annual Revenues:--Immediately upon the final determination of the Annual Revenues to be raised by the Town for any given fiscal year, as aforesaid, the Mayor and Council shall cause an Annual Revenue List of the Town to be prepared and shall deliver a duplicate thereof to the Town Collector, together with a warrant, thereto attached, under the hand of the Mayor and the seal of the Town, attested by the Secretary, directing and commanding him to collect the several taxes, assessments, fees or charges therein specified and/or set forth in the duplicate Annual Revenue List thereto attached. A duplicate of any such warrant shall be attached to the Annual Revenue List of the Town and the same shall be retained by the Secretary and filed by him among the permanent records of the Town, he first noting thereon the day and hour of the delivery of said warrant and duplicate list to the Town Collector. Any such warrant shall be finally returnable on or before the second Saturday in March of the second succeeding calendar year after the delivery thereof unto him. On said day the Collector shall make a full, final and complete settlement with the Mayor and Council. At such settlement he shall be allowed credit for all amounts which it shall have been impossible. to collect by reason of error or other cause deemed by the Mayor and Council to be sufficient. No allowances shall be made for the default or neglect or delay of the Collector. Upon the conclusion of the settlement, the Collector forthwith shall pay over to the Treasurer the aggregate amount found to be due the Town. Upon his failure or neglect so to do it shall be the duty of the Mayor and Council to proceed to collect the same from the Collector and his surety. If the Collector shall be unable before the return day of any such warrant to collect any amount due thereon he may pay such amount to the Treasurer and collect the same for his own use and benefit, in pursuance of a supplementary warrant issued unto him to that end, within the space of one year after the return clay of the original warrant.
In addition to the information set forth in the Annual Assessment List and Lists of taxables of the Town for any given fiscal year, the Annual Revenue List for the same fiscal year and/or the warrant issued thereon to the Collector, aforesaid, shall contain the following further information, that is to say,
(1) The finally determined rate of tax on real and personal property per $100 of assessed value, if any;
(2) The finally determined amount of personal or per capita tax upon each qualified voter, if any;
(3) The finally determined rate of tax upon all poles, constructions, erections, wires and appliances more particularly mentioned, or intended so to be in sub-Section 26 (32) of this Act, if any;
(4) The finally determined several license fees for carrying on or conducting any of the several businesses, professions, or occupations more particularly mentioned, or intended so to be, in sub-Section 26 (33) of this Act, if any;
(5) The finally determined rates for furnishing water service, sewer service, electric service, and/or gas service, if any;
(6) The finally determined fees or rate to be charged in respect of any other authorized source of revenue, if any; and
(7) Such further information as may reasonably be required to determine from such List and/or Warrant the identity of the person from whom any amount due thereon shall be collected, the amount to be collected from such person, and the property, if any, upon which the same shall constitute a lien.
All amounts shown to be due by any Annual Revenue List and the warrant issued unto the Collector thereon shall be due and payable, without demand, upon the delivery of the duplicate List and warrant unto the Collector and shall bear interest at the rate of one-half of one per cent per month from and after August 1st following the date of its delivery unto the Collector. On each Saturday of the months of June and July of each year, between the hours of 1:00 and 4:00 in the afternoon the Town Collector shall sit at the Town Hall to receive from the persons owing the same any amount shown to be due thereon. Notice thereof shall be posted by the Collector in five or more public places throughout the Town on or before May 15th of each year.
Section 47. Collection of Certain Other Charges:--The Town hereby is authorized to collect the following other charges or expenses from the person or persons and/or owner or owners of the land abutting the same, or upon which the same is maintained, or who suffers, permits or allows the same to be maintained, as the case may be, that is to say, the costs and expense of
(1) removing slaughter houses, wash house, laundries, canning establishments, phosphate, fish, fertilizer or manure plants or establishments, swine pens, privies, water closets and any other business building or condition detrimental to the public health or constituting a- public nuisance or of an offensive or noxious nature;
(2) removing any stoop, step, platform, bay window, cellar door, gate, area, descent, sign, post, or other erection or projection in, over, upon or under any street, highway, alley, lane, watercourse, park, lake, strand, sidewalk, crosswalk, wharf, dock, sewer, drain, aqueduct, pipeline, or other public property or way of the Town;
(3) connecting any property to the sewer system of the Town deemed to be necessary in the interest of the public health;
(0) digging down, draining, filling up or fencing of any lot, piece or parcel of land which may be deemed dangerous to the public health or safety;
(1) removing any fireplace, stone, chimney, oven, boiler, or other apparatus or structure or condition which may be deemed dangerous to the public safety as a fire hazard;
(2) leveling, grading, flagging, curbing, guttering and/or paving any sidewalk, crosswalk, curb or gutter of the Town; and
(7) releveling, regrading, reflagging, recurbing, reguttering and repaving any sidewalk, crosswalk, curb or gutter of the Town.
The procedure to be followed by the Town in the collection thereof shall be as follows:
(a) In all cases contemplated by sub-Sections (1), (2), (3), (4), (5) and (7) above the Mayor and Council, upon their own inspection, or upon an investigation and written recommendation of the Police Force, or Board of Health of the Town, or Board of Health of the State, as the case may be, shall adopt a first resolution declaring that the same is detrimental to the public health, or constitutes a public nuisance, or is of an offensive or noxious nature, or constitutes an erection or projection in, over, upon or under any public property or way of the Town, or is necessary in the interest of the public health or that the same is dangerous to the public health or safety, or, in the case of sub-Section (7) above, that the same is in a state of disrepair, as the case may be.
