Chap. 851.—An ACT to amend and re-enact sections 8, 14, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25
26, 27, 33, 34,35, 36, 37, 38, 39, and 40 of an act entitled an act to amend the
charter of the city of Alexandria, approved February 20, 1871, as amended
by an act approved March 22, 1871, and by an act approved the 17th day of
March, 1876, and by an act approved March 20, 1877, and by an act approved
January 25, 1879, and by an act approved March 1, 1888, and by an act ap-
proved February 25, 1892, |

Approved March 8, 1894.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That sections
eight, fourteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-
four, twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, thirty-three, thirty-four,
thirty-five, thirty-six, thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine and
forty of an act entitled an act to amend the charter of the city
of Alexandria, approved February twentieth, eighteen hundred and
seventy-one, as amended by an act approved March twenty-second,
eighteen hundred and seventy-one, and by an act approved March
seventeenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-six, and by an act ap-
proved March twentieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, and
by an act approved January twenty-fifth, eighteen hundred and
seventy-nine, and by an act approved March first, eighteen hundred
and eighty-eight, and by an act approved February twenty-fifth, eigh-
teen hundred and ninety-two, be re-enacted and amended go as to read
as follows:

§ 8. The city council of Alexandria shall order an election every
two years by the people on the fourth Thursday of May, beginning
with the year eighteen hundred and ninety-five, for the following
named officers: Auditor of public accounts, clerk of gas, collector of
taxes, attorney for the corporation, inspector and measurer of wood
and bark, and inspector of lumber. Each branch of the city council
shall elect the officers necessary for the transaction of its legitimate
business, and all other necessary officers of the corporation shall be
elected by the city council in joint convention. The city council
may take from any of the officers elected bond, with surety or sure-
ties in such penalties as the city council may deem fit, and may ac-
cept as such surety or sureties on said bond or bonds any trust or
indemnifying company, payable to the city council of Alexandria
by its corporate name, with condition for the faithful performance
of their duties; and if any officer from whom a bond is required
fails to give such bond within the time prescribed by law his office
shall be vacant. Whenever a vacancy shall occur in any office under
this charter, except members of the city council, whether by removal
from office, death, resignation, failure to qualify or otherwise, the
city council shall fill the vacancy at the next or any succeeding
meeting In joint convention.

§ 14. The said city council shall have power to erect work-houses,
houses of correction, gas and electric light plants-and other public
buildings for the use and benefit of the city; to pave, make, regulate
and repair the streets, alleys and highways of said city; to make all
laws which the said city council shall deem expedient or necessary
for the preservation of the health of the inhabitants and for the
regulation of the morals and police of the city, and to enforce the
observance of the laws and ordinances of the said city council by
the imposition of reasonable fines and penalties to be levied upon
the goods and chattels of the offender, and where no goods or chat-
tels can be found, then by confinement to labor for a period not ex-
ceeding three months; and the said city council shall have power
also to raise money by taxes and levies for the use and benefit of
said city; to open, extend, grade, regulate, pave and improve the
streets, alleys and highways within the city limits; to extend the
lines of existing streets, alleys or highways and to open such exten-
sions, grade, regulate, pave and improve the same; to open and
establish new streets, alleys and highways within the city limits;
to grade, regulate, pave and improve the same; to alter or change
the grade of existing streets, alleys or highways, and to grade, re-
grade, regulate, pave, repave and otherwise improve the same; to
sewer the streets, alleys and highways of said city; to establish,
build, construct and own sewers for the drainage of said city; to
adopt and establish such rules, laws and ordinances regulating the
drainage and sewerage of the said city, its streets, alle ys and high-
ways, and as to the use of the same, as the city counc!l may deem
necessary and expedient, and to enforce such rules, laws or ordi-
nances, by the imposition of reasonable fines and penalties, to be col-
lected as other fines and penalties under this charter; to make and
collect reasonable charges against all persons for tapping or opening
any sewer or sewers owned or controlled by the said city council, and
to impose and levy upon all real property abutting or fronting on
any public sewer or sewers, reasonable levies for the maintenance of
such sewer or sewers, and to collect and enforce the payment thereof
as other taxes and levies are collected and enforced under the pro
visions of this charter. _ ;

Provided, however, that such Jaws, rules and ordinances shall no
be repugnant to or inconsistent with the laws and constitution o:
this state or of the United States: and provided, further, that pri.
vate property shall not be taken for public uses without reasonable
compensation to the owner or owners thereof.

