Chap. 481.—An ACT to amend Chapter 576, as amended, of the Acts of Assembly
of 1896, approved March 3, 1896, and being the charter of the city of Har-
risonburg, Virginia, by amending and reenacting section 23 so as to reduce the
council majority requisite to approve appropriations and borrowings and by
adding sections 65-a and 65-b so as to authorize the council to construct
sewerage, water and electrical systems and to issue bonds to provide funds
therefor and by adding section 65-c authorizing the imposition and collection
of an amusement tax and by repealing section 37 relating to payments from
the treasury. (H 525]

Approved April 2, 1948

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That chapter five hundred seventy-six, as amended, of the Acts
of Assembly of eighteen hundred ninety-six, approved March three,
eighteen hundred ninety-six and being the charter of the city of Harrison-
burg, Virginia, be amended by amending and reenacting section twenty-
three thereof and by adding thereto sections sixty-five-a, sixty-five-b and
sixty-five-c, all as follows:

Section 23. A majority of the members of the council shall con-
stitute a quorum for the transaction of business; but no ordinance
shall be passed nor resolution adopted, having for its object the appro-
priation or borrowing of money, except by the concurrence of at least
two-thirds of all the members elected to the Council; and upon the
demand of any member, on the passage of any ordinance or resolution,
the yeas and nays shall be taken and entered on the record. No vote
or question decided at a stated meeting shall be reconsidered or rescinded
at a special meeting unless there be at least nine members present, and
seven of them shall concur.

Section 65-a. The Council shall have power and authority :

1. To acquire, establish, construct, improve, enlarge, operate and
maintain a sewage disposal system with all the necessary sewers, con-
duits, pipe lines, pumping and ventilating stations, treatment plants and
works, and other plants, structures, boats, conveyances and other real
and personal property necessary for the operation of such system.

2. To acquire by purchase, gift, condemnation or otherwise, real
estate, or rights or easements therein, necessary or convenient for estab-
lishment, enlargement, maintenance or operation of such sewage disposal
system, and the right to dispose of property so acquired no longer neces-
sary for the use of such system provided that the provisions of section
thirty-eight hundred and thirty-two of the Code of Virginia shall apply to
any property belonging to any corporation possessing the power of
eminent domain that may be sought to be taken by condemnation here-
under.

3. To borrow money for the purpose of establishing, constructing,
improving, and enlarging the sewage disposal system and to issue bonds
therefor in the name of the city of Harrisonburg, as hereinafter provided.

4. To accept gifts or grants of real or personal property, money,
material, labor or supplies for the establishment and operation of such
sewage disposal system and to make and perform such agreements or
contracts as may be necessary or convenient in connection with the pro-
curing or acceptance of such gifts or grants.

5. To enter on any lands, waters and premises for the purpose of
making surveys, borings, sounding and examinations for constructing
and operating the sewage disposal system, and for the prevention of
pollution of the tidal waters.

6. To enter into contracts with the United States of America, or
any department or agency thereof, or of the State of Virginia, or any
person, firm or corporation, providing for or relating to the treatment
and disposal of sewage and industrial wastes.

7. To fix, charge and collect fees, rents or other charges for the use
and services of the sewage disposal system. Such fees, rents, and charges
may be charged to and collected from any person contracting for the
same, or from the owner or lessee or tenant, or some or all of them,
who uses or occupies any real estate which directly or indirectly is or
has been connected with the sewage disposal system, or from or on
which originates or has originated sewage or industrial wastes, or either,
which directly or indirectly have entered or will enter the sewage dis-
posal system, and the owner or lessee or tenant of any such real estate
shall pay to the city such fees, rents and charges at the time and place
where the same are due and payable.

Such fees, rents and charges, being in the nature of use or service
charges, shall, as nearly as the council shall deem practicable and
equitable, be uniform for the same type, class and amount of use or ser-
vice of the sewage disposal system, and may be based or computed
either on the consumption of water on or in connection with the real
estate, making due allowances for commercial use of water, or on the
number and kind of water outlets on or in connection with the real estate
or on the number and kind of plumbing or sewage fixtures or facilities on
or in connection with the real estate, or on the number or average number
of persons residing or working on or otherwise connected or identified
with the real estate or any other factors determining the type, class and
amount of use or service of the sewage disposal system, or on any combi-
nation of such factors, or on such other basis as the council may deter-
mine. Such fees, rents, and charges shall be due and payable at such
time as the council may determine, and the council may-require the same
to be paid in advance for periods of not more than six months. The
revenue derived from any or all of such fees, rents, and charges is hereby
declared to be revenue of such sewage disposal system.