(b) In all cases contemplated by sub-Section (6) above no step may be taken by the Town in the collection thereof until a written petition signed by five or more freeholders of the Town stating that the same should be done shall first have been received or obtained by the Mayor and Council. When received or obtained, as aforesaid, the Mayor and Council shall then determine by a first resolution that the work described in the petition should be done.
(c) In all cases contemplated by paragraphs (a) or (b) above, after the adoption of a first resolution, the Mayor and Council shall adopt a second resolution setting forth the names of the person or persons and/or owner or owners of the land abutting the same, or upon which the same is maintained, or who suffers, permits or allows the same to be maintained, as the case may be, and stating that such person or persons and/or owner or owners are those who should effect any such removal, or any such digging down, draining, filling up or fencing, or any such leveling, grading, flagging, curbing, guttering and/or paving, or any such releveling, regrading, reflagging, recurbing, reguttering and/or repaving, as may be set forth in any such first resolution, and what part of such work each such person should do.
The Mayor and Council, if the nature of the case shall require, may then declare by a third resolution that an emergency exists and that the work contemplated in any such first resolution should be done forthwith.
(d) The Secretary shall forthwith send a copy of all such resolutions to each person named in any such second resolution, together with a notice to do the work required of him therein within a period of sixty (60) days after the date of such notice or, if a third resolution shall have been adopted with respect thereto, the period specified in any such notice shall be reduced to five (5) days. Such notice shall include a copy of all such rules and regulations of the Town as shall be applicable to the doing of any such work. Each notice, together with its accompanying documents, aforesaid, shall be placed in a sealed wrapper, which shall bear the name and last known post office address of the person to whom it is directed and be sufficiently stamped, shall be deposited in the mails of the United States, at Milton, on the date that the notice shall bear.
If any such person or persons, shall fail to do the work specified in any such notice, and its accompanying documents, within the period of time specified in the notice, the Mayor and Council shall issue a warrant under the hand of the Mayor, who shall affix thereto the municipal corporate seal, attested by the Secretary, and directed to the Chief of Police commanding him forthwith to do, or cause to be done, the work specified in the notice, and its accompanying documents, aforesaid. The Chief of Police forthwith shall proceed to do, or cause to be done, the work specified in the warrant. To that end he shall have full power and authority to enter into any premises or lands in the Town and to take with him such assistants, materials, implements, horses, carts, wagons, trucks, or other things as may be necessary or proper to perform the work specified in the warrant.
At the next regular monthly meeting of the Mayor and Council after delivery of the warrant to the Chief of Police, said officer shall make a return upon the warrant which shall include an itemized statement of all costs incurred by him in the performance of the necessary work and labor attendant thereunto.
From the return of the Chief of Police, the Mayor and Council shall determine the amount due the Town by reason of the work done. They shall then issue a warrant for the collection thereof, directed to the Town Collector and commanding him forthwith to collect the same from the person or persons and against the property or properties specified in the warrant. The warrant shall contain the amount to be by him collected, the person or persons from whom it shall be collected and the property or properties against which the lien thereof shall lie. The Secretary shall retain a copy of the warrant and shall note thereon the time of its delivery to the Town Collector.
Immediately upon the receipt of such warrant, the Town Collector shall forward a true and exact copy thereof to the person or persons named therein as owing the Town the amount or amounts specified as due thereon. Such copy or copies shall be forwarded in the same manner required of the Secretary in respect of any notice mentioned in this Section of this Act.
If the amounts specified as due the Town shall not have been paid to the Town Collector within thirty (30) days from the date of the mailing of such true and exact copy of the warrant, the Town Collector shall then be authorized to pursue any and all of the powers, remedies and methods hereinafter provided for the collection of amounts due the Town.
Any such warrants shall be returnable by the Collector within the time determined by the Mayor and Council and specified in the warrant. In respect of the return of any such warrant, the same provisions shall apply as hereinbefore made applicable with respect to any warrant issued unto the Collector in respect of the collection of annual revenues.
Section 48. Lien of Annual Revenues and Other Charges Due the Town:--In respect of any of the Annual Revenues due the Town and in respect of any other charge due the Town as contemplated by Section 47 of this Act, the same shall be and constitute liens upon the respective property or properties of the person or persons, owner or owners, from whom the same shall be due, as described or specified in the warrant issuing for the collection thereof, or any document or list which may accompany the delivery of the warrant to the Town Collector. To this end, the Town may refuse to furnish water service, electric service, gas service, or any like quasi-public service to any person or persons except the owner or owners of the property to which such service is furnished, regardless of who may be the occupier or occupiers of such property, unless such occupier or occupiers shall deposit with the Treasurer of the Town sufficient security for the payment of any such service rendered unto such occupier.
The lien, aforesaid, shall date from the day that the original warrant for the collection thereof shall be delivered to the Town Collector and shall continue in effect for a period of two (2) years from the date of such warrant. Any such lien, aforesaid, shall have preference and priority over any other liens, encumbrances or conveyances except prior tax liens, prior general or special assessment liens, or any prior liens of a like or similar nature.