§ 20. The collector of taxes shall have power to collect the tax.
bills, fines and levies due the city council of Alexandriaa, and
the clerk of the gas shall have power to collect the gas bills due
the city council of Alexandria, and each shall have power ta
levy and sell therefor in like manner as the officer charged with
the collection of the state revenues, and shall have in all other re-
spects the same powers as such state officers have to enforce the pay-
ment and collection thereof, and they shall be entitled to such com-
pensation as may be allowed by the city council of Alexandria, and
each of them and their sureties shall be liable to all the fines, penal-
‘ties and forfeitures that such state officer is legally liable to for any
failure or dereliction in office, to be recovered in the same manner
and before the same courts that said fines, penalties and forfeitures
are now recovered in against such state officer.

§ 21. The said collector of taxes shall report to the auditor daily,
or whenever the collection in his possession shall amount to one
hundred dollars or more, and obtain from him a certificate of deposit
for the whole amount, and he shall forthwith deposit such amount
with the city treasurer, taking his receipt therefor, which shall be
exhibited to the auditor and countersigned by him, and submitted
to the inspection of the committee of finance of the city council of
Alexandria. It shall be the duty of the collector to report every
thirty days, or oftener if necessary, to the auditor the amount
of his collections for the information of the finance committee,
and at the end of each fiscal year he shall submit to the
finance committee a statement of all moneys by him collected
during the year, and the balance of the uncollected warrants or bills
in his hands allowed by the finance committee shall be returned to
the auditor, and a copy of his account shall also be filed with the
auditor of the city, together with an affidavit made by him that
he has used due diligence to find property in the city liable to levy
for said taxes, fines and levies due the city, or rent liable therefor,
but has found none. Any such officer who shall return any
real estate, persons or property as delinquent when he has
either found, or by the use of due diligence might have found,
property within the city liable to levy for the taxes, fines or
levies, or rent liable therefor, for which such real estate, per-
sons or property are returned delinquent, shall forfeit and pay
to the city council of Alexandria a sum equal to the amount
of said taxes, fines or levies, to be recovered by motion on his bond
in the name of the city council of Alexandria in the corporation
court of the said city. It shall be the duty of the finance committee
of the city council to examine at once all warrants or bills returned
uncollected by said collector, and to cause the proper proceedings to
be at once instituted upon the bond of the collector to recover the
amount of all such warrants or bills, fines or levies, with damages
at the rate of twelve per centum, as they are satisfied might have
been collected by the use of due diligence, and when judgment
shall have been recovered on the bond of said collector because
of his failure to collect certain tax bills, fines or levies, such
tax bills, fines or levies shall become the property of said col-
lector, who shall have power to collect the same by a levy or
otherwise for his own benefit. No collector shall be allowed to re-
tain in his hands any tax bill, fine, or levy beyond the term for
which he was elected. All tax bills, fines, or levies returned delin-
quent, and accepted as such, may be again placed in the hands of
the collector for collection by the order of the city council. The
clerk of the gas shall, at the end of each fiscal year, make a like
statement and report and return all uncollected gas bills accompa-
nied by a like affidavit to the committee on light of the city council,
and shall, for failure to collect gas bills that, by the use of proper
diligence on his part, might have been collected, be subject to the
like forfeiture and suit on his bond, and in the event of and after a
judgment therefor on said bond, he shall also be entitled to the said
uncollected gas bills, with power tocollect the same by levy or other-
wise for his own benefit. And he shall report to the auditor daily,
or whenever the collection shall amount to one hundred dollars or
more, and obtain from him a certificate of deposit for the whole
amount, and he shall forthwith deposit such amount with the city
treasurer, taking his receipt therefor, which shall be exhibited to the
auditor and countersigned by him and submitted to the inspection
of the committee on light of the city council of Alexandria.

