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der or prevent the carrying out of the proposed reclamation or add to the cost thereof, such objections should be discour

aged.-Meyer v. Reclamation District No. 17, 172 Cal. 104, 155 Pac. 635.

$3465. PAYMENTS, HOW MADE. The lists must remain in the office of the county treasurer for thirty days; and during the time they so remain any person may pay the amount of the charge assessed against any tract of land to the county treasurer in gold coin of the United States or in warrants of the district drawn by order of the trustees thereof, and approved by the board of supervisors of the county.

History: Enacted March 12, 1872; amended April 3, 1876, Code
Amdts. 1875-6, p. 57; April 5, 1911, Stats. and Amdts. 1911, p. 645;
May 26, 1917, Stats. and Amdts. 1917, p. 1206. In effect July 27, 1917.

§ 3466. COLLECTION OF UNPAID ASSESSMENTS IN RECLAMATION DISTRICTS. At the end of thirty days unless bonds shall have been authorized the treasurer must return the list to the board of trustees of the district, and all unpaid assessments shall thereafter bear interest at the rate of seven per cent per annum. Thereafter all unpaid assessments and accrued interest shall be collected by and paid to the county treasurer, or the board of trustees may designate an agent to effect such collection who shall deposit said moneys with the county treasurer to the credit of the district. Whenever the board of trustees shall appoint an agent to collect assessments, they shall require that such agent give a bond in such an amount as they may consider sufficient for the faithful performance of his duties. All such payments shall be made in separate installments, of such amounts, and at such times, respectively, as the said board, from time to time, in its discretion by order entered in its minutes may direct. Upon making such order the secretary shall also enter in the minutes of the board a notice in substantially the following form:

[Form of notice.] (Name of reclamation district, location or principal place of business.) Notice is hereby given that at a meeting of the board of trustees held on the (date), an installment of (amount) was ordered paid within sixty days from date thereof to at Any installment which shall remain unpaid on the (day fixed) will be delinquent together with the accrued interest thereon.

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[Service of notice.] The notice must be personally served upon each owner of land in said district, or in lieu of personal service, must be sent through the mail addressed to such owner at his place of residence, if known or entered upon the assessment roll of the county, and if not known, at the place where the principal office of the district is situated, or be published once a week for two weeks successively in some newspaper of general circulation and devoted to the publication of general news, within the district, and if no such newspaper be published within the district then publication may be made in some newspaper published in the county seat of the county where the greater portion of said district is situated.

[Installment delinquent.] If any such installment shall remain unpaid at the expiration of said sixty days from the date of the order, then the whole remaining uncalled portion of said assessment shall become delinquent together with the accrued interest thereon and a penalty of ten per cent of the amount of said installment and interest shall be added thereto and collected for the use of the district.

[Sale of property.] Immediately after the said installment has become delinquent, the trustees of the district must publish in one notice a list of all of said delinquencies at least once a week for two weeks in some newspaper of general circulation published in the county where said district or the greater part thereof is situated, which notice shall contain a description of the property assessed, the name of the person to whom it is assessed, or a statement that it is assessed to unknown owners, if such is the fact; the amount then due on said property, and a notice that the property assessed will be sold on the date therein stated, in front of the courthouse of said county to pay the amount then due on said property. The date of said sale shall be not less than ten days after the date of the last publication of said notice. And at said time stated

in said notice, or such other time to which said sale may have been postponed, the trustees must sell said property to the highest bidder for gold coin of the United States. Out of the proceeds of said sale the trustees must pay the amount due on said property as shown in said notice to the county treasurer who shall place the same in the proper funds of said district. The trustees must pay to the owner of said property any surplus remaining after such payment to the county treasurer. The trustees may postpone said sale from time to time for not less than ten nor more than thirty days at any one time by a written notice posted at the place of sale.

[Purchase by district.] If no bid is made for said property equal to the amount due thereon, the district shall become the purchaser, and the said property must be struck off to the district for said amount. A certificate of such sale shall be executed by the trustees to the purchaser, or to the district, if the property shall have been struck off to the district, and said certificate of sale shall be recorded in the office of the county recorder of said county.

[Redemption.] Any person interested in said property may redeem the same at any time within one year after the date of said sale, by paying to the county treasurer the amount for which said property was sold, and interest on the said sums at the rate of two per cent per month from the date of said sale.

If no redemption shall be made within said one year, the purchaser, or the district, if said property shall have been sold to the district, shall be entitled to a deed executed by said trustees, and the effect of such deed shall be to convey said property free of all liens and incumbrances, excepting state, county and municipal taxes, and any subsequent district assessment.

[Sale at public auction.] The trustees may sell said property at any time at public auction after notice given for the said period and in the same manner as is herein provided for sales for delinquent assessments, but not for a sum less than the amount for which said property was sold, together with any subsequent assessment and the deed executed in pursuance of such sale shall convey said property free of all incumbrances, except state, county and other municipal taxes. Assessments heretofore made in any reclamation district shall be validated and collected in the manner provided by law at the time such assessments were made.

History: Enacted March 12, 1872; amended March 30, 1874, Code Amdts. 1873-4, p. 48; April 12, 1880, Code Amdts. 1880 (Pol. C. pt.), p. 108; March 31, 1891, Stats. and Amdts. 1891, p. 288; March 6, 1905, Stats. and Amdts. 1905, p. 62; April 5, 1911, Stats. and Amdts. 1911, p. 645; June 12, 1915, Stats. and Amdts. 1915, p. 1525; May 26, 1917, Stats. and Amdts. 1917, p. 1206. In effect July 27, 1917.

ENFORCING PAYMENT-SALE AND DEED. 1. Construction.

2. Character of assessment.

3. Power to collect assessment by ordinary action.

4. Reclamation district, nature of. 5. Sale-What may be sold.

1. Construction.-Under the provision of this section that the assessment must be paid in instalments in such amounts and at such times as the board of