sioners of

the district and ascertain and determine which of such lands Duty of will be benefited by the construction of such works, and Comm shall ascertain and determine the value of the benefits to Assessment. accrue thereby to each parcel of real estate so benefited. The words "value of benefits," as used in this Act, shall be construed to mean the increase in the actual cash value of any parcel of real estate accruing or to accrue by reason of the construction of such works. They shall make a separate list of lands for each county in which said district is situated, embracing in each list all of such lands to be benefited as may be embraced within the boundaries of such county. Said lists shall contain a description sufficient for identification of each parcel of real estate to be benefited, the name of the owner thereof, if known, otherwise the words "unknown owners," and the value of the benefits to accrue thereto. A description of such real estate by federal subdivisions, boundaries, metes and bounds, numbers of swamp land surveys, numbers of lots, blocks, and fractions, or other intelligible description, shall be deemed sufficient for identification within the meaning of this Act. Upon the completion of said lists, said Commissioners of Assessment shall publish, in at least one newspaper published in each of the counties herein before named, and in the City of San Francisco, for not less than two weeks, a notice stating that said lists have been prepared, and that the said Commissioners of Assessment will sit for at least three days at the county seat of each of the counties herein before named, for the purpose of hearing and determining any objections that may be made to such assessment. The times at which such sittings will be had shall be stated in the notice; the first of such sittings to be not less than twenty-one nor more than thirty days from the first publication of the notice. During such sittings, any person interested may appear in person, or by his agent or attorney, and state his objections to the assessment, or to any part thereof. The Commissioners of Assessment may examine witnesses concerning such matters, and for that purpose they may issue subpoenas, and either Commissioner of Assessment may administer oaths; and upon such hearing, any assessment found to be erroneous shall be corrected. When said lists are finally corrected the Commissioners of Assessment shall certify the same, and file them in the office of the Board of Commissioners of the district, and shall also transmit certified copies of each list to the Auditors of the respective counties for which said lists are made, and shall also file certified copies thereof in the office of the Controller of State. They shall also append to each list and certified copy thereof a certificate, showing the total area in acres of the lands to be benefited in said district, as determined by them in such assessment. The Governor shall fill any vacancy occurring in the office of Commissioner of Assessment, and it shall not be necessary for such new appointee to perform any work already done by his predecessor, but simply to continue the same to completion. Upon the filing of the lists herein before provided for, the duties and offices of said Commissioners of Assessment shall cease and determine.

Election of
Treasurer.

Salary.

bonds.

Each Commissioner of Assessment shall receive the sum of fifteen hundred dollars, which shall be for full compensation for all his services and expenses in said office, including clerical assistance.

SEC. 6. Within thirty days after their organization the Board of Commissioners shall give notice of an election to be held in said district for the purpose of electing a Treasurer therefor. At such election one polling place shall be opened in each of the counties herein before named, and within the district. The notice shall be published for two weeks in at least one newspaper published in each of the counties herein before named, and in the City of San Francisco; shall state the day at which such election will be held, which shall not be less than thirty nor more than forty days from the first publication of such notice, the places at which the polls will be opened, and the names of the Judges and Inspectors of Election. At such election each person owning land in said district shall have one vote, and may cast the same at either polling place, at his choice. The Board of Election, at each polling place, shall open the polls at the hour of eight A. M., and close the same at the hour of six P. M. They shall keep a list of the persons voting, and shall, within three days after such election, transmit the same, with a certificate of the number of ballots cast for each candidate, to the Board of Commissioners. On the second Monday after such election, the Board of Commissioners shall meet and canvass the votes, and the person receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared elected. Any person not entitled to vote at such election, who shall willfully vote or attempt to vote thereat, and any person who shall willfully vote or attempt to vote more than once at such election, or who shall willfully and fraudulently make or accept any transfer of property for the purpose of enabling him or any other person to vote thereat, is guilty of felony. The person so elected as Treasurer shall qualify within ten days after the declaration of his election. He shall receive a salary of one hundred and fifty dollars per month from and after the first sale of bonds as hereinafter provided. Any vacancy in the office of Treasurer shall be filled by an election, as herein before provided, but the Governor shall, in such case, appoint some person to fill such vacancy until such election can be had. The Treasurer shall hold office for two years from the date of his qualification, and until his successor is elected and qualified.