§ 22. The said collector and the said clerk of the gas shall be pro-
hibited from keeping the moneys of the city in his or their hands,
or in the hands of any person or corporation, to his or their use be-
yond the time prescribed for the payment of the same into the city
treasury, and any violation of this provision shall subject him or
them to immediate removal from office by the mayor or by the city
council of the city of Alexandria. In case of his or their removal a
suitable person or persons shall be appointed by the city council to
fill said office or offices for the unexpired term.

§ 23. Said collector may, with the consent of the city council, ap-
point a deputy, who may be removed from office by the said collec-
tor, the mayor or by the city council of the city of Alexandria.
During the continuance in office of the said collector his deputy
may discharge any of the duties of the office of collector, but the
collector and his surety or sureties shall be liable for the malfea-
sance or misfeasance of such deputy.

§ 24. There shall be a lien on all real estate within the corpo-
rate limits for all taxes, levies or charges assessed thereon or
against the same, or upon or against the owner or owners thereof,
under the provisions of this charter from the day fixed by this
charter, or by the ordinances of the city council, for the com-
mencement of the assessment of such taxes, levies or charges in
each year for which the same are levied or assessed, which
lien shall have priority over all other liens except the lien for
state taxes. The city council may require real estate within the
city returned delinquent for the non-payment of taxes, levies or
charges assessed thereon, or charged against the same under the pro-
visions of thischarter, to be sold for said taxes, levies or charges, with
interest thereon at the rate of six percentum per annum, from the day
first fixed by the ordinances of the city council for the payment of
such taxes, levies or charges into the treasury of the city until pay-
ment and such per centum as the city council may prescribe for
charges and expenses of advertisement and sale. Such real estate
may be sold, and may be redeemed under the provisions hereinafter
made in the succeeding sections of this charter; or the said city
council may, after any such real estate has been returned delinquent
for two years or more for the non-payment of the taxes, levies or
charges assessed thereon, or charged against the same, institute a
suit in equity, either in the corporation or circuit court of the city
of Alexandria, to enforce the lien before named, for any taxes,
levies or charges and interest thereon, unpaid or for which no sale
for taxes has been made, whether such lien commenced heretofore
or that may hereafter arise, and in such suit the land on which the
taxes, levies or charges were assessed may be sold, and all taxes,
levies and charges thereon, to the day of sale with interest accrued
thereon, and the penalties, including reasonable counsel fees, the
costs of suit and of said sale, paid from the proceeds of said sale.
And in its decree for distribution the court shall direct the pay-
ment out of the proceeds of sale of costs of suit, including reason-
able compensation, not exceeding ten per centum of the amount of
taxes, levies and charges, and interest and penalties collected, to the
counsel prosecuting the suit in addition to the docket fee, and after
such payments, the payment of the taxes, levies and charges, and
interest and penalties out of the proceeds to the treasurer of the city
of Alexandria, the surplus, if any, of such proceeds shall be paid to
the owner of the property. Nothing herein contained shall be con-
strued as interfering in any way with the other remedies and methods
provided by this charter and the laws made in pursuance thereof,
for the collection of taxes, but such suit in equity shall be an addi-
tional remedy to the others provided by this charter.

§ 25. The collector of city taxes shall, under the direction of the
city council, cause a notice of the time and place of such sale to be
published in one or more daily newspapers published in said city at
least ten days previous to such sale, and he shall also cause to be
published in said newspapers on some day not more than twenty
days nor less than ten days previous to such sale, a list of the sev-
eral parcels of real estate so to be sold, describing therein each par-
cel of real estate in the same manner as the same is described in the
assessment rolls in which the said tax or assessment is imposed
thereon, together with the name of the person to whom each parcel
is assessed and the amount of the tax or assessment thereon.
§ 26. If such tax or assessment and the percentage, interest and
expenses aforesaid be not paid previous to the day for which said
sale was advertised, or on some day immediately thereafter to which
said sale may be adjourned, the collector shall proceed to make sale
accordingly of the said several parcels of real estate, or 80 much
thereof as may be necessary, to the highest bidder, and the sale may
be adjourned from day to day until it shall be completed. On such
sale the collector shall execute to the purchaser a certificate of sale,
in which the property purchased shall be described, and the charac-
ter, amount of taxes or assessments, with charges and expenses
specified, but the collector shall not for himself, either directly or
indirectly, purchase any real estate so sold.