Section 49. Powers, Remedies and Methods for the Collection of Warrants:--The Town Collector, in the name of the Town, shall have and enjoy the following powers, remedies and methods for the collection of any warrant received by him from the Town, as aforesaid, that is to say:
(1) He shall have, enjoy and pursue the remedy of distress.
(2) He may institute suit before any Justice of the Peace of the State of Delaware, or before the Alderman of the Town, for the recovery of any amount shown to be due by the warrant and its accompanying lists and documents against the person shown thereby to be liable thereon. The suit shall be by way of an action of debt. Upon judgment obtained, he may issue writs of execution as in case of other judgments recovered before a Justice of the Peace. Any such executions shall constitute a lien upon all the personal property of the defendant thereto within the County where the judgment may have been obtained, which by virtue of such execution shall be levied upon within thirty (30) days after issuance thereof. Such lien shall have priority over all other liens against- said personal property created or suffered by the taxable, except such liens thereon which may have been created in respect to County taxes, although such other liens be of a date prior to the time of the attachment of said warrant lien.
(3) He may notify, in writing, the person, firm or corporation by whom any person named or specified in the warrant and its accompanying lists or documents is employed that an amount specified in such warrant and its accompanying lists and documents is due and unpaid to the Town from such employee. The notice shall be signed by the Collector and shall contain the correct name of the person from whom the amount is due, the amount due the Town from such person upon the warrant, the purpose for which it is due, and all penalties and interest added thereto, if any. Upon the receipt of any such notice, it shall be the duty of the employer to take from the wage, salary or other money then due the taxable the amount shown by the notice to be due the Town upon the warrant and to pay the same unto the Town Collector within ten (10) days. The Collector shall give the employer a certificate of payment which shall be allowed in any suit or accounting between the employer and the taxable. If any employer being so notified and having in his hands money belonging to the person named in such notice shall neglect or refuse to comply with the provisions hereof, such employer shall become personally liable for the amount shown to be due by such notice, together with penalties and interest due thereon, if any, and the amount thereon may be recovered from such employer in an action of debt before any Justice of the Peace of the State of Delaware, or the Alderman of the Town. This remedy shall be deemed to be in the nature of a garnishment proceedings.
(4) He may make complaint under oath before any Justice of the Peace of the State of Delaware, or the Alderman of the Town, that the amount due from any person as shown by the warrant and its accompanying lists and documents is due and unpaid and that he has been unable to make collection thereof by any other method for the recovery thereof prescribed by this Section of this Act. Thereupon a warrant shall be issued for the arrest of the person from whom the same shall be due. After hearing, if it shall be found that such amount is due and unpaid the Collector or the Town upon the warrant from the person arrested, and if the taxable shall thereupon fail to pay the same, together with all penalties and accrued costs, he shall be committed to the jail of Sussex County, or to the Town jail, until the same be paid, but, in no event, shall the term of his imprisonment exceed thirty (30) days.
(5) Without the necessity of pursuing any other remedy for the collection thereof, he is empowered to sell the lands and tenements of the taxable, assessee, licensee, or chargee, or any lands and tenements of the taxable, assessee, licensee, or chargee alienated by him subsequent to the delivery of the original warrant for the collection thereof to the Town Collector, that is to say: He shall present to the Superior Court of Sussex County a petition in which shall be stated:
(a) The name of the taxable, assessee, licensee or chargee.
(b) The year for or during which the tax, assessment, license, or other charge was levied.
(c) The rate of the tax, assessment, license, or other charge.
(d) The total amount due.
(e) The date from which the penalty for non-payment, if any, shall commence and the rate of such penalty.
(f) A short description of the lands and tenements proposed to be sold sufficient to identify the same.
(g) A statement that a bill of said tax, assessment, license, or other charge has been mailed to the taxable, assessee, licensee, or chargee at his last known post office address, together with a notice to him that the Town Collector will proceed to sell the lands and tenements of the taxable, assessee, licensee, or chargee for the payment of the tax, assessment, license, or other charge due the Town, and the date of such mailing.
(h) That it has been found impractical to attempt to collect the said tax, assessment, license, or other charge, by any other remedy hereinbefore provided.
At least ten (10) days prior to the filing of any such petition, the Collector shall deposit in the mail, in a sealed and stamped wrapper and requiring a return registry receipt, addressed to the taxable, assessee, licensee, or chargee at his last known address, an itemized statement of the tax, assessment, license or other charge due the Town, together with all penalties and costs then due thereon, together with a notice to the taxable, assessee, licensee or chargee that he shall proceed to sell his lands and tenements for the payment of the tax, assessment, license or other charge due the Town. The Collector shall exhibit the return registry receipt to the Court by filing the same with the petition.
The petition shall be filed by the Collector and shall be verified before a Notary Public.
Upon the filing of the petition, the Prothonotary shall record the same in a properly indexed record of the Court and shall endorse upon said record of said petition, the following: "This petition filed the _____ day of _____, A. D. _____ (giving the day and year), and the Town Collector of the Town of Milton 'shall therefor proceed to sell the lands and tenements herein mentioned or a sufficient part thereof, for the payment of the amount due". Which endorsement shall be signed by the Prothonotary. The Collector shall then proceed to advertise the lands and tenements of the taxable, assessee, licensee or chargee by posting handbills in at least five (5) public places in the Town of Milton, (one of which shall be posted on the premises) and publishing the notice of said sale in a newspaper published in Sussex County. The notice shall contain the day, hour and place of sale and a short description of the premises sufficient to identify the same.
