CHAP. 375.—An ACT to amend and re-enact sections 38, 39 and 53 of an
act approved March 14, 1906, and entitled an act to amend and re-
enact an act of the general assembly of Virginia, in force January
21, 1884, entitled an act providing a charter for the city of Norfolk.
and repealing the existing charter, approved April 20, 1882, as
amended by the several acts of the general assembly of Virginia.
approved respectively, April 6, 1887, April 28, 1887, May 14, 1887,
February 14, 1900, February 21, 1900, February 26, 1900, February
2, 1901, February 15, 1901, March 15, 1902; and to define the bound-
aries of the said city of Norfolk, as extended by the several acts of
the general assembly, approved April 6, 1887, February 22, 1890, and
March 14, 1902, and by an order of the circuit court of Norfolk county
which was entered on the 9th day of January, 1906. (H. B. 490.)

Approved March 20, 1916.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
sections thirty-eight, thirty-nine and fifty-three of an act ap-
proved March fourteenth, nineteen hundred and six, and en-
titled an act to amend and re-enact an act of the general as
sembly of Virginia, in force January twenty-first, eighteen hun-
dred and eighty-four, entitled an act providing a charter for the
city of Norfolk, and repealing the existing charter, approved
April twenty-one, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, as amended
by the several acts of the general assembly of Virginia, ap-
proved, respectively, April sixth, eighteen hundred and eighty-
seven, April twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven,
May fourteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, February
fourteenth, nineteen hundred, February twenty-first, nineteen
hundred, February second, nineteen hundred and one, Febrn-
ary fifteenth, nineteen hundred and one, March fifteenth, nine-
teen hundred and two; and to define the boundaries of the said
city of Norfolk, as extended by the several acts of the general
assembly, approved April sixth, eighteen hundred and eighty-
seven, February twenty-second, eighteen hundred and ninety,
and March fourteenth, nineteen hundred and two, and by an
order of the circuit court of Norfolk county, which was entered
on the ninth day of January, nineteen hundred and six, be and
the same are hereby amended and re-enacted to read as follows:

38. The mayor shall, at the first meeting of the city council
in September, nineteen hundred and eighteen, or as soon there-
after as practicable, nominate to the said council a city attorney
to serve for the term of two years from the first of September,
nineteen hundred and eighteen, and biennially thereafter, nomi-
nate to the said city council a city attorney to serve for the term
of two years immediately following his said nomination; and
upon his el-ction by the said city council in joint session, the
person so elected shall serve as such city attorney for the said
term and until his successor is duly elected, unless sooner re-
moved from office. In case of any vacancy in the said office
from any cause, the city council shall, upon the nomination by
the mayor, fill such vacancy for the unexpired term. The city
attorney shall be the legal adviser and representative of the
city during his term, and shall perform such duties as may be
prescribed by ordinance. He shall receive such compensation
and shall have such assistance as may be provided by ordinance.
At the time of his nomination by the mayor he shall be a resi-
dent of and practicing attorney in the said city. The term of
office of the present city attorney, expiring on January first,
nineteen hundred and eighteen, is hereby extended until Sep-
tember first, nineteen hundred and eighteen, or until his suc-
cessor is duly elected and qualified.

39. (1) The council may, in the name and for the use of
the city, contract debts and cause to be issued as evidence there-
of bonds, notes, or other obligations, to be either coupon, reg-
istered, or both. as may be prescribed by the council; but (ex-
cept as hereinafter in clause four hereof provided) after April
first, nineteen hundred and sixteen, no debt shall be contracted
for a period longer than that of the probable life of the work
or obiect for which the debt is to be contracted, to be deter-
mined by the city engineer and bv him certified as hereinafter
provided; and in no event shall debts be contracted for periods
longer than the following (having regard to the respective pur-
poses for which said debts may be contracted), namely: for the
roadways of streets having, at the time the debt is contracted,
railroad or street railway tracks thereon, fifteen years; for the
roadways of all other streets, twenty years; for school houses,
thirty years; for other public buildings, forty years; for iron
bridges, thirty years; for concrete bridges, forty years; for
the purchase price of real estate, or the value thereof as ascer-
tained by arbitration, appraisal, or condemnation proceedings,
fifty years; and for all other purposes not hereinabove specified,
thirty years. In the event that a debt shall be authorized for
purposes falling within two or more of the above named classes,
it shall be the duty of the city engineer to determine and certify
as hereinafter provided the probable average life of the works
or objects for which said debt is contracted, taking into con-
sideration the nature of said works or objects and the portions
of said debt applicable to said works or objects, respectively.
The words “probable life’, as herein used, shall be construed to
mean the length of time that will probably elapse before any
particular improvement (assuming it to be kept in reasonable
current repair) will reasonably require replacement.

