CHAP. CLVIII.—An Act concerning the Construction and Repair of Levees in the County of Sacramento, and the mode of raising Revenue therefor. [Approved April 9, 1862.] The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and SECTION 1. A Board of City Levee Commissioners, with the City Compowers and duties hereinafter provided, is hereby created for missioners. the City of Sacramento, which said Board shall, until its successors are elected and qualified, as hereinafter provided, consist of H. T. Holmes, Charles Crocker, William T. Knox, Charles H. Swift, and Francis Tukey. At the general election in the Flection of. year eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and at the general election every four years thereafter, there shall be elected, by the qualified electors of the City of Sacramento, three members of said Board, who shall each hold their office for the term of four years, from and after the first Monday in March, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and until their successors are elected and qualified; and at the general election in eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and at the general election held every four years thereafter, there shall be elected, in like manner, two members of said Board, who shall each hold his office for the period of four years from and after the first Monday in March, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and until their successors are elected and qualified; provided, that the members of said Board, named Proviso. herein, shall determine by lot, at the first meeting of said Board, which three of their number shall go out of office on the first Monday of March, eighteen hundred and sixty-three; and, provided, further, in case any vacancy occurs in the Board, it shall be filled by the remaining members of the Board. SEC. 2. A Board of County Levee Commissioners, for Swamp County ComLand District Number Two, with the powers and duties herein- missioners. after provided, is hereby created, which said Board shall, until its members are elected and qualified, as hereinafter provided, consist of A. Runyon, Josiah Johnson, and Washington Fern, who shall, at their first meeting, determine by lot which of them, respectively, shall hold office for one, two, and three years, from the first Monday in October next, and until their respective successors are elected and qualified; and at the general election in eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and at each general election thereafter, the voters of the county outside of the city, and within Swamp Land District Number Two, shall elect one Levee Commissioner, who shall take his seat in the Board on the first Monday in the month next succeeding his election, and shall hold office for three years, and until his successor is elected and qualified. If, from any cause, a vacancy shall occur in the Board, it shall be filled by the remaining members of the Board. SEC. 3. No person shall act as a Levee Commissioner until Not to be he has taken the constitutional oath of office; nor shall any Commissioner receive any pay for his services; and if any Commissioner shall, in any manner, either directly or indirectly, be interested in any contract for constructing or repairing any interested. Levee, line of. levee, or furnishing any materials therefor, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment not more than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. SEC. 4. As soon as the Board of State Swamp and Overflowed Land Commissioners have finally adopted a plan for the reclamation of Swamp Land District Number Two, they shall certify so much of the plan, specifications, and estimates, as relate to the work adjacent to the American River, and as relate to the work adjacent to the Sacramento River, and north of the south line of Y street, in the City of Sacramento, to the Board of City Levee Commissioners; and said Board, as soon as possible, after receiving such plans, specifications, and estimates. shall, if they approve the same, proceed to cause so much of the levee required by said plans as lies within the city to be conConstruction structed on the line, and in exact accordance with the plans and specifications certified to them; provided, however, that they may cause such levee to be made broader and higher than the width and height designated; and, provided, further, that if the Board of City Levee Commissioners do not approve the plans certified to them, or disapprove of any part thereof, or of any part of the specifications and estimates therefor, they shall notify the State Commissioners of the fact, whereupon a joint meeting of the two Boards shall be held, and the determination arrived at by such joint meeting or meetings shall be final of the matters in controversy; and, provided, further, said City Levee Commissioners shall have, and they are hereby given. power and authority to turn or straighten the channel of any portion of the American River deemed necessary for the protection of the city. Proviso. Sections. Lettings. SEC. 5. Before proceeding to construct the levee within the city, the City Commissioners shall divide it into two or more convenient sections, and shall then advertise, for at least ten days, in two city papers, for bids for each separate section, or the whole work, which bids, at the time and place appointed, shall be opened in public; and as soon as convenient, after the bids have been opened, the Commissioners shall let the work, either in sections, or as a whole, to such bidder or bidders as they shall