Issuance of SEC. 7. The Board of Commissioners of said district are hereby authorized and empowered, from time to time, after the return of such assessment lists, to issue their bonds for the sum of one thousand dollars each, and not exceeding in the aggregate an amount equal to five (5) dollars per acre on the total amount of lands to be benefited in said district, as determined by the Commissioners of Assessment and stated in their certificate attached to the assessment lists; provided, that the Board of Commissioners may, after the adoption and ratification of plans, and before the return of the assessment lists, issue an amount of said bonds not exceeding the

sum of five hundred thousand (500,000) dollars. Each of Sale of said bonds shall bear the same date, though issued at differ- bonds. ent times, shall be signed by the President of the Board and countersigned by the Secretary, and the seal of the Board shall [be] affixed thereto. The bonds shall be numbered consecutively in the order of their issue, and shall express on their face that they are issued by authority of this Act, stating its title and date of approval. Each of said bonds shall be made payable twenty years after date, with interest at the rate of seven (7) per cent. per annum, payable semiannually, on the first days of April and October; both the principal and interest thereof shall be payable only in the gold coin of the United States of the present standard of weight and fineness, at the office of the Treasurer of the district. Coupons for the interest shall be attached to each bond. Said bonds may be sold from time to time as required, at a rate not less than par, all coupons due or past due at the time of sale being removed and canceled. The Secretary shall keep a record of all bonds sold, their number, the date of sale, the price received, and the name of the purchaser. The proceeds of the sale of bonds shall be paid by the purchasers into the treasury of the district, and shall there be kept as a special fund, to be called "The Sacramento River Drainage District Construction Fund," to be paid out as herein required. Each bond on being sold shall be countersigned and registered by the Auditor of the County of Sacramento. Nothing in this Act contained shall be so construed as to render the State of California or any county thereof liable for any portion of the principal or interest of such bonds, or for any damage or injury that may result from the construction of any works, or the performance of any act herein authorized.

ascertained.

SEC. 8. Within five days after the first Monday in Sep- Assessment tember in each year, the Board of Commissioners shall meet levied. and levy an assessment upon the lands included in the assessment lists sufficient to raise the annual interest on the outstanding bonds, and on the probable amount of bonds to be sold thereafter, on which interest will accrue during the ensuing year. The rate of such levy shall be ascertained by Rate, how adding ten (10) per cent. to the amount to be raised, to allow for anticipated delinquencies, and dividing such amount by the total value of benefits stated on said lists; the quotient, expressed in cents, on each one hundred dollars of such valuation, shall be the rate to be levied; provided, that if, in such calculation, a fraction of a cent shall occur a full cent on each one hundred dollars of such valuation shall be added instead of such fraction. At the expiration of ten Assessment years from the date of the bonds the Board must increase the increased. assessment to be levied for the ensuing ten years in the following percentage of the principal of the whole amount of bonds issued, to wit: For the eleventh year, five per cent.; for the twelfth year, six per cent.; for the thirteenth year, seven per cent.; for the fourteenth year, eight per cent.; for the fifteenth year, nine per cent.; for the sixteenth year, ten

Liens constituted.

of land;

how made.

per cent.; for the seventeenth year, eleven per cent.; for the eighteenth year, thirteen per cent.; for the nineteenth year, fifteen per cent.; and for the twentieth year, a percentage sufficient to pay off said bonds. Upon the making of such levy in any year, the Board shall transmit to the Auditor of each of said counties, and to the Controller of State, a certificate of the rate so levied. Upon his receipt of such certificate, each of said Auditors shall compute, in dollars and cents, rejecting fractions of a cent, the amount of the assessment so levied upon each parcel of land described in the assessment list prepared for such county, and shall enter upon said list, in a separate money column, and opposite the description of such parcel of land, the amount so computed. Such amounts shall be collected by the Tax Collector of such county, at the same time and in the same manner as State and county taxes are collected; and all the provisions of Chapters Seven, Ten, and Eleven, of Title Nine, of Part Three, of the Political Code, so far as they can be made applicable, shall apply to such collection; provided, that no commission or percentage shall be allowed out of such moneys to any officer for any purpose. The moneys so collected shall be paid into the treasury of the district, and the Treasurer shall keep the same in a special fund, to be called, "The Sacramento River Drainage District Bond Fund," to be paid out only as herein provided.