(2) No bond, note, or other obligation of the city shall be
issued after April first, nineteen hundred and sixteen, except
as hereinafter provided in the case of temporary loans, unless
and until there is filed with the city clerk a certificate from the
city engineer in substantially the following form:

“I hereby certify that the probable life (or “the probable
average life’) of the work or object (or “the works or objects”)
for which the debt authorized by the ordinance entitled (nam-
ing it) is contracted is as great as the longest period fixed for
the maturity of any obligation issued or to be issued under, or
for the purpose of effectuating the appropriation made by, the
said ordinance;’’ and the said certificate shall be conclusive.

(3) The maximum period hereinabove fixed for the con-
tracting of debts for the several purposes hereinabove set forth
may be changed at any time by the general assembly, or under
its authority, as to any bonds to be issued after said change is
made, and such change shall not be deemed to constitute an
impairment of the contract of the city as to any bonds thereto-
fore issued.

(4) Notwithstanding anything in this section contained, it
shall be lawful for the city, after April first, nineteen hundred
and sixteen, to issue, without there being filed the certificate
of the city engineer above mentioned, bonds, notes, or other obli-
gations for the purpose of refunding, so far as necessary, obliga-
tions of the city created before April first, nineteen hundred and
sixteen, but maturing thereafter; but no such refunding bonds,
notes, or other obligations shall be issued for a period of more
than twenty-five years, and the said bonds shall conform to
the requirements set forth in clause five (5) or clause six (6)
hereof, as the case may be.
(5) After April first, nineteen hundred and sixteen, and ex-
cept as hereinafter in clause six (6) hereof provided, no debt
shall be contracted, nor any bond, note or other obligation of the
city issued, except as hereinafter provided in the case of tem-
porary loans, unless by the ordinance or ordinances authoriz-
ing the same there be required the annual or semi-annual pay-
ment, as a sinking fund, to the board of sinking fund commis-
sioners of the city of Norfolk of a sum or sums, to be fixed in
and by said ordinance or ordinances, which, if annually or semi-
annually paid as provided by said ordinance or ordinances will
(as shown by any sinking fund tables in accepted use among
bankers), with interest at four per centum thereon and upon
the accumulation thereof, produce at the date of maturity of
the bonds the amount of the debt to retire which said sinking
fund was created; and the said amount shall be annually appro-
priated by the council and paid; provided that after the sink-
ing fund created for any issue of bonds shall equal the total
amount of said issue, the obligation of the city to make further
payments in respect thereof shall cease and determine. Not
less than five nor more than six years after the date of each
issue of bonds, notes, or other obligations hereunder, it shall
be the duty of the board of sinking fund commissioners to ap-
praise at their fair market value, not exceeding par, the securi-
ties held in the sinking fund pertaining to that issue, and if it
should then appear that the said fund, together with the fur-
ther appropriations to be made thereto, and with interest at
four per centum upon said fund and the accumulations thereof
and the appropriations thereto, will not be adequate to pay
the said bonds, notes, or other obligations, at maturity, it shall
then be the duty of the said board to determine and certify to
the council the amount of such further annual appropriation as
will, with interest and accumulations as aforesaid, be adequate
for said purpose; and a similar appraisal, determination, and
certification shall be made by the said board quinquennially
thereafter during the term of the said issue; and the council
and city treasurer, respectively, shall rest under the same duty
in respect of the appropriation and payment of said further
sum or sums as in respect of the appropriation and payment of
the sum originally provided for.

(6) In lieu, however, of creating a sinking fund, or sink-
ing funds, as in clause five (5) hereof provided, the city may
issue bonds (hereinafter called “serial bonds’’) payable in an-
nual installments, the first of which shall be payable at any
time within the fiscal year succeeding the fiscal year in which
the said issue may be authorized, and the last of which shall be
payable within the period of the probable life of the work
or object for which the debt evidenced by said bonds was
created, ascertained and certified as hereinabove provided. The
several installments in which said serial bonds may be payable
may be equal or unequal as the city council may prescribe; but
if unequal the greatest of said installments shall not be more
than double the amount of the smallest.

(7) All bonds issued under clauses five (5) and six (6)
hereof shall be paid at their respective maturities, and no re-
funding bonds shall be issued for the payment thereof. If the
council shall fail to make provision for the payment of any
sinking fund installments required as to any bonds lawfully
issued under this section, and such default shall continue for
sixty days, or of any installment of serial bonds lawfully issued
under this section, then, and in either of said events, the city
treasurer shall, without further direction from the council, and
notwithstanding any contrary direction from the council, pay
such sinking fund or serial bond installments from moneys
then in his hands, if sufficient; and if not, then from the first
moneys that shall come into his hands thereafter.