The notice shall be posted at least ten (10) days before the day fixed for sale and shall be published in the newspaper at least one week before the day of sale.
Each sale of lands and tenements shall be returned to the Superior Court, aforesaid, at the ensuing term thereof following the sale. At the return of said sale the Court shall inquire into the circumstances and either approve or set aside the sale. No sale shall be approved by the Court if the owner be ready at the Court to pay the tax, assessment, license fee, or other charge due the Town, together with penalty, interest and costs, if any. If it set aside the sale, the Court may order another sale and so on until the tax, assessment, license fee, or other charge due is collected.
If the sale shall be approved by the Court, then at the expiration of one year from the date of the sale (which shall be known as the redemption year) the Town Collector then in office shall make, execute and deliver a deed to the purchaser, his heirs or assigns, which shall convey the title of the taxable, assessee, licensee, or chargee or his alienee, as the case may be:
Provided, however, that within the redemption year, the owner, his heirs or assigns, shall have power to redeem the lands on payment of the cost, the amount of the purchase money and twenty per cent interest thereon to the purchaser, his heirs or assigns. If the purchaser refuses to accept the same or in the event the purchaser, or his heirs or assigns, cannot be located within the State of Delaware, then, in either event, it shall be lawful for the owner, his heirs, executors or assigns, to pay the amount of the redemption money to the Treasurer of the Town of Milton and, upon taking from him a good and lawful receipt therefor, such receipt shall be considered for all intents and purposes as a valid and lawful exercise of the owner, his heirs, executors and assigns, of his or their power to redeem the land so sold.
After satisfying the tax, assessment, license or other charge due and the cost and expenses of sale from the proceeds of the sale, the amount remaining in the hands of the Collector shall be paid, at once, to the owner of the land. Should the owner of the land refuse to accept the same, or the owner is unknown or cannot be found the amount remaining shall be deposited in some bank in the Town, either to the credit of the owner, or in a manner by which the fund may be identified.
In sales of land for the payment of taxes, assessments, licenses or other charges due the Town of Milton, the following costs shall be allowed, which shall be deducted by the Collector from the proceeds of the sale, or chargeable against the owner: the Prothonotary of the Court shall receive for filing and recording the petition the sum of $1.00 and also the sum of $1.50 for filing and recording the Return of Sale; the Collector shall be entitled to receive the sum of $5.00 for every sale of real estate made by him in the exercise of said powers for the enforcement of the payment of taxes, together with such additional sum as may be reasonable and proper for the service of Counsel in preparing such papers as may be necessary in the premises, all of which shall be a part of the costs to be paid out of the purchase money realized out of the sale of said real estate sold for the taxes, assessment, license fee or other charge due the Town.
The cost of the deed shall not be chargeable as costs but shall be paid by the purchaser.
If the owner of any lands and tenements against which a tax shall be levied and assessed shall be unknown this fact shall be stated in the advertisement of sale and in the Petition to the Court and the notice required to be forwarded prior to filing the Petition shall be posted on the premises proposed to be sold rather than deposited in the mail and so noted in the Petition.
If any person is assessed for several parcels of land and tenements in the same assessment the total of said taxes, assessments, and other charges due the Town, may be collected from the sale of any part or portion of said lands and tenements: Provided, that land alienated by the taxable, assessee, licensee, or chargee shall not be sold until other property of the taxable, assessee, licensee, or chargee shall have been disposed of.
Section 50. Borrowing of Money and Issuance of Bonds:--The power or authority to borrow money may be exercised by the Mayor and Council to provide funds for, or to provide for the payment of, any of the following projects or purposes:
(1) Refunding any or all outstanding bonds or other indebtedness of the Town at the maturity thereof or in accordance with any callable feature or provision contained herein;
(2) Meeting or defraying current annual operating expenses of the Town in an amount equal to but not in excess of currently outstanding, due and unpaid taxes, water rents, license fees, or other charges due the Town and available, when paid, for meeting or defraying current annual operating expenses of the Town;
(3) Erecting, extending, enlarging, maintaining, and repairing any plant, building, machinery, or equipment for the manufacture, supplying or distribution of gas, water, electricity, sewage or drainage system, or any of them, and the condemning or purchasing of any lands, personal property, easements and rights of way which may be required therefor;
(0) Constructing, paving, laying out, widening, extending, repairing and maintaining streets, lanes, alleys, and ways and the paving, constructing, laying out, widening, extending, repairing and maintaining of curbing and gutters along the same and the condemning or purchasing of any lands, personal property, easements or rights of way which may be required therefor;
(1) Constructing, laying out, widening, extending, repairing and maintaining boardwalks, piers, jetties, bulkheads, sidewalks, cross-walks, or embankments, or any of them, and the condemning or purchasing of any lands, personal property, easements or rights of way which may be required therefor;
(6) Defraying the cost to the Town of any other municipal improvement provided for or authorized or implied by the provisions of this Charter.
In those cases where the power or authority vested in the Mayor and Council is sought to be exercised for the purpose of refunding any or all outstanding bonds or other indebtedness of the Town at a rate of interest equal to or less than the indebtedness thereby sought to be refunded and in all instances provided for in sub-paragraph "2" above, it shall not be necessary for the Mayor and Council to call a special election of the taxables of the Town to secure their approval of such borrowing.
