Chap. 62.—An ACT to amend and re-enact Sections 80, 81 and 82 of an act en-
titled “an act to provide a new charter for the city of Portsmouth,” approved
March 10, 1908, as amended by an act approved March 10, 1922, relating to
the sinking fund commissioners of the said city. [H B 155]

Approved February 24, 1936

1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That sections
eighty, eighty-one and eighty-two of an act entitled an act to provide
a new charter for the city of Portsmouth, approved March tenth, nine-
teen hundred and eight, as amended by an act approved March tenth,
nineteen hundred and twenty-two, be amended and re-enacted so as to
read as follows:

Section 80. For the redemption at maturity of such bonds, excepting
serial bonds, as may have been issued by the city of Portsmouth prior
to March tenth, nineteen hundred and twenty-two, it shall be the duty
of the city council to provide and the city collector to set aside annually
a sum equal to one and one-half per centum of the par value of said
bonds; and for the redemption at maturity of such bonds of the city
as have been issued since March tenth, nineteen hundred and twenty-
two, and such bonds as may be hereafter issued by said city of Ports-
mouth, it shall be the duty of the city council to provide and the city
collector to set aside annually a sum sufficient to retire said bonds at
maturity; and the city council shall provide for and there shall be paid
from the funds of the water department, by the person or persons
holding and distributing such funds unto the city collector, annually, a
sum equal to one and one-half per centum of all outstanding bonds
issued for the purpose of providing for and purchasing the water
works property of the city, and a sum sufficient to retire at maturity
all other bonds, excepting serial bonds, heretofore issued or which may
hereafter be issued for the improvement of or addition to said water
works property. The sums heretofore set aside and held by the board
of sinking fund commissioners, and the sums hereafter so set aside,
shall be under the supervision and management of the board of sinking
fund commissioners which shall hereafter be composed of five members
who shall be appointed by the judge of the court of hustings for the
city of Portsmouth. The city collector shall also be a member of the
board, but without the right to vote. The said members shall be quali-
fied voters of and residents in the said city. No person shall be ap-
pointed or serve as a member of said board who holds any other elec-
tive or appointive position or office (except the city collector) of or in
connection with the government of said city, or who is an officer, or
member of the board of directors, of any banking institution in the
said city. Said members shall be appointed for a term of four years,
the first beginning on the first day of September, nineteen hundred
and thirty-six. The terms of all of the members of the said board of
sinking fund commissioners as now constituted shall expire at twelve
o’clock midnight on the thirty-first day of August, nineteen hundred
and thirty-six. The members of said board shall serve without com-
pensation. Should any vacancies occur in the office of said members by
death, resignation or otherwise such vacancies shall be filled in the
manner herein prescribed for the original appointment of members.

Section 81. The city collector of the city shall act as treasurer of
the board of sinking fund commissioners and shall be custodian of all
sums and securities held in the sinking fund, and shall give such bond
as may be required by the council of the city. He shall keep a book
or books in which shall be recorded a statement of all assets, and an
account of all receipts and disbursements of the sinking fund, and
such other matters pertaining thereto as may be prescribed by ordi-
nance. He shall receive no fees for the management of said fund, but
only such compensation as may be allowed by the council of the city.
The books of the treasurer shall at all times be open for inspection to
the members of the board and the council of the city, and the treasurer
shall furnish the board detailed statements whenever they desire the
same. The treasurer shall, before the fifteenth day of January of
each year, furnish the council of the city, a full detailed statement
of the sinking fund, showing the amount and character of its securi-
ties, and its receipts and disbursements for the preceding year. The
funds and other securities belonging to the sinking fund shall be de-
posited in such banks doing business in the city of Portsmouth as
may be selected by the city council, and the same can be withdrawn
only upon the order of the treasurer approved and certified by a
member to be selected by the board as its president.

Section 82. The sinking fund shall be under the control and
management of the board of sinking fund commissioners, and to
that end they are made a body politic with the right to sue and be
sued for the recovery of any fund or securities belonging to the sink-
ing fund. The sinking fund shall be used for the sole purpose of
paying at maturity the bonded debt of the city, and the fund paid into
the treasury from the income of the water department shall be used
only for the payment of the bonds issued for the purpose of providing
for and purchasing the water works property of the city. The sinking”
fund shall be invested in good interest-bearing securities, consisting of
bonds of the city of Portsmouth, the United States of America, and
the State of Virginia, or of municipalities and counties of the Com-
monwealth which provide for and protect a sinking fund to a degree
at least equal to that of the city of Portsmouth. The council of the
city shall at no time diminish the resources of the sinking fund, but
may, if it sees fit, increase the same. Should any of the bonds of the
city fall due without a sufficient amount in the sinking fund to provide
for the same, such fact shall be certified by the board of sinking fund
commissioners to the city council who shall make provision for retiring
the same. It shall be unlawful for any member of the board of sinking
fund commissioners to hereafter purchase directly or indirectly any
bonds of the city, or other securities for the purpose of selling them
to the board of sinking fund commissioners, or having the same paid
at their maturity whereby he shall recetve any profit from the same
except the regular rate of interest drawn on such securities. Any
member of the board who shall violate this provision shall thereby
vacate his office and any other office held by him in the city of Ports-
mouth, and may be punished in such manner as may be prescribed by
ordinance of the city, not to exceed, however, imprisonment in jail for
more than twelve months.

2. All acts or parts of acts in conflict herewith are hereby repealed.