CHAP. 320.—An ACT to provide for the issuing of bonds by the town of
Gate City in Scott county, Virginia, for the purpose of erecting a
public free school building and equipping the same, of calling an elec-
tion therefor and of providing for the levy of taxes to reduce the
bonds. (H. B. 472.)

Approved March 20, 1916.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
the town of Gate City, in Scott county, Virginia, is, by this act,
authorized and empowered to issue bonds for the purpose of
erecting and equipping a public free school building on what was
formerly the Shoemaker college lot or property.

2. That, upon a petition of thirty citizens and qualified
voters of the said town of Gate City, the council of said town,
or the mayor and aldermen, shall order an election to be held
by the judges of election of said town, if there be any ap-

pointed, and if there be none, the mayor shall appoint judges
to hold said election, to ascertain the sense of the qualified voters
of the said town, whether the council of said town shall issue
bonds for the said purpose, the said council shall, upon the re-
ceipt of the said petition, make and enter an order requiring the
judges of the election to hold said election at such time as may
be designated in the order, which shall not be less than thirty
nor more than sixty days from the date of said order. The
said order shall designate and state the object of the bonds, the
maximum amount to be issued, which shall not exceed an amount
in excess of eighteen per centum of the total assessed taxable
values at the time in the said town. The qualified voters under
this act shall be those qualified to vote at the last preceding
election for mayor in said town.

3. That the said election officers shall conduct the election
in the manner prescribed by law for holding elections in said
town, and the returns shall be ascertained and reported to the
mayor and council in the manner now prescribed by law. The
form of the ballot shall be ‘“‘For bond issue,” and ‘“‘Against bond
issue.”’” The qualified voters who shall favor the bond issue shall
each deposit a ticket or ballot on which shall be printed or writ-
ten the words “For bond issue,” and those who shall oppose said
bond issue shall deposit a ballot or ticket on which shall be
written or printed the words “Against bond issue.” Notice of
said election shall be given and posted for twenty days before
holding the same. |

4. That it shall appear by the report of the returns of said
election that a majority of the qualified voters voting at said
election in the said town are in favor of issuing the bonds, the
council of said town shall, within thirty days from the receipt
of the returns of said election, proceed to carry out the wish or
sense of the voters as expressed at the polls. The council shall
determine what amount of bonds for building and equipping
the said school building, not exceeding the maximum aforesaid,
shall be issued, and shall enter of record the amount so -deter-
mined. The council of said town shall have power to appoint
an agent to sell said bonds, but said sale shall be satisfied by
said council. When such sale of said bonds has been negotiated
and approved by the council of said town, the said council shall
issue the same. Such bonds may be registered or with coupons
attached, as said council may prescribe, and shall have written
or printed on each the following sentence and words: “These
bonds are issued for the purpose of erecting and equipping a
public free school building, and the credit of the town or corpo-
ration of Gate City, Scott county, Virginia, is hereby pledged
for the payment, and, as tax, is to be levied upon the property
in said town to pay the interest and to create a sinking fund
sufficient in amount to pay them upon maturity.” The said
bonds shall be signed by the mayor of the town, and counter-
signed by the clerk or recorder of the council, under the seal
of the said town; shall be in denominations of one hundred dol-
lars or some multiple thereof; shall bear interest at a rate not
to exceed six per centum per annum, payable semi-annually at
the office of the treasurer of said town, and shall be payable not
exceeding thirty-five years from the date thereof at said office,
but may, in the discretion of the said council, be made redeem-
able at such time or times and upon such notice as the council
may prescribe, and stipulate upon the face of the bonds when
issued. The bonds shall be delivered to the purchaser or pur-
chasers thereof upon the payment of the money thereof to such
person or party as the council may direct.

5. That, after issuing such bonds, or any of them, when
the next levy is made, or tax imposed in said town, a tax shall
be levied on all property liable to State tax in said town, to pay
the interest on the bonds so issued, and to create a sinking fund
to redeem the principal thereof at maturity, and from year to
year said levy or assessment shall be made until the debt and
interest are paid, which levy shall not exceed seventy cents on
the hundred dollars of the taxable property in said town.

6. That, when the money is received from the sale of said
bonds, it shall be applied to the erection and equipment of the
said school building, and shall be paid out by the custodian
thereof, as the council of said town may select, upon the warrant
or order of the treasurer of the building committee.

7. That, it is necessary to secure the money so as to com-
plete the school building before the schools open in September,
nineteen hundred and sixteen. An emergency exists, and this
act shall be in force from its passage.