In all other instances the power to borrow money and to secure the payment thereof by the issuance of bonds or other kinds or forms of certificate or certificates of indebtedness for any other purpose or purposes above specified shall be only exercised in the following manner:
The Mayor and Council shall adopt a resolution proposing unto the electors of the Town that money be borrowed by the Town for any of the above named purposes. The resolution proposing the borrowing shall plainly set forth the following matters:
(1) The amount of money, or the amount of money not exceeding which, it is proposed shall be borrowed;
(2) The rate of interest, or the rate of interest not exceeding which, it is proposed shall be paid;
(3) The manner in which it is proposed to be secured;
(4) The manner in which it is proposed that it shall be paid, or funded, or both;
(5) A short and clear description of the purpose or purposes for which the money or monies shall be used, and which description shall include the estimated cost of carrying out the purpose or purposes aforesaid; and
(6) A statement of the time and place for a public hearing upon the resolution, whereat the Mayor and Council shall vote upon the final authorization on for the loan.
It shall then be the duty of Mayor and Council to give notice of the time and place of such public hearing upon the resolution by publishing a copy of the resolution aforesaid in at least one issue of a newspaper published in Sussex County at least one week before the time fixed for said hearing and by posting copies thereof in five public places throughout said Town at least one week before the time fixed for said hearing.
At the time and place mentioned in such notice, the Mayor and Council shall sit in public session and at such public session, or an adjourned session thereof, shall vote upon a resolution giving its final authorization for the loan. If such resolution shall be adopted by the Mayor and Council, then the Mayor and Council shall pass a second resolution ordering and directing that a Special Election be held in the Town not less than thirty (30) days nor more than sixty (60) days (as may be determined by the Mayor and Council) after the date of the hearing and passage of the resolution authorizing the loan by the Mayor and Council.
The Mayor and Council shall give notice of the time and place for holding the said Special Election to all the taxables of the Town by posting notices thereof in five public places in said Town at least two weeks prior to the day fixed for the holding of such Special Election' and by publishing a copy of such notice once each week during those two weeks immediately preceding that week during which the day fixed for the holding of such Special Election shall fall in a newspaper published in Sussex County. Such notice of the Special Election shall likewise contain the same information with respect to the borrowing as required to be contained in the original resolution proposing the borrowing, excepting a statement of the time and place for a public hearing upon the resolution, whereat the Mayor and Council shall vote upon the final authorization for the loan.
The Special Election shall be conducted by the Election Board.
At least five days prior to the date of the Special Election, the Mayor and Council shall cause to be prepared, printed and have available for distribution, a sufficient number of ballots; upon one-half of which ballots shall be printed the words "FOR THE PROPOSED BORROWING", and upon the other half of said ballot shall be printed the words "AGAINST THE PROPOSED BORROWING".
At such Special Election every person who would be entitled to vote at an annual election if held on that day shall be entitled to one vote for every dollar and fractional part of a dollar of real property and personal or per capita taxes paid by him during the fiscal year ending on December 31st next preceding said Special Election and also every owner of real property, whether individual, partnership or corporation, shall have one vote for every dollar or part of a dollar of tax paid upon such real property during the fiscal year ending on December 31st next preceding said Special Election. Votes at said Election may be cast either in person or by proxy and where a given real property is owned by more than one person each parcener shall be entitled to cast as many votes as his, her or its interest in the real property is related to the total number of votes which may be cast in the name of all owners of such real property, excepting in cases where real property is held by husband and wife as tenants by the entireties. In such latter cases either the husband or wife or the proxy of either of them may cast the entire votes representative of the tax paid upon such real property, depending upon which shall first present himself or herself at the polling place.
No proxy shall be voted or counted unless the same shall have been signed in the presence of at least two witnesses.
The Inspector of the Election shall deposit all ballots in the ballot box provided for that purpose in the presence of the person casting such ballot; he, the said Inspector, first writing upon the outside of said ballot the number of votes being cast thereby by the person casting said ballot.
Immediately upon the closing of the polls the Election Board shall count the votes for and against the proposed borrowing and shall announce the result thereof and shall make a certificate under their hands of the number of votes cast for and the number of votes cast against the proposed borrowing and shall deliver such certificate, in duplicate, to the Mayor and Council. One copy of the Certificate the Mayor and Council shall enter in the minutes of the next meeting of the Mayor and Council and the other copy thereof shall be filed with the papers of the Town.
The form of the bonds or certificates of indebtedness and the thereunto attached coupons, if any, the time or times of payment, the time or times of payment of interest, the classes, the series, the maturity, the registration, any callable or redeemable feature, the denomination and the name thereof and any other relative or pertinent matters pertaining thereto shall all be determined by the Mayor and Council. The bond or bonds or certificates of indebtedness shall be offered for sale to the best and most responsible bidder therefor after advertisement in a newspaper of Sussex County and otherwise if the Commissioners shall deem it necessary, at least fifteen and not more than thirty days before offering the same for sale: Provided, that money may be borrowed to meet current operating expenses as hereinbefore provided by sub-section 2 of the first paragraph hereof, at public or private sale, without first advertising the offer of any such bonds or certificates of indebtedness for sale.
All bonds or certificates of indebtedness forming a single issue need not be offered for sale at a single sale but any given issue of bonds or certificates of indebtedness authorized as hereinbefore provided may be advertised and sold in whole or in part, from time to time, and until the entire authorized issue be disposed of, as the Mayor and Council may deem most advisable.