deem most advantageous, not being limited to the lowest bidder; or they may reject all the bids, and then readvertise; and they may, at any time deemed necessary, employ an Engineer or Superintendent, and fix his compensation. SEC. 6. The Board of City Levee Commissioners, their condemned. agents, and employés, may enter upon and take possession of any land that may be necessary for the levee within the city, or any land either in the city, or in the county outside the city, that may be necessary or proper to furnish materials for its construction, or that may be necessary and proper to turn or straighten the channel of the American River, and may have the same condemned for public use, in accordance with section sixteen of the Act of May thirteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, entitled an Act to provide for the Reclamation and Segregation of Swamp and Overflowed, and Salt Marsh and Tide Lands, donated to the State of California by Act of Con May cause lands to be gress, or under the provisions of any law that has been or may be passed, authorizing the condemnation of lands for levee purposes, in the City and County of Sacramento. outside SEC. 7. All the levees outside the limits of the City of Sac- Levees ramento, required for the reclamation and protection of Swamp the city. Land District Number Two, shall, as soon as possible, be let out, by the Board of State Swamp Land Commissioners, for construction, as is now provided by law; provided, however, that Proviso. as soon as the work required on the American River, outside the city limits, is let out, the City Levee Commissioners, or some one of them, shall pay one half the estimated cost of construction of said levee, from Thirty-First street, up to, and including, Burns' slough, into the Swamp and Overflowed Land Fund of District Number Two; provided, the amount required same. has been received in the City Levee Fund, hereinafter created; but if not so received, then out of the first moneys that are received in it. sioners. SEC. 8. As soon as the levees north of a point to be fixed, at Powers of or near Sutterville, by the Board of State Swamp Land Com- Commismissioners, as the dividing line between those thereafter to be controlled by the City, and those to be controlled by the County, Levee Commissioners, are finished, the Swamp Land Commissioners shall deliver them to the City Levee Commissioners, whereupon the title to said levees, and their appurtenances, shall vest absolutely in the City of Sacramento, and thenceforward the City Levee Commissioners shall have the charge, care, and control, of all levees in the City of Sacramento, and also of all levees in Swamp Land District Number Two, north of the point to be fixed, as in this section before mentioned; and said Commissioners may raise, widen, and strengthen them, at their pleasure, but shall not alter their line, or in any way diminish their height, size, or strength; and said Commissioners may, with the consent of the city authorities, cause the levee on the American River side to be turnpiked and used as a road, and may collect tolls thereon, for the Levee Fund; or they may, with the consent of the city authorities, contract with any person or persons for raising, enlarging, and strengthening, said levee, such work to be paid for by a lease, with the right to collect tolls, for a period not longer than ten years, and the rate of tolls to be fixed, from time to time, by the city authorities; provided, however, that no such lease shall be made, unless the franchise is put up for public competition, after at least thirty days notice in two city papers. And all the levees in Swamp Land District Number Two, south of the aforesaid point, shall, as soon as they are finished, be delivered to the County Levee Commissioners for District Number Two, whereupon the title to said levees, and their appurtenances, shall vest absolutely in the County of Sacramento, and thenceforward the County Levee Commissioners for District Number Two shall have the charge, care, and control, of all said levees, and may raise, widen, and strengthen them, at their pleasure, but shall not alter their line, excepting where the encroachments of the water render it necessary, or in any manner diminish their height, size, or strength. Duties of Commissioners. Same. Duty of SEC. 9. Both the City and County Boards of Levee Commissioners, herein created, shall, from personal inspection and examination, annually, make and certify to the proper authorities, city or county, as the case may require, on or before the first Monday in March, an estimate of the amount of money that will be necessary to put the levees and works for protection under their control in perfect repair, and keep them so during the year. And upon receiving such statement, the city authorities shall levy, upon all taxable property within the city, and within the lines of said levees, a tax, sufficient to raise the whole amount of money so estimated to be required, less the sum, if any, therein the City Levee Fund, and not required for expenditures then already incurred. And upon receiving such statement, the Board of Supervisors shall levy, upon all taxable property outside the city, in Swamp Land District Number Two, a tax, sufficient to raise the whole amount of money so estimated to be required, less the sum, if any, therein the County Levee Fund, District Number Two, and not required for expenditures then already incurred. The taxes levied under this section shall be collected as other city or county taxes; and the city tax