Delaware General Assembly

CHAPTER 132 - LEVY COURTS, REFUNDING OF SUSSEX COUNTY HIGHWAY IMPROVEMENT BONDS

AN ACT AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE LEVY COURT OF SUSSEX COUNTY TO REFUND A CERTAIN PART OF THE DEBT OF SAID COUNTY KNOWN AS "SUSSEX COUNTY HIGHWAY IMPROVEMENT BONDS."

WHEREAS, by Act of the General Assembly of the State of Delaware, approved April 9, 1917, being Chapter 105 of Volume 29, Laws of Delaware, a joint Committee, composed of the members of the Levy Court of Sussex County, together with a Committee of three, to be composed of the Governor and two other citizens of Sussex County to be appointed by the Governor, one from each of the principal political parties to be known as an Advisory Committee, was authorized and empowered to borrow upon the faith and credit of said County, a sum not exceeding One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00), to be expended for the permanent improvement of highways in Sussex County, and for the purpose of securing the payment of such sum to issue Bonds, with coupons attached, and bearing such rate of interest, not exceeding four and one-half per centum (41/2%) per annum, as said Levy Court and said Advisory Committee should deem expedient; and

WHEREAS, the said joint Committee, in pursuance of said Act, issued said Bonds to the amount of One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00), known and designated "Sussex County Highway Improvement Bonds"; and

WHEREAS, there are remaining outstanding of said Bonds the sum of Seven Hundred and Seventy-five Thousand Dollars ($775,000.00); and

WHEREAS, it is now the intent and purpose of this Act that the said indebtedness represented by said outstanding Bonds, amounting to the sum of Seven Hundred and Seventy-five Thousand Dollars ($775,000.00), shall be refunded, at a lower rate of interest;

Now therefore, be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met:

Section 1. That the Levy Court of Sussex County be and it is hereby authorized, fully empowered and directed to borrow upon the faith and credit of Sussex County the sum of Seven Hundred and Seventy-five Thousand Dollars ($775,000.00), for the purpose of paying, refunding and redeeming the remaining outstanding "Sussex County Highway Improvement Bonds", issued under authority of Chapter 105 of Volume 29, Laws of Delaware, amounting to the sum of Seven Hundred and Seventy-five Thousand Dollars ($775,000.00), the said bonds so to be issued to be known as "Sussex County Highway Improvement Refunding Bonds."

Section 2. That the said bonds shall be of the denomination of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) each and bear interest at such rate, not exceeding three percentum (3%) per annum, as the said Levy Court of Sussex County shall determine.

The interest upon the said bonds shall be payable semi-annually in each and every year from the date of issue appearing therein, and all of the said bonds shall bear the same date and be numbered consecutively from one to seven hundred and seventy-five (1 to 775) , inclusive.

Section 3. That the said bonds shall be divided into thirty-one classes, and shall be paid at their face value, as follows:

Section 4. That the said bonds shall be prepared under the supervision of the said Levy Court of Sussex County and shall be signed by the Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer, the President of the Levy Court and the Clerk of the Peace of Sussex County.

It shall be the duty of the said Levy Court to prepare, or have prepared, the said bonds as soon as reasonably can be done after the approval of this Act; and it shall be the duty of the said officers to execute the said bonds as soon as the said bonds are prepared, as aforesaid; and it shall be the duty of the said Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer to keep a record of the said bonds. The said bonds issued under the provisions of this Act shall be exempt from all State, County, Municipal or other Taxes.

Section 5. That the said bonds shall be sold as soon as reasonably possible after the approval of this Act, and it shall be the duty of the said Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer, the President of the Levy Court, and the Clerk of the Peace of Sussex County to advertise that sealed bids will be received for the purchase of the same at such place or places and under such regulations as they may designate in said advertisements. Said advertisements shall be published, at least, twice a week for four consecutive weeks in such newspapers in and out of the State of Delaware, as they, in their judgment, may deem necessary and proper. The accrued interest between the date appearing in said bonds and the time of the sale and delivery thereof and payment therefor, shall be adjusted with the purchaser thereof under such regulations as the said, the Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer, the President of the Levy Court and the Clerk of the Peace of Sussex County may direct in said advertisements. Provided, however, that any and all overdue coupons attached to said bonds shall be cancelled before the sale and delivery of the same. And provided further that said officers shall have the right to reject any and all bids for said bonds, if in their judgment they are deemed insufficient.

If no bids are received for said bonds, or if the bids received are rejected because of being inadequate, the said the Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer, the President of the Levy Court and the Clerk of the Peace of Sussex County may sell the same at private sale for the best price obtainable therefor. Provided, however, that they shall not be sold at private sale for less than par and accrued interest. No commission, or other compensation, shall be charged or paid to any of said officers for effecting the sale of said bonds.

Section 6. That both the principal and interest of said bonds shall be payable at the Farmers' Bank of the State of Delaware, at Georgetown, out of monies from time to time appropriated for that purpose by the said Levy Court of Sussex County, as hereinafter provided. The said Levy Court of Sussex County is hereby authorized, directed and required to pay the interest on said bonds at the said Farmers' Bank from time to time and when and as the same shall become due and payable, and to pay said bonds at said bank when and as the respective classes shall mature or become due and payable in accordance with the schedule set forth in Section 3 hereof, or in accordance with any of the other provisions of this Act.