The Mayor and Council shall provide in its budget and in fixing of the rate of tax, or otherwise, for the payment of principal of such bond or bonds or certificate or certificates of indebtedness at the maturity thereof together with the interest due or which may thereafter become due thereupon and, in a proper case, it shall also provide a sinking fund therefor.
Unless any such bond or bonds or certificate or certificates of indebtedness shall otherwise provide therein, the faith and credit of the Town of Milton shall be deemed to be pledged for the due payment of any such bond or bonds or certificate or certificates of indebtedness and interest thereon according to its terms when and after the same have been duly and properly executed, delivered and due value received therefor.
Section 51. Procedure by Way of Condemnation:--In every case in which the power of eminent domain may be lawfully exercised by the Town under this Act, or any other Law of the State of Delaware, and the Town shall be unable to agree upon the amount of just compensation for the property sought to be acquired, or abandoned, by the exercise of such power, the procedure by way of condemnation and the exercise of such power shall be as follows:
(1) The Mayor and Council shall adopt a resolution favorable to the acquisition by the Town of any real or personal property within this State as to which the Town shall have the power of eminent domain, or to abandon any property devoted to the public use and over which the Town might have jurisdiction. The resolution shall contain the following information:
(A) A statement of the authority under which and the public or quasi-public use for which the property is to be acquired, or a statement of the authority under which and the public use in the property which is to be abandoned.
(B) A description of the property in question sufficient for the identification thereof and, where such property consists of real estate or any interest therein, a plan of such real estate.
(C) The names of the owners of the property to be acquired and of any interest therein, or the names of the abutting owners of the property to be abandoned, as the case may be, so far as ascertainable by reasonable inquiry, and of the persons in actual and open possession of the same. If it shall appear from the land records, or any other records of the County in which said property is located that a right, title, interest, or estate in said property was formerly vested in any person who is known, or may be presumed to be, deceased, which right, title, interest, or estate, if valid and subsisting, would be adverse to the person in present possession claiming to be the owner of said property, and the names of the heirs or devisees of such persons are not known, it shall be sufficient to describe them in the resolution as "unknown heirs or devisees" of such deceased person. And such designation shall be valid and effective to all intents and purposes as if all persons claiming by, through or under said deceased person had been specifically named.
(D) A statement of the estate or interest in the property which the Town intends to acquire for the public or quasi-public use stated.
(E) A statement that the Town and the parties interested in the property to be acquired are unable to agree upon the amount of just compensation for such property.
(F) A statement of the day, hour and place where the Mayor and Council will sit to hear objections to the taking or abandoning any such property and to award just and reasonable compensation to anyone who will be deprived of his property by reason thereof.
(2) Copies of such resolution shall be posted in at least five (5) or more of the most public places in the Town at least ten (10) days prior to the day fixed by the Mayor and Council for the hearing aforesaid. A copy of such resolution shall be published in a newspaper published in Sussex County at least ten (10) days prior to the day fixed by the Mayor and Council for the hearing aforesaid. If the property to be taken is real estate, a copy of such resolution shall be posted on the real estate at least ten (10) days prior to the day fixed by the Mayor and Council for the hearing aforesaid. A copy of such resolution shall be enclosed in a sealed wrapper, sufficiently stamped, and the same shall be addressed and mailed by Registered Mail to the last known post-office address of each person named in the Resolution: Provided, that in all cases of "unknown heirs or devisees" no such mailing shall be required but the advertising in the newspaper, aforesaid, shall be deemed to be sufficient personal notice to give thereof. Such copies as shall be required to be mailed, as aforesaid, shall be mailed at least ten (10) days prior to the day fixed by the Mayor and Council for the hearing aforesaid.
(3) At the time and place fixed in the first resolution, aforesaid, the Mayor and Council shall hear all persons in interest as shall attend the hearing. After hearing all such objections as shall be made to the first Resolution, the Mayor and Council, at said meeting, or at a subsequent date as they may deem proper, shall adopt a second resolution to proceed with or to void the plan adopted by them, in the first resolution, aforesaid.
(4) In every case where the Mayor and Council shall resolve to proceed with any such plan or any portion thereof, they shall then proceed to hear all persons who will thereby be deprived of property by virtue of the execution of the plan so contemplated and shall award just and reasonable compensation unto every such person or persons for the taking of his or their property, or for the abandoning of any property subject to a public use, as aforesaid.
(5) Any compensation awarded by the Mayor and Council to any person deprived of property by reason of the execution of the plan so contemplated shall be paid by the Treasurer of the Town upon a warrant drawn upon such Treasurer by authority of the Mayor and Council. If any such person shall refuse or neglect to accept payment thereof within a period of ten (10) days after any such award shall have been made and, during the interim, shall not have taken an appeal from the award, such sum shall be paid over to The Farmers Bank of the State of Delaware, at Georgetown, to be by it deposited to the credit of such person or persons. Upon the acceptance of any such award or the payment thereof unto The Farmers Bank of the State of Delaware, as aforesaid, the Town shall then be entitled forthwith to take the property, or to abandon the property, for the uses and purposes of the plan adopted by the Mayor and Council in its first resolution, and any amendments thereto, and the title to any property, or any interest therein so taken, thereby shall become vested in the Town of Milton, in fee simple, free and clear of all liens and encumbrances.