shall be paid into a special fund, entitled "The City Levee Fund," and the county taxes into a special fund, entitled "The County Levee Fund," District Two, and the money shall only be drawn out of said fund upon warrants for claims for levee purposes, allowed by a majority of the proper Levee Commissioners, and approved by the proper city or county authorities. SEC. 10. During the session of the Board of Equalization, hereinafter provided for, the City Levee Commissioners shall file with it a statement of the whole sum of money necessary to construct the levee within the city, to pay one half of the estimated cost of that portion on the American River east of the city, up to and including Burns' slough, and to repay the amount expended by the Citizens' Levee Committee for repairs, and if, in the opinion of said Commissioners, it is deemed proper to turn or straighten the channel of the American River during the present year, then also including the estimated cost of such work; and the Board of Equalization shall, after the whole value of the taxable property within the city and within the lines of the levee has been ascertained, deduct fifteen per cent. for anticipated delinquencies, and then, by dividing the sum required by the Commissioners into the remainder, the Board of Equalization shall ascertain the rate of taxation upon each one hundred dollars value of property that will be required to raise the sum needed; and the rate so found, using, however, a full cent in place of any fraction of a cent, shall be and is hereby levied, as an ad valorem tax, upon all taxable property within the City of Sacramento and within the lines of the levee proposed to be constructed. SEC. 11. As soon as possible after the passage of this Act, the Assessor shall make a copy of the names of persons and description of real estate and improvements assessed in the city and within the lines of levee, as aforesaid, in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-one, and then, using the equalized assessment roll of eighteen hundred and sixty-one, as a basis for making his estimates, he shall proceed and make an assessment of all taxable property within the city and within the levee lines, as aforesaid, keeping, during the time he is engaged, an advertisement in each paper published in the city, stating the fact that he is making an assessment, and requesting parties interested to call at his office and deliver him a statement of their property; and as soon as such assessment is completed, the Assessor shall deliver it to the Auditor, who shall forthwith give notice, by pub- Duty of lication in each paper published in the city, that the special Auditor. levee assessment roll has been completed and is in his possession, open for examination, and that the Board of Equalization will, upon a day to be named in the notice, which day shall not be less than five nor more than ten days from the first publication of the notice, meet, to hear and determine complaints in regard to valuation and assessments therein. zation. Sec. 12. Upon the day specified in the notice required by Board of section eleven for the meeting, the Board of Equalization shall Equali meet, and continue in session from day to day, so long as may be necessary, not exceeding eighteen days, exclusive of Sundays, to hear and determine such objections to the assessments and valuations as may come before them; and the Board may change the valuation as may.be just, and may cite any person to appear before them, and answer concerning his property, and may assess any person or property omitted by the Assessor, and liable to taxation. The Assessor shall be present during the session of the Board, and shall act as its Clerk, and shall note all alterations in value, changes in the description or subdivisions of real estate, and in the owners thereof, or changes in the value of the improvements thereon, and additions to the assessment made by the Board, and within ten days after the close of the session, he shall have the total values, as finally equalized by the Board, extended into columns and added up; provided, Proviso. further, that neither the Assessor nor Board of Equalization shall assess any titular interest on any land other than either the whole fee or an ascertained undivided portion thereof, and upon the tenth day, or sooner, if the Assessor has the roll completed, from the close of its session aforesaid, the Board of Equalization shall again meet and determine the rate of taxation, as provided in section ten, and shall certify the rate to the Auditor, Tax Collector, Treasurer, and District Attorney, and the said Board, or a majority of its members, and the Assessor, shall then certify to the assessment roll as finally equalized and determined, and the Assessor shall deliver it to the Auditor, and the Auditor shall forthwith deliver it to the Tax Collector, charging him the full amount of taxes therein assessed, and shall, from time to time, credit him with the amounts paid to the County Treasurer. During the sixty days next fol- Collection lowing, the Tax Collector shall collect thereon the amount of of taxes. taxes levied, extending the sums received, in figures, as they are paid, and as soon as possible, not exceeding ten days after the expiration of the sixty days, the Tax Collector shall deliver said roll to the Auditor, and make a final settlement with him, and the Tax Collector shall at the same time deliver to the Auditor a duplicate of so much of said roll as remains unpaid, which duplicate shall be known as the Delinquent List. The |