Section 7. That the said Levy Court, in fixing the rate of taxation, shall annually, until the first installment of said bonds shall become due and payable, provide for a sum equal to the amount of interest due each year upon said bonds, and as and when any of said bonds shall mature and become due and payable under Section 3 hereof, shall in like manner provide for a sum sufficient for the payment or redemption of such bonds in addition to the amount necessary to pay the interest on the unpaid bonds as before provided, which shall, when collected and paid to the Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer, be set apart by him in a separate account to be opened for that purpose; and the said Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer shall apply the said sum annually to the payment of the principal and interest of such of the bonds as may from time to time become due under the provisions of Section 3 of this Act.

Section 8. That all monies received from the sale of any or all of the said bonds, after the payment of the proper charges and expenses incident to the preparation and sale thereof, shall be deposited with the Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer of Sussex County in a separate account, to be opened by him for that purpose, and shall be used for the payment of the said "Sussex County Highway Improvement Bonds- issued under authority of said Chapter 105 of Volume 29, Laws of Delaware, and for no other purpose whatever.

Section 9. That the said bonds, herein provided for, shall be in substantially the following form; subject, however, to the provisions of Section 11 of this Act:

United States of America

State of Delaware

Class _____ Number _____

Sussex County Highway Improvement Refunding Bonds

Sussex County, in the State of Delaware, for value received, hereby acknowledges its indebtedness and promises to pay to the bearer of this bond the sum of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), lawful money of the United States of America, at the Farmers' Bank of the State of Delaware, at Georgetown, with interest thereon at the rate of ____ percentum per annum, payable semi-annually on the _____ day of _____ and ____ each year.

This bond is one of the authorized issue of seven hundred and seventy-five (775) bonds, aggregating Seven Hundred and Seventy-five Thousand Dollars ($775,000.00), under and by virtue of and in strict compliance with an Act of the General Assembly of the State of Delaware, entitled "An Act Authorizing and Directing the Levy Court of Sussex County to Refund a Certain Part of the Debt of Said County, Known as 'Sussex County Highway Improvement Bonds' ", approved _____ 1935. And it is expressly understood and agreed that the said Levy Court of Sussex County reserves the right and power, at its option, to call in, pay and redeem this bond, on any semi-annual interest period, after five years from the date of issue thereof, pursuant to the notice in that behalf, prescribed by the Act of the General Assembly under authority of which this bond is issued, and if this bond shall be called by the notice aforesaid, interest hereon shall cease to accrue from and after the interest period next succeeding the date of such notice. It is hereby certified that this bond is one of the issue authorized by the above recited Act of the General Assembly and the faith and credit of said Sussex County are pledged for the punctual payment of the principal and interest of this bond according to its terms.

Sussex County in the State of Delaware hereby declares and covenants that in the execution and delivery of this bond, all the requirements, of the Act referred to and of the Constitution and Laws of the State of Delaware have been fully complied with, and that all things necessary to the validity of this bond have happened and have been performed in the manner and form required by law.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer, the President of the Levy Court and Clerk of the Peace all of Sussex- County have hereunto set their hands, and the seal used by the Levy Court of Sussex County has been hereto affixed, at the City of Georgetown, Delaware, this ____ day of _______ A. D. 19__

______________________________

Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer of Sussex County

______________________________

President of the Levy Court of Sussex County

______________________________

Clerk of the Peace of Sussex County

Section 10. That the coupons attached to said bonds shall be in the following form:

No _____

Sussex County, Delaware, will pay to the bearer at the Farmers' Bank of the State of Delaware, at Georgetown, on the first day of _____ A. D. 19__, the sum of ________ Dollars for six months' interest on Bond No ____

SUSSEX COUNTY HIGHWAY IMPROVEMENT REFUNDING BONDS

________________________________

Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer of Sussex County

Section 11. The bonds, herein provided for, or any of them, may be called in, paid and redeemed at par and accrued interest out of any funds provided by the Levy Court of Sussex County, at the option of the said Levy Court of Sussex County, at any interest period, after the said bonds, or any of them, shall have been issued and sold five years, upon thirty days' notice published in one newspaper in the City of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, and in one newspaper published in the City of Wilmington and State of Delaware; said notices indicating by their numbers the bonds therein called and elected to be paid and redeemed, and in case any of said bonds shall be called by the notice aforesaid, the interest thereon shall cease to accrue from and after the interest period next succeeding the date of such notice. Said bonds may, also, contain such other provisions not inconsistent with this Act, as said Levy Court shall, by Resolution to that effect, determine.

Section 12. When and as any of the bonds herein provided for shall be paid, or redeemed under any of the provisions of this Act, they shall be cancelled by marking or stamping the word "paid" and the date of such payment, across the face thereof, and, also, by tearing the signatures and the corporate seal used by the Levy Court of Sussex County therefrom. The said bonds, so cancelled as aforesaid, shall then be pasted in a book, kept by the Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer for that purpose.

Approved March 29, 1935.