(6) If anyone deprived of his property by virtue of the foregoing procedure be dissatisfied with the compensation awarded unto him by the Mayor and Council, as aforesaid, within five (5) days after the award of the Mayor and Council, as aforesaid, he may appeal therefrom by serving written notice to that effect upon the Mayor or Secretary, or in their absence, upon any member of the Council of the Town.
(7) In order to prosecute said appeal, such appellant shall, within ten (10) days after the award of the Mayor and Council, as aforesaid, apply to the Resident Judge of the Superior Court of the State of Delaware, in and for Sussex County, or, should he be absent from the County during that time, such application shall be made to the Chief Justice of the State of Delaware, for the appointment of freeholders to hear and determine the matter of compensation due such appellant by virtue of the deprivation of his property, as aforesaid. Thereupon, the said Resident Judge, or Chief Justice shall issue a commission under his hand directed to five impartial freeholders of Sussex County, commanding them to determine and fix the damages which the said appellant shall have sustained by reason of being deprived of his property, as aforesaid. The freeholders, so appointed, shall take into consideration the benefits or advantages that will ensure to the said appellant from the effecting of any such plan. The freeholders, so appointed, shall make return of their findings to the said Resident Judge, or Chief Justice, as the case may be, at a time appointed in the said commission.
(8) The freeholders so appointed shall give notice of the day, hour and place when they will meet to view the premises and to affix the damages, if any, as aforesaid. Such notice shall be served upon the appellant personally, or by posting a copy thereof on the premises affected, at least five days before the day specified therein as upon which they are to view the premises, as aforesaid. A copy of such notice shall also be served on the Mayor or Secretary, or in their absence, any member of Council of the Town at least five (5) days before the day of such meeting.
(9) The freeholders named in such commission, being first sworn or affirmed to fully, fairly and honestly determine the damages to the best of their several abilities, and at the hour and place stated in the notice aforesaid, shall view the premises and hear the appellant and his witnesses and the Town and its witnesses, and shall, without delay, determine and fix the damages, if any, which the said appellant will have sustained by reason of being deprived of any property, as aforesaid.
(0) Thereupon, and without delay, the said freeholders shall make return, in writing, of their proceedings in the premises to the said Resident Judge, or Chief Justice, as the case may be. The Resident Judge, or Chief Justice, as the case may be, shall cause the said return to be delivered to the Mayor and Council of the Town. Such return shall be final and conclusive. The Resident Judge, or Chief Justice, as the case may be, shall have full power to fill any vacancy among the freeholders.
(8) The amount of the damages being ascertained, as aforesaid,- the Town of Milton shall pay or tender the amount thereof to the person or persons entitled thereto, within one month after the same shall be finally ascertained, or the Town may deposit the same to his credit in The Farmers Bank, aforesaid, within the said period of one month, and thereupon the Town may carry into effect the plan contemplated in the first resolution aforementioned.
In the ascertainment and assessment of damages by the freeholders appointed by the Resident Judge, or Chief Justice, if the damages shall be increased above the amount fixed by Mayor and Council or if Mayor and Council shall decide not to take such 'property, the cost of the appeal shall be paid by the Treasurer of the Town out of any monies in his hands belonging to the City. If the said damages be not increased, the cost of the appeal shall be paid by the party appealing.
The fees of the freeholders shall be Six Dollars ($6.00) per day to each, and shall be taxed as a part of the cost.
After the damages shall be fixed and ascertained by the freeholders as aforesaid, the Town shall have the option of either paying the damages assessed within the period of one month aforementioned, and proceeding with the plan or paying the costs only and abandoning the proposed plan.
Section 52. Limitation of Certain Actions Against the Town:--No action, suit or proceeding shall be brought or maintained against the Town of Milton for damages, either compensatory or punitive on account of any physical injury or injuries, death, or injury to property by reason of the negligence, be it simple, gross, willful or wanton of the Town, the Mayor and Council thereof, or any of its departments, officers, agents or employees, unless the person by or on behalf of whom such claim or demand is asserted within ninety (90) days from the happening of such injury or the suffering of such damage, shall notify the Mayor and Council, in writing, of the time, place, cause, character and extent of the injuries sustained or damages suffered.
Section 53. Compendium:--It shall be the duty of the Mayor and Council, at reasonable times, to compile the ordinances, codes, orders and rules of the Town. They shall cause a reasonable number of copies thereof to be printed for the use of the officials of the Town and for public information. From time to time as ordinances, codes, rules and regulations are enacted or adopted, the Mayor and Council shall cause the same to be enrolled in the minutes of the Mayor and Council and shall keep copies of the same in a book to be provided for that purpose so that the same may be readily examined. Also, the Secretary shall furnish a copy thereof to the Mayor, the Alderman and the Chief of Police. Further, the Mayor and Council may cause' the supplements to be compiled and printed to any compendium thereof which may theretofore have been printed as above provided.
Section 54. Delivery of Records and Moneys on Termination of Office:--Any officer, agent, employee or servant of the Town having in his possession or custody any record, book, paper, document, tangible property or thing (excepting money) rightfully belonging to the Town or appertaining to his said office, agency, employment, or service, forthwith upon the expiration of his office, agency, employment or service, or upon his resignation or removal therefrom, shall turn over and deliver the same to his qualified successor or to the Secretary of the Mayor and Council. He shall also forthwith pay over to the Treasurer all moneys in his hands rightfully belonging to the Town.