(8) Pending the issuance or sale of any bonds, notes or
other obligations by this section authorized, or in anticipation
of the receipt of taxes and revenues, it shall be lawful for the
city to borrow money by means of temporary loans, to be re-
paid from the proceeds of said bonds, notes, or other obligations,
or from the said taxes and revenues, as the case may be; pro-
vided, that such temporary loans shall not be made for a
period greater than one year, and shall have plainly written
upon the face of the instrument evidencing the same the words
“temporary loan.” No such loan made pending the issuance
or sale of bonds, notes, or other obiigations shall be valid un-
less the said bonds, notes or other obligations shall have been
first legally authorized. The provisions of clauses one (1) to
six (6), inclusive, of this section shall not apply to said tem-
porary loans.

(9) The credit of the city shall not, directly or indirectly.
under any device or pretence whatsoever, be granted to or in
aid of any person, association or corporation. The city council
shall not issue any bonds, notes, or other obligations of the city,
or increase the indebtedness thereof, to an amount greater than
eighteen per centum of the assessed valuation of the real estate
in the city subject to taxation as shown by the last preceding
assessment for taxation; provided, however, that in determin-
ing the limitation of the power of the city to incur indebtedness,
there shall not be included the classes of indebtedness mentioned
in sub-sections (a) and (b) of section one hundred and twenty-
seven of the Constitution of the State.

58. The city council, in joint session, at its first meeting
in September, nineteen hundred and six, or as soon thereafter
as practicable, and quadrennially thereafter, shall elect two
citizens, freeholders, to hold their positions for four years from
the first day of September in said year, or until their succes-
sors are elected and qualify, who, together with the chairman
of the finance committee of the said council, shall constitute a
board of sinking fund commissioners. Whenever a vacancy
shall occur in said board by reason of the death, resignation
or otherwise, of either of the said freeholders, the said city
council, in joint session, shall elect some person, being a citizen
and freeholder, to fill such vacancy.

The said board shall be known as the “board of sinking
fund commissioners of the city of Norfolk,” and shall receive
and hold all the funds of the said city now or hereafter appro-
priated by the said city council as a sinking fund for the pur-
pose of meeting the indebtedness of the said city, and manage
and invest the same and receive the interest or income there-
from, and may at all times, either in its own name, or in the
name of the city of Norfolk, institute and prosecute any suit,
at law or in equity, which in the opinion of said board may be
necessary in the management, preservation or protection of
said fund.

The treasurer of the city shall pay over to the said board
all moneys appropriated to the said fund by any law or or-
dinance which may now or hereafter be effective.

All moneys received by the said board shall be invested in
registered bonds either of the United States or of the State of
Virginia, or of the city of Norfolk, in either or all of them,
and in such proportion as to the said board may seem proper,
and may also be invested in the floating or temporary obliga-
tions of the said city as the same may be authorized and issued
from time to time, and shall be held by the said board subject
to be appropriated by ordinance of the said city council to the
payment in whole or in part of the debt of the said city; pro-
vided, that the funds received by the said board for the pay-
ment of the Norfolk city water bonds, and the accumulations
thereof, shall be held solely for the payment of the said Nor-
folk city water bonds when and as they shall fall due; and pro-
vided, further, that the said sinking fund, exclusive of that held
for the redemption of the Norfolk city water bonds, shall not
at any time be reduced below the sum of two hundred thousand
dollars by any appropriations from said fund to the payment
of the indebtedness of the said city so long as there may be
any bonded indebtedness of the said city outstanding for that
amount or more; provided that any payments made to the said
board in respect of any bonds, notes, or other obligations issued
after April first, nineteen hundred and sixteen, shall be held
and kept in separate accounts pertaining to the several bond
issues in respect of which said payments are made, and all ac-
cumulations of or upon said payments shall likewise be held
and kept in said separate accounts, and shall not be subject to
appropriation by the city council except for the purpose of
paying the several bond issues in respect of which said pay-
ments shall have been made.

It shall be the duty of the board to protect the city against
any increase of indebtedness beyond the limit provided by
law, and all bonds of the city hereafter issued, except such
bonds as may be issued beyond the limit, as provided by sec-
tion one hundred and twenty-seven of the Constitution of the
State, shall have upon them a certificate to that effect signed
by all the members of the said board.

Each member of the said board, before entering upon the
duties of his office, shall give bond, payable to the said city for
such amount and in such manner as may be prescribed by the
city council, and conditioned for the faithful performance of
the trust reposed in him.

The said board shall annually, during the month of January
of each year, report to the city council all bonds, securities, and
moneys in its hands or under its control, and also at such other
times as may be required by the city council or either branch
thereof, and such accounts shall be examined and audited as
soon thereafter as practicable by an auditing committee or by
such agency or other means as the city council may direct. The
said board shall also report to the treasurer of the city all in-
vestments made by it, and all moneys received by it, and the
city treasurer shall keep an account of the same and report the
said account to the city council annually in January of each
year, and when otherwise required to do so by the city council
or either branch thereof.

2. Owing to the administration of the public affairs of the
city of Norfolk an emergency is declared to exist and this act
is hereby declared to be an emergency act within the provi-
sion of section fifty-three of the Constitution, and shall be in
force from its passage.