§ 27. If at any such sale no bid be made for any such parcel of
land, or such bid shall not be equal to the tax or assessment, with
interest and charges, then the same shall be struck off to the city
council of Alexandria. On such sale the collector shall execute to
the said city council a certificate of sale, in which the property pur-
chased shall be described, and the aggregate amount of tax or assess-
ment, with charges and expenses specified, and shall deposit such
certificates with the auditor.

§ 33. The city council shall have power to require the owner or
owners of any lot or parcel of ground fronting or abutting on any
street, avenue or highway of the said city to pave or repair the
sidewalk in front of any such lot or parcel of ground in such
manner and under such rules and regulations as the city council
may prescribe, and if the owner or owners of any such lot or parcel
of ground shall omit or fail after twenty days’ notice to comply with
the order of the city council to pave or repair the sidewalk in front
of any such lot or parcel of ground, then the city council may have
such paving or repairs done and charge the expense thereof against
the owner or owners of any such lot or parcel of ground, and the
amount of the cost of such work shall be a lien on the lot or parcel
of ground in front of which the said work may be done. And when-
ever any street shall be laid out or extended, or any existing street
graded, paved or repaired, or any culvert or sewer built, gutter
paved or curbing set, two-thirds of the expense thereof shall be
charged against and paid by the owners of the real estate benefited
thereby and abutting or fronting thereon. And the cost of such
work shall be a lien upon the real estate abutting or fronting on any
such street or line of improvement. All bills charged against the
owner or owners of any lot or parcel of ground under the provisions
of this section may be collected and enforced by any of the remedies
provided for the collection of taxes or levies under the provisions of
this charter, and the lien upon any lot or parcel of ground under
the provisions of this section may be enforced in the same manner
and by like proceedings as the lien for taxes or levies under the pro-
visions of this charter.

§ 34. The mayor of the city of Alexandria shall be elected by the
qualified voters at the times and places and in the manner that the
members of the city council are elected. He shall hold his office
for two years, and until a successor is chosen and qualified in his
stead. He shall, before he enters upon the duties of his office, take
an oath or affirmation, in the presence of the city council, faithfully
to execute his said office, which shall be recorded in its book of pro-
ceedings. He shall see that the laws of the corporation are duly
executed, and, in the event of the removal of any officer by his
order, he shall communicate the fact, with his reasons therefor, to
the city council without delay, that the vacancy may be filled. He
shall have power to convene the city council whenever, in his opin-
ion, the good of the community may require it; and he shall lay
before the city council, from time to time, in writing, such altera-
tions in the laws of the city council as he shall deem necessary and
proper. He shall have and exercise all the powers of a justice of
the peace within the said city, and shall receive for his services an-
nually a just and reasonable compensation, to be allowed and fixed
by the city council, which shall not be increased or diminished
during the period for which he shall have been elected, nor shall the
salaries of any municipal officers be increased or diminished during
the period for which he shall have beenelected. The election of mayor
and members of the common council, and one-half of the members
of the board of aldermen, one from each ward, shall be held on the
fourth Thursday in May, eighteen hundred and ninety-five, and
every two years thereafter, at such places and by such persons as the
city council shall select.