In the event the fees, rents or charges charged for the use and
services of the sewage disposal system by or in connection with any real
estate shall not be paid when due, interest shall at that time begin to
accrue thereon at the rate of one per centum per month, and the city
may cease supplying water to the premises.

Such fees, rents and charges and interest thereon may be recovered
by the city of Harrisonburg by action at law or suit in equity, and shall
constitute a lien against the property, ranking on a parity with liens for
unpaid city taxes.
Bonds of the city of Harrisonburg, the principal and interest of
which shall be payable from ad valorem taxes, which notwithstanding any
limitation contained in this charter, shall be levied upon all the taxable
property of said city without limitation of rate or amount, in the event
that the revenue hereinafter referred to is insufficient for the payment
of the principal and interest thereof, may be issued from time to time
in the manner prescribed by section one hundred twenty-seven (b) of
the Constitution of Virginia to acquire, establish, construct, improve and
enlarge a sewage disposal system with all the necessary sewers, conduits,
pipelines, pumping and ventilating stations, treatment plants and works
and other property, real and personal, necessary for the operation thereof,
from which the city may derive a revenue pursuant to the provisions of
this section sixty-five-a; to reimburse the general fund or any other
fund of the city for moneys paid from said fund or funds for such pur-
poses, and to fund or refund any existing indebtedness incurred for
such purposes, and such bonds shall not be included in determining the
power of the city to incur indebtedness within any limitation prescribed in
this charter or within the limitation prescribed by section one hundred
twenty-seven of the Constitution of Virginia, but from and after a period
to be determined by the council, not exceeding five years from the date of
the election authorizing such bonds, whenever and for so long as such
sewage disposal system fails to produce sufficient revenue to pay for
cost of operation and administration, including the interest on such
bonds, and the cost of insurance against loss by injury to persons or
property, and an annual amount to be covered into a sinking fund
sufficient to pay, at or before maturity, all such bonds, then all such
bonds outstanding shall be included in determining the power of the
city to incur indebtedness within any limitation prescribed in this charter
and within the limitation prescribed by section one hundred twenty-
seven of the Constitution of Virginia; provided, however, that bonds
may be issued from time to time for any or all of such purposes, including
reimbursement of funds and the funding or refunding of existing indeb-
tedness, in the manner prescribed by section one hundred twenty-seven
(b) of the Constitution of Virginia, the principal and interest of which
bonds shall be payable solely from the revenue of such sewage disposal
system, which bonds shall never be included in determining the power
of the city to incur indebtedness with the limitation prescribed by section
one hundred twenty-seven of the Constitution of Virginia or within any
limitation prescribed by this charter. The ordinance authorizing the
issuance of any such bonds and the calling of an election on the question
of the issuance thereof shall state:

(a) the maximum amount of bonds to be issued ;

(b) the purpose or purposes for which such bonds are to be issued ;

(c) that the principal and interest of said bonds shall be payable
from ad valorem taxes without limitation of rate or amount, if the
revenue of the sewage disposal system is insufficient for that purpose,
or that the principal and interest of such bonds shall be payable solely
from the revenue of such disposal system ;
(d) if the bonds are to be payable from ad valorem taxes without
limitation of rate or amount in the event that the revenue of the sewage
disposal plant is insufficient for that purpose, that the bonds are to be
issued pursuant to the provisions of section one hundred twenty-seven
(b) of the Constitution of Virginia and are not to be included in deter-
mining the power of the city to incur indebtedness within the limitation
prescribed by section one hundred twenty-seven of the Constitution of
Virginia or within any limitation prescribed by this charter; provided,
however, that from and after a period specified in such ordinance not
exceeding five years from the date of the election authorizing the bonds,
whenever and for so long as such sewage disposal system fails to pro-
duce sufficient revenue to pay for cost of operation and administration,
including the interest on such bonds, and the cost of insurance against
loss by injury to persons or property, and an annual amount to
covered into a sinking fund sufficient to pay at or before maturity, all
such bonds, then all such bonds outstanding shall be included in determin-
ing the limitations of the power of the city to incur indebtedness ;