Section 55. Willful Failures and Neglects:--Any officer, agent, employee or servant of the Town who willfully fails or neglects to perform any duty imposed upon him by this Act, or any lawful ordinance adopted in pursuance hereof, or who unlawfully withholds any record, book, paper, document, tangible property, money or thing rightfully belonging to the Town, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof by the Court of General Sessions of the State of Delaware, he shall be fined not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or imprisoned for a term of not more than one year, or shall suffer both fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the Court.
The conviction of any officer, agent, employee or servant of any such willful failure or neglect shall ipso facto vacate his office or terminate his agency, employment or service.
Section 56. Survival of Powers and Validating Section: - All powers conferred upon or vested in the Town of Milton or the Mayor and Council thereof by any Act or Law of the State of Delaware, not in conflict with the Provisions of this Act, are hereby expressly conferred upon and vested in the Town of Milton and/or the Mayor and Council precisely as if each of said powers was expressly repeated in this Act.
All ordinances adopted by the Mayor and Council and in force at the time of the approval, acceptance and going into effect of this Act are continued in force until the same or any of them, shall be repealed, modified or altered by the Mayor and Council under the provisions of this Act.
All the acts and doings of the Mayor and Council or of any official of the Town of Milton which shall have been lawfully done or performed under the provisions of any Law of this State or of any ordinance of the Mayor and Council, prior to the approval, acceptance and going into effect of this Act, are hereby ratified and confirmed, unless otherwise provided herein.
All taxes, assessments, license fees, penalties, fines, forfeitures due the .Mayor and Council or the Town of Milton shall be due the Town of Milton and all debts due from the Town or the Mayor and Council shall remain unimpaired until paid by the Town of Milton.
All powers granted by this Act in respect to the collection of taxes, license fees, assessments or other charges shall be deemed to apply and extend to all unpaid taxes, license fees, assessments or other charges heretofore lawfully imposed by the Town of Milton and/or the Mayor and Council thereof.
The Bonds given by or on account of any official of the Town of Milton shall not be impaired or affected by the provisions of this Act.
If any part of this Charter shall be held to be unconstitutional, such holding shall not be deemed to invalidate the remaining provisions of this Act.
This Act shall be taken as and deemed to be a Public Act of the State of Delaware.
Section 57. Referendum:--This Act to Re-incorporate the Town of Milton or any section or provision thereof shall not take effect or be deemed to have changed or altered in any respect whatever any existing law or laws of the State of Delaware until it shall have been accepted by the electors residing within the metes and bounds of the Town of Milton as described in Section 2 hereof.
The Mayor and Council of the present Town of Milton shall be and it is hereby authorized and empowered to call and provide for a referendum election, whenever it shall deem it expedient so to do, provided that such referendum election shall not be held within thirty (30) days after the approval of this Act by the Governor.
This referendum election shall be held in substantially the same manner as provided in this Act for the holding of an annual election in the Town each year: Provided, that the present Mayor and Council of the Town shall appoint the Election Board to hold and to conduct such referendum election. Also, each person who meets the qualifications of a qualified voter of the Town, as defined in Section 11 of this Act, shall be entitled to cast one vote in person at said election, if all Town taxes, assessments and charges assessed against such person during the fiscal year last past of the present Town of Milton shall have been paid at the time of any such referendum election.
Such referendum election shall be called for the purpose of voting for the acceptance or the rejection of this Act as adopted and approved by the General Assembly of the State of Delaware. This Act shall not be deemed to have been accepted by the electors in any other manner whatsoever save by a majority vote in favor of its acceptance cast at such referendum election by the electors residing within the boundaries of the Town of Milton as prescribed by this Act. The Mayor and Council of the Town of Milton shall provide ballots, at least as many in number as the number of qualified electors entitled to vote at such referendum election. The Ballots shall be in such form as the Mayor and Council of the Town of Milton shall deem fit and proper. The electors may also prepare for themselves ballots either printed or written. If a majority of votes cast shall be in favor of the acceptance of this Act, the Election Board shall declare this Act to be in full force and effect. If a majority of the votes cast at such referendum election shall be for the rejection of this Act, the Election Board shall so certify. In the event of a tie vote, said Election Board shall determine the tie by lot. If the acceptance of this Charter should not be approved by a majority of the votes cast at said referendum election, the said Mayor and Council of the Town of Milton shall be and it is hereby authorized and empowered to call a further referendum election or elections at any time thereafter in like manner and for said purpose, provided that a majority of said Mayor and Council of the Town of Milton shall vote so to do and that no two such elections shall be less than six months apart.
The expenses of holding said referendum election as set forth in this Section shall be borne by the Town of Milton.
If a majority of votes cast at any such referendum election shall be in favor of the acceptance of this Act, the Election Board upon declaring this Act to be in full force and effect shall likewise make and cause a written Certificate to that effect to be signed by all or a majority of the members of such Election Board and to be duly acknowledged by them and the same to be delivered to the Secretary of the Mayor and Council of the Town of Milton. Said Secretary shall then cause such Certificate to be recorded in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds, in and for Sussex County, at Georgetown, Delaware, and such Certificate, or the record thereof, or a duly certified copy of such record shall be evidence in all Courts of Law or Equity in this State.
Approved April 30, 1945.