SEC. 9. The amounts assessed under the provisions of section eight of this Act shall severally constitute liens upon the respective parcels of real estate upon which the same are assessed, from and after the date of the annual levy by the Board, which liens shall not be removed nor satisfied until such assessments are paid, or such property sold therefor. Redemption The owner of any parcel of land may, however, redeem his land from the lien of all future assessments at any time by paying to the Tax Collector of the county in which such lands are situated, an amount, to be ascertained by multiplying the amount for which bonds are hereby authorized to be issued by the amount of the value of benefits assessed against said parcel of land, and dividing the product so obtained by the total amount of the value of benefits assessed in said district; the amount so obtained is the amount to be paid. Upon such payment the Tax Collector shall give to such person a certificate in triplicate, showing the amount paid, the date of payment, and the description of the land on which such full payment has been made, one copy of which shall be filed by the person making such payment in the office of the Controller of State, and one with the Board of Commissioners of the district, and such person shall cause the third copy to be recorded by the Recorder of the county in which such lands are situated, in the books in which liens are recorded; and thereafter such lands shall not be liable to any future assessment under the provisions of this Act. If such payment be made before the sale of all of the bonds authorized by this Act to be sold, such moneys shall be paid into the Construction Fund in like manner as moneys received from the sale of bonds, and the amount

thereof shall be deducted from the amount of bonds authorized by this Act to be issued; but if such payment be made. after the issue and sale of all of such bonds such moneys shall be paid into the Bond Fund.

interest.

of bonds.

SEC. 10. On the first days of April and October in each Payment of year, the Treasurer shall pay the interest on such bonds on the presentation of the coupons therefor. All payments of principal and interest on such bonds shall be made only out of such Bond Fund. Whenever the amount in said Bond Fund, exclusive of the amount necessary to pay one year's interest on the outstanding bonds, shall amount to ten thousand dollars, the Board shall direct the Treasurer to pay such an amount of said bonds as the money in said fund will redeem, at the lowest value at which they may be offered for liquidation. Before making such direction, the Board shall Redemption advertise for three weeks, in at least one daily newspaper published in each of the Cities of San Francisco and Sacramento, for sealed proposals for the redemption of said bonds. Such proposals shall be opened by the Board at a time to be named in the notice, and the lowest bid for such bonds shall be accepted; but no bond shall be redeemed at a rate above par and accrued interest. In case the bids are equal, the bonds bearing the lowest numbers shall have the preference. In case no proposals are received at a rate not above par and accrued interest, the Board of Commissioners shall direct the Treasurer to redeem such amount of said bonds in the order of their numbers, beginning with the lowest number. The Treasurer shall then advertise that fact for three weeks, in at least one daily newspaper published in each of the Cities of San Francisco and Sacramento, stating in the notice the numbers of the bonds to be redeemed, and that at the expiration of sixty days from the first publication of such notice all interest on such bonds will cease. At the maturity of said district bonds all interest thereon shall cease, if there be sufficient money in said Bond Fund for their redemption; and the Treasurer shall then advertise that fact, for not less than two weeks, in at least one daily newspaper published in each of the Cities of Sacramento and San Francisco, and shall redeem such bonds upon presentation. The moneys in said Bond Fund shall not be used for any purpose other than the payment of the principal and interest of said bonds, until the whole thereof have been redeemed.

proposals to

work.

SEC. 11. After acquiring necessary rights of way, the Board Advertiseshall, from time to time, give notice, by publication for not ment for less than three weeks, in at least one newspaper published in perform each of the counties herein before named, and in at least one newspaper published in the City of San Francisco, inviting sealed proposals for the construction of one or more sections of such work, including the furnishing of any material required therefor. For that purpose the Board shall divide the work into a suitable number of sections, no section in earth-work to be more than two miles in length. The notices shall state the time at which proposals will be opened, the time at which each section must be commenced, and the time within which the same must be completed. The Board