(e) if the bonds are to be payable solely from the revenue of such
sewage disposal system, that the bonds are to be issued pursuant to
the provisions of section one hundred twenty-seven (b) of the Constitu-
tion of Virginia and are never to be included in determining the power
of the city to incur indebtedness within the limitation prescribed by
section one hundred twenty-seven of the Constitution of Virginia or
within any limitation prescribed by this chapter ;

the maximum rate of interest to be borne by the bonds, not
exceeding six per centum per annum ;

(g) the maximum period within which such bonds shall mature,
not exceeding thirty-five years from the date of issue ;

(h) such other details as the council may, in its sole discretion,
deem necessary, including but without limiting the generality of the fore-
going, a pledge of the net revenue of the sewage disposal system to the
payment of the principal and interest of any such bonds and a covenant
to maintain fees, rents or other charges for the use of such sewage dis-
posal system, authorized by this section sixty-five-a, at a level which will
produce net revenue sufficient for the payment of the principal and
interest thereof, and any reserve funds deemed necessary for the efficient
administration of such sewage disposal system and for the protection of
the holders of the bonds. ;

Sections one hundred ninety-seven-a, thirty hundred eighty-three,
thirty hundred eighty-six, thirty hundred eighty-seven and thirty hun-
dred eighty-eight of the Code of Virginia shall govern the calling and
holding of the election on the question of the issuance of such bonds,
and the provisions of chapter three hundred eighty-six of Acts of As-
sembly of nineteen hundred twenty-eight and section thirty hundred
eighty-four of the Code of Virginia, except in so far as the same may
be in conflict herewith, shall govern the issuance of such bonds. If such
bonds are sold at public sale, the notice of sale may provide that the
bidders shall name the rate or rates of interest to be borne by such bonds,
not exceeding the maximum rate prescribed by the ordinance calling
the election, to be expressed in a multiple or multiples of one-fourth or
one-tenth of one per centum per annum. The powers conferred by this
section shall be deemed to be supplemental to, cumulative of, and in
addition to all other powers heretofore granted by the general laws of the
State or by special acts or other charter provisions of the city of Harri-
sonburg, and no general law or special act or other charter provisions,
except as herein expressly provided, shall in any way affect the issuance
of such bonds.

Section 65-b. The council of the city of Harrisonburg, Virginia,
shall have the power and authority to acquire, establish, construct, im-
prove, enlarge, operate and maintain a water supply and water distribu-
tion system and an electric generating, transmission and distribution sys-
tem or either such systems and in connection therewith shall have all of
the powers conferred by section sixty-five-a of this charter in connection
with a sewage disposal system, including the power to issue bonds of the
city of Harrisonburg for either or both of such water and electric systems,
of the same nature and subject to the same restrictions and entitled to
the same exemptions as those authorized for the sewage disposal system
by section sixty-five-a of this charter, and may in like manner provide
that such bonds shall be secured by and paid from the net revenues of
such systems respectively and unlimited taxes, or solely from such net
revenues. The powers conferred by this section shall be deemed to be
supplemental to, cumulative of, and in addition to all other powers
heretofore granted by the general laws of the State or by special acts or
other charter provisions of the city of Harrisonburg, and no general
law or special act or other charter provision, except as herein expressly
provided, shall in any way affect the issuance of such bonds.

Section 65-c. In addition to the other powers conferred by law,
the said city shall have the power to impose, levy and collect, in such
manner as its council shall deem expedient, an admission tax on admis-
sion to any public amusement, entertainment, performance, exhibition,
sport or athletic event in said city and may provide that such tax may
be added to and collected with the price of admission or other charge for
such amusement, entertainment, performance, exhibition, sport or athletic
event. Such tax may be imposed, levied and collected in multiples of
one cent.

2. Section thirty-seven of chapter five hundred seventy-six of the
Acts of Assembly of eighteen hundred ninety-six, approved March three,
eighteen hundred ninety-six, is repealed.

3. An emergency exists and this act is in force from its passage.