Municipal Bonds for Public Utilities. 1428. Record of election. The record of the result of the election held under the provisions of this article, as returned by the board of canvassers, shall be recorded in the minutes of the proceedings of such municipality in which the same is held, and when so recorded the record shall be conclusive evidence of the matters therein stated, and the validity of such election, unless contested as provided in the preceding section. 1429. Authority to issue municipal bonds.-If at an election held under and according to the provisions of this article, a majority of the qualified electors, voting at such election of the municipality in which the election is held, vote "For bond issue," the mayor and aldermen or other governing body of the municipality in which such election is held shall issue the bonds of such municipality in the amount and for the purposes mentioned in the notice of said election. 1430. Limit of municipal indebtedness.-No city, town, or other municipal corporation having a population of less than six thousand, except as hereafter provided, shall become indebted in an amount including present indebtedness, exceeding five per cent of the assessed value of the property therein, except for the construction or purchase of waterworks, gas, or electric lighting plants, or sewerage, or for the improvement of streets, for which purposes an additional indebtedness, not exceeding three per cent, may be created; but this limitation shall not affect any debt now authorized by law to be created, nor any temporary loans to be paid within one year, made in the anticipation of the collection of taxes, not exceeding onefourth of the annual revenues of such city or town. All towns or cities having a population of six thousand or more, also Gadsden, Ensley, Decatur, and New Decatur, are authorized to become indebted in an amount, including present indebtedness, not exceeding seven per cent of the assessed valuation of the property therein; but there shall not be included in the limitation of the indebtedness of such last described cities and towns the following class of indebtedness, to wit: Temporary loans to be paid within one year, made in the anticipation of the collection of taxes, and not exceeding one-fourth of the general revenues, bonds or other obligations already issued or which may hereafter be issued, for the purpose of acquiring, providing, or constructing schoolhouses, waterworks, and sewers; and the obligations incurred and bonds issued for street and sidewalk improvements, where the cost of the same, in whole or in part, is to be assessed against the property abutting said improvements; but the proceeds of all obligations issued as provided in this article, in excess of seven per cent, shall not be used for any purpose other than that for which said obligations were issued. Nothing contained in this Bonded Indebtedness, Settlement and Refunding of. article shall prevent the funding or refunding of existing indebtedness. This section shall not apply to the cities of Sheffield and Tuscumbia. 59, § 11. 1431. Municipal bonds exempt from taxation.-All bonds Feb. 25, and interest coupons attached to the same, issued under the 1903, p. authority of this article, shall be exempt from state, county, and municipal taxation, and the same shall have all the properties and protection of commercial paper. 1432. Character and denomination of municipal bonds. Ib., § 12. The denominations of the bonds, the time for which the same shall run, the place of payment, and rate of interest to be paid on the same, shall be fixed by the governing body of the municipality issuing the same, but no bonds issued under the provisions of this article shall bear a greater rate of interest than five per cent per annum, and the same shall not be sold for less than face value. 1433. Official seal on bonds.-All bonds issued under the I., § 13. authority of this article shall be signed by the chief executive officer, and countersigned by the treasurer of the municipality issuing the same, and the official seal of the municipality shall be impressed upon or affixed to the same. 1434. Coupons of municipal bonds.-All bonds so issued Ib., § 14. shall have attached to the same interest coupons, which shall be signed by the chief executive officer and treasurer of the municipality issuing the same, but their signature may be printed or lithographed facsimile upon said coupons. 1435. Validity of municipal bonds.-No irregularity in the Ib., § 15. proceedings to authorize the issue of bonds under this article, nor the omission or neglect of any officer charged with executing any of the duties imposed by this article, shall affect the validity of any bonds issued under the authority conferred by this article. ARTICLE 28. BONDED INDEBTEDNESS, SETTLEMENT AND REFUNDING OF. 1436-1438. 790, § 195. 1436. Bonded indebtedness adjusted, refunded, etc.-The Aug. 13, municipal authorities of any city or town in this state, which 1907, p. may have outstanding a bonded indebtedness of any kind, may settle, adjust, and refund the same, upon the best terms they can obtain, and in order to carry into effect the settlement, adjustment, and refunding of such bonded indebtedness, the 42-AC-VOL I Aug. 13, 1907, p. 790, § 196. Ib., § 197. Bonded Indebtedness, Settlement and Refunding of. municipal authorities of any such corporations may issue bonds for such an amount as may be necessary to pay the indebtedness of such corporation, which it is proposed to settle, adjust, and refund, and for no other purposes whatsoever, in such sum and form, and to run for such length of time, not exceeding thirty years, and to bear such rate of interest, not to exceed five per centum per annum, payable annually, or semi-annually, at such place as the municipal authorities may designate, and may levy and collect in accordance with the constitution and in the manner provided by law for general municipal taxes, such tax as may be necessary upon the real and personal property, and all other subjects of taxation, in such corporation, to pay the interest and principal of such bonds, provided, that the tax levied hereunder in any one year shall not exceed the constitutional limitation on the rate of taxation applicable to such city or town; and provided, further, that said bonds shall not be sold at less than par, except upon a vote in favor thereof of three-fourths of the members elected to the council or the governing body of the municipality, which vote shall be taken by yeas and nays and entered of record, and unless the written assent of the mayor is filed and spread upon the minutes of the governing body. 1437. Indebtedness secured by mortgage, etc.