Chap. 245.—An ACT providing for taking the sense of the qualified voters of
Slate river magisterial district of Buckingham county, on tne question
whether the board of supervisors of said county st.all negotiate a loan ana
issue bonds of said county for the purpose of aiding in the construction
of a bridge across James river, at or near Scottsville, and shall levy a spe-
cial district tax in said district to pay said bonds and interest thereon, and
authorizing the voard of supervisors of said county to issue said bonds anu
en sinking fund to pay said ponds by a tax to be levied in said

strict.

Approved February 16, 1901.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the county
court of Buckingham county, upon the application of fifty qualified voters
of Slate river magisterial district of Buckingham county, shall make
an order requiring the sheriff of said county and the judges of election
of said district, at a certain time, to be designated in said order, not less
than thirty days from the date of said order, to open a poll in said
district and take the sense of the qualificd voters of said district on the
question whether the board of supervisors of said county shall negotiate
a loan and issue bonds of said county for the purpose of aiding in the
construction of the bridge across James river, at or near Scottsville, au-
thorized to be constructed by the act of assembly of Virginia, approved
January twenty-fifth, nineteen hundred, and found in chapter one hun-
dred and sixty-four of the acts of assembly of Virginia of the session
eighteen hundred and ninety-nine—nineteen hundred, the principal and
interest of said bonds to be paid by a tax to be levied in said district ;
and whether the said board of supervisors shall levy a special district tax
upon al] subjects of taxation as now are and may be liable for the county
levy within said district for the purpose of paying the principal and in-
terest of said bonds. The said order shall state the amount of the loan
proposed to be negotiated and the amount of the bonds to be issued there-
for. Upon the entering of such order, it shall be the duty of the sheriff
of said county at least thirty days previous to such election to post a
notice of such election at each voting-place in said magistcria] district,
in which notice shall be stated the time of holding such election and the
purposes for which it is to be held and the amount of the loan pro-
posed to be negotiated, the form of which notices shall be preseribed by
said court in such order, and a certified copy of said order shall, before
said election, be served on each of the officers charged with the duty of
conducting elections in said district.

2. That the judges of election of the regular election precincts in said
district shall, after taking an oath faithfully to discharge the duties
assigned to them, open the polls at the various voting-places in said dis-
trict at the time designated in said order, and conduct such election and
close the polls in such manner as is provided by law in elections for county
oticers where no political party nominates candidates, except as herein
provided. And at said election, all persons resident in said magisterial
district shall be qualified to vote, who are entitled to vote for members of
the general assembly of Virginia, under the constitution and laws of this
commonwealth; and each qualified voter of said district, voting at such
election, who shall approve the negotiation of said loan, the issuing of
said bonds and the levying of such tax, shall deposit a ticket or ballot
on which shall be written or printed the words, “for subscription” ; and
each voter, voting at such election, who shall oppose the negotiation of
said loan and the issuing of said bonds and levying of such tax, shall
deposit a ticket or ballot on which shall be written or printed the words,
“against subscription.” And each ballot shall be endorsed with the name
of the voter depositing same. The costs of such election shall be paid
by said county, including cost of printing ballots for and ballots against
subscription, which ballots the electoral board of the county are to have
printed and furnish. The judges of election at the several voting-places
in said district shall, immediately after the closing of the polls at each
of said places, count the ballots deposited, and shall, within two days
after said election, make return to the judge of the county court of said
county of the number of votes cast for and the number of votes cast
against subscription, and shall make return to and deposit with the clerk
of said county, in separate sealed packages, the ballots so deposited for
and against subscription.

3. The judge of said county shall, within thirty days after said ballots
are so deposited with said clerk, open the said packages of ballots, count
the same, count the returns, if needed, and ascertain how many of the
said ballots were cast by freeholders, and how many were cast by non-
freeholders for and against subscription, respectively, and shall enter of
record an order on the order book of said court certifying those facts;
and if it shall appear by the returns of the said judges of election, and by
said ballots, that a majority of the qualified voters of said district voting
upon the question cast ballots with the words, “for subscription” written
or printed thereon, and that such majority includes a majority of the
frecholders voting at such election, the county court of said county shall.
at its next session, or as soon thereafter as may be, enter of record an
order requiring the supervisors of the county to carry out the wishes of
the voters, as so expressed in said election; and said board of supervisors
shall thereafter, whenever ordered to do so by said county court, procecd
to negotiate a loan for the amount designated in the order, providing
for said election, and shal] issue the bonds of said county for that purpose.

4. That the bonds to be issued hereunder shall bear interest at the
rate of five per centum per annum, pavable semi-annually, shall be
issued by the board of supervisors of said county, and shall be signed
by the chairman of such board of supervisors and attested by the clerk
of said board, and shall be in such denominations and payable at such
time or times as the board of supervisors of said county may direct, or
in default of such direction, by the said board of supervisors, as may be
ordered by the county court of said county; and each of said bonds issued
hereunder shall have written or printed on the face thereof the following
words—to-wit: “This bond and the interest thereon is to be paid by a
special tax to be levied in that part of Buckingham county known at the
date of this bond as Slate river magisterial district of Buckingham
county.”

5. The board of supervisors of said county, after said loan has been
negotiated and said bonds issued, whenever the county levy is made or
tax imposed in said county, shall levy a tax on all property now or here-
after liable to county levy in that part of said county now known as
Slate river magisterial district, sufficient to meet the annual interest on
said bonds as it becomes due, and to create a sinking fund to redeem the
principal thereof, the amount of such sinking fund to be fixed by the
county court of said county and to be invested under the supervision of
said county court by the treasurer of said county in such manner as said
court may order, until the same shall be needed to meet said bonds; and
from year to year said levy or assessment shall be made, as long as it may
be necessary, to meet said interest and to provide for the payment of the
principal of said bonds; and no tax shall be levied for the purpose of pay-
ing any bonds issued under this act or interest thereon on any other part
of said county.

3. That nothing in this act shall, nor shall any action that may be
taken hereunder by negotiating such loan, issuing of such bonds or other-
wise prevent said county from negotiating additional or further loans
or issuing its bonds for the same, for the purpose of constructing or aid-
ing in the construction of said bridge under the above-mentioned act,
approved January twenty-fifth, nineteen hundred, to be paid by said
county as a whole.

7. That all acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby re-
pealed.

8. This act shall be in force from its passage