§ 35. The city council shall, at its first meeting in the month of
July, eighteen hundred and ninety-five, appoint one person, not a
member of its body, from each ward of the city, who shall, together
with the mayor of the city of Alexandria, constitute a board of po-
lice commissioners, who shall serve without compensation, and
whose term of office shall be for as many years as there may be
election wards in the city, except that of the board first elected ;
the member from the first ward shall hold office only one year, the
member from the second ward two years, the member from the third
ward three years, and the member from the fourth ward four years,
and after the first election the city council shall annually, in the
month of July, fill the vacancy created by the expiration of the
term of office of one member of the board, and the term of each mem-
ber, when so elected, shall then be for the full number of years provided
above. When a vacancy shall occur in the board at any other time
than at the expiration of the term of a member the city council
shall fill the vacancy for the unexpired term. Should a new ward
at any time be added to the number now existing, the city council
shall, during the month of July next succeeding, elect a member of
said board for said ward; but such election shall be in lieu of the
election which otherwise would have been made at that time, and
the term of office of the members of the board shall be increased by
one year, so as to be the same with the number of wards, and so that
one member thereof shall be elected annually. ,

§ 36. Within thirty days after said board has been appointed the
members shall qualify by taking the oath of office, and the mayor
of the city of Alexandria shall be ex officio president of the said
board, and it shall elect one of its members as secretary, and it
shall require the concurrence of a majority of the whole board
for the adoption of any measure.

§ 37. Upon its organization the board shall select from the electors
of the city of Alexandria, a captain and lieutenant of police, whose
pay, duty and bonds shal! be such as may be ordained by the city
council. Their warrants of appointment, signed by a majority of
the board, must be filed with the auditor of public accounts. The
board shall further elect such number of policemen as may be au-
thorized by the city council. After the police force has been so con-
stituted, any vacancy therein shall be filled by the board in like
manner. Such captain, lieutenant and policemen shall constitute
the police force of the city, and shall hold their respective positions
during good behavior, or until they may be severally removed by the
board for cause, after due notice; but the mayor of the city of
Alexandria shall have the power and authority to suspend the cap-
tain, lieutenant or any policeman for misconduct in office for a pe-
riod not to exceed thirty days, or until such board shall convené and
take action in the matter. The said board shall perform any other
duties connected with the police department which the city council
may delegate to it.

§ 38. The police force, when duly constituted, shall be under the
control of the mayor for the purpose of enforcing peace and order
and executing the laws of the state and the ordinances of the city.
It shall also perform such other duties as the city council may pre-
scribe. For the purpose of enabling it to execute its duties and
powers, each member thereof is hereby made a conservator of the
peace and endowed with all the powers of a constable in criminal
cases, aud all other powers which, under the laws of the state, may
be necessary to enable him to discharge the duties of his office.

8 39. The uniform, rules and regulations of the said police force
shall be prescribed by said board, and the pay of the said captain,
lieutenant and policemen shall be fixed and prescribed by the city
council.

§ 40. If any ground in the said city shall be subject to be covered
by stagnant water, or if the owner or owners, occupier or occupiers
thereof, shall permit an offensive or unwholesome substance to re-
main or accumulate thereon, the city council may cause such ground
to be filled up, raised or drained, or may cause such substance to
be covered or to be removed therefrom, and may collect the ex-
pense of so doing from the said owner or owners, occupier or occu-
piers of any such ground or any of them by distress or sale, and the
payment thereof may be enforced in the same manner in which
taxes, levies or other charges upon real estate are collected and en-
forced under the provisions of this charter, and there shall be a lien
upon the said ground or real estate for the amount of the expendi-
tures aforesaid, which lien may be enforced by any of the remedies
provided for the enforcement of liens for other taxes, levies or
charges upon real estate authorized to be'levied by this charter:
provided, however, that ten days’ notice shall first be given to the
owner or owners of such ground or to their agents to fill, raise or
drain such ground, or to cover up or remove such offensive or un-
wholesome substance, and in case of non-resident owners who have
no agent in this city, such notice may be given by publication for
not less than four weeks in any newspaper printed in said city.

§ 41. All laws or parts of laws, orders or resolutions passed by the
city council of Alexandria, under and in pursuance of former char-
ters not in conflict with this charter or the laws of this state or of
the United States, are continued in full force.

§ 42. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby
repealed.

2. This act shall be in force from its passage.