-Where the debt which it is proposed to settle, adjust, or refund, is secured in whole or in part by a lien, mortgage, or deed of trust, upon any property belonging to the municipality, such municipality is authorized and empowered to make a new lien, mortgage, or deed of trust upon such property to secure the payment of such refunding bonds. 1438. Refunding debts or bonds, subrogated to rights of stockholders. Any city or town issuing refunding bonds hereunder is hereby subrogated and substituted to all of the rights and remedies prescribed in any local or special law, heretofore enacted for the protection of its stockholders, or conferred upon it or any trustee, and it may sue for and recover any taxes as other municipal taxes are collected or otherwise, or any moneys or property which such municipality or such trustee might have recovered under any special or local law heretofore enacted; provided, however, that the governing body of such municipality may, by appropriate ordinances or resolutions, compromise and make settlement of such delinquent taxes as may have accrued under any special or local law, upon such terms, and in such manner as may be deemed proper and to the best interests of such municipality, and all taxes levied for the year 1907, and prior thereto, by any and all officers of any municipality, acting under any local or special law authorizing the collection of taxes to pay interest on bonds Eminent Domain, Condemnation; Rights and Powers as to. to be refunded hereunder, are hereby in all things ratified and confirmed. ARTICLE 29. EMINENT DOMAIN, CONDEMNATION; RIGHTS AND POWERS AS TO. 1439-1442. SECTION. 1439. Condemnation, eminent domain, rights. 1440. Rights of way; water rights acquired by mayor. SECTION. 1441. Condemnation of right of 1442. Appeal from condemnation of 1907, p. 790, § 165. 1439. Condemnation; eminent domain; rights.-Whenever, Aug. 13, in the judgment of the council of a city or town, it may be necessary or expedient for the carrying out and full exercise of any power granted by this chapter, the said town or city shall have full power and authority to acquire by purchase the necessary lands, or rights, easements, or interests therein, thereunder, or thereover, or for the purposes for which private property may be acquired by condemnation, may proceed to condemn the same in the manner provided by this chapter, or by the general laws of this state governing the taking of lands or the acquiring of interests therein for the uses for which private property may be taken, and such proceedings shall be governed in every respect by the general laws of this state pertaining thereto, or by the provisions of the subject contained in this chapter, when the same are followed. 1440. Rights of way; water rights acquired by mayor. Ib., § 18%. Whenever, in the opinion of the council, a right of way through the lands of others (whether in or out of the city or town) is necessary for obtaining a water supply or for sewerage or drainage purposes, and whenever the council may determine to change the grade of any street, sidewalk, or public place, and whenever any property is needed for any city or town purpose, the council shall authorize the mayor to attempt to acquire such right by purchase from the owner or owners thereof, and in case of failure, to acquire the same by condemnation. 1441. Condemnation of right of way; ad quod damnum pro- Ib. ceedings. Whenever the proprietor or proprietors, or any of them, of any of the land necessary for any of the purposes aforesaid, or necessary for opening new streets or widening old streets, and the mayor, cannot agree on a price of said lands, or cannot agree as to the amount to be paid for changing the grade of any street, sidewalk, or public place, and whenever the proprietor or proprietors thereof shall be an infant, non compos mentis, married woman, nonresident, or persons Eminent Domain, Condemnation; Rights and Powers as to. unknown, then the mayor shall apply to the clerk of the circuit or other court of like jurisdiction of the county, for a writ ad quod damnum, to be directed to the sheriff of the county, commanding him to summon three freeholders of the county, to appear before the sheriff on a day named, not less than two days from the date of the writ, and to proceed under his direction to assess a value of the lands of such proprietor for the use thereof, or the damage or injury which may be done to any property by the change in the grade of any street, sidewalk, or public place named in the application for the writ, and in the writ which shall describe the lands required for the use of the city or town, the use for which the said lands are desired, the grade intended (in case of change desired in grade of any street, sidewalk, or public place), and the name of the owners, respectively, if known, and the said persons thus selected shall be sworn by the sheriff to faithfully perform their duty under such writ, and after viewing the premises, render a verdict, which verdict shall be endorsed on the writ by them, and shall assess the damages to each proprietor severally. The sheriff shall thereupon return the writ so endorsed to the clerk of such court, and the verdict so rendered shall be entered on the records of the court of the next term thereof after its return, unless an appeal shall have been taken, in the manner hereinafter prescribed. The same jury may render a verdict upon all matters contained in the same application. On the return of the verdict and the payment to the clerk of the damages assessed, the land so assessed shall inure to the public use, for the use specified in the application, and the council may take the property condemned or proceed to change the grade of any such street, sidewalk, or public place, unless the council or some proprietor or proprietors shall, within thirty days, take an appeal to the circuit court or other court of like jurisdiction of the county, by filing a written notice of appeal, a copy of which shall be served on the opposite party or his attorney, and on such appeal being taken, the assessment of damages shall be tried in such court de novo, and upon such trial either party may demand a jury. On the suing out of a writ, the mayor shall pay to the clerk of such court three dollars for his fees, two dollars per day for each juror on the preliminary assessment, and three dollars for the sheriff, to be paid by a warrant drawn by the city or town clerk on the order of the mayor. And when any owner of lands, which lands or the use thereof are desired for the city or town, or for any of the purposes mentioned in this section, is an infant, non compos mentis, married woman, nonresident, or unknown, the clerk of such court must give notice of the filing of such application by publishing for three successive weeks in some newspaper pub |