Springfield's First City Charter
From Directory of the City of Springfield
John W. Kees & Co., Springfield. 1852
Sec. 28. That when the City Council shall, by ordinance as aforesaid, appropriate any private property for the purposes aforesaid, and the compensation thereof shall not be agreed upon with the party or parties interested in said property, the said City Council shall give notice in writing to the owner or owners of such private property, of such appropriation and of the intention to apply to the court of common pleas of Clark county for the appointment of commissioners to assess the damages sustained by such owner or owners, and of the time at which such application will be made; or if such owner or owners are unknown or reside out of said city, then said notice may be given by publication in some newspaper printed in said city, and of general circulation therein and in the county of Clark. The said notice in writing shall be given at least twenty days or by publication as aforesaid, for four consecutive weeks before the term of the court at which such application is to be made; and after giving such notice, the said City Council shall in the name of the said city apply to the said court of common pleas of Clark county, at the regular term thereof specified in said notice, for the appointment of commissioners to assess the damage sustained by such owner or owners of the property so appropriated as aforesaid, and said court shall thereupon appoint three judicious disinterested freeholders of said city, who shall, after being duly sworn faithfully and impartially to perform the duties required by this act, at such time as the court shall appoint, proceed to make actual view of the property appropriated, may hear testimony in the same manner as arbitrators or referees, and shall make a just estimate and appraisal of the loss or damage sustained by the owner or owners thereof, and when such estimate or appraisal is made, shall report the same, with all their proceedings, to said court, if in session, forthwith — and if not in session, at the next term thereafter; and said estimate and appraisal so returned, shall be the measure of damages to be paid by the city in such case, and said court shall render judgment therefor against said city, in favor of the owner or owners, and for the costs of said proceeding; provided, that any person not the owner of, but having any estate or interestin, said property, may apply to the said court and have his or her damages assessed in the same proceeding and a like judgment therefor, and his estate or interest shall be protected by said court; provided further, that said court may, for sufficient cause shown, set aside said estimate and appraisal, and appoint three other commissioners, who shall take such proceedings and whose award shall have the like effect as that of those first appointed. Said commissioners shall be allowed each one dollar per day for his services in making the estimate and appraisal; and the clerk shall make record of the proceedings and judgment of said court.
Sec. 29. That the said City Council shall have the control, management, and direction of the common schools in said city, and the funds and property thereof, and to that end they are hereby authorized, whenever in their opinion the public good shall require the same to be done, to cause the said city to be divided into a suitable number of school districts, in such manner as they shall deem most convenient, having due regard to the present and prospective population thereof. And the said City council shall have power under the restrictions herinafter provided, to purchase in fee simple or receive the donation of any lot or lots of ground suitable and necessary for the erection of common school houses thereon, in said city, and to erect on each or any of the said lots of groing [ground] a good and substantial school house, of such dimensions as shall be convenient for the use of common schools in said city, and to levy taxes upon the real and personal property of the said city, according to the provisions hereinafter contained, to defray the expenses of the purchase of such lot or lots, and the erection of such school house or school houses; provided, that before any tax shall be levied for the purpose of raising funds as aforesaid for the purchase of ground, or the erection of any school house, and before any such purchase shall be made, or school house erected, or contracted for, the said City Council shall, by a resolution passed and adopted at a regular meeting, provide for the decision by the householders and resident tax-payers of the said city, whether such purchase shall be made or not, or whether such building shall be erected or not, or both as the case may be, and it shall be the duty of the City Recorder forthwith to furnish the Mayor of said city, with a copy of such resolution, and the said Mayor, when he shall next make proclamation for the annual city election, according to the provisions of this act, shall insert therein a special notice to the householders and resident tax-payers, of the said city of the matters thereby submitted to their decision, and the said householders or resident taxpayers, at such annual election shall vote for or against the purpose of said resolution by having written or printed upon their ballots the words, "for school house tax," or "against school house tax," as the case may be, which said ballots shall be deposited by the judges of election in a separate box, and shall be counted and return shall be made thereof with the returns of said election, and if a majority of the said voters shall be for the levying of such tax, then, and in that case, the said City Council shall levy an annual tax not exceeding one mill upon each dollar, upon the valuation of the property assessed upon the grand levy of the State within said city except the property of black or mulatto persons, until a sufficient sum shall be raised to defray the cost of the purchase of ground or erection of school houses, authorized by the vote of the electors, as aforesaid, and it shall be the duty of the city recorder, thereupon, to certify the same to the auditor of Clark county, who shall cause said tax to be placed upon his duplicate, and the same shall be collected by the treasurer of Clark county, at the same time and [in] the same manner as is provided by this act for the collection of the city taxes; and the said treasurer shall pay the same over to the city treasurer, on or before the first day of February next after the said tax shall have been placed in his hands for collection, and the said school house tax shall be in addition to, and separate from, the taxes levied and collected for the ordinary expenses of said city; and shall constitute a fund for the purpose for which it shall have been levied, and no other purpose whatever, and all accounts of its receipts and expenditures shall be kept entirely separate and distinct from all other accounts; and separate account thereof shall be published along with the exhibit of the ordinary receipts and expenditures of the city, required by this act to be published annually.
Sec. 30. That whenever the City Council shall have been authorized by a vote of the householders and resident taxpayers of the said city, under the provisions of the preceding section of this act, to levy a tax for the purchase of ground or the erection of a school house or school houses, or both, as the case may be, it shall be lawful for the said City Council to borrow the amount so levied, at an interest not exceeding six per centum per annum, and to apply the amount so borrowed, in payment for such ground or building, and repay the amount so borrowed with the moneys arising from such tax, as the same shall be collected; and in such case the said tax so levied, shall be specially pledged for the payment of the money so borrowed, and shall not be used or expended for any other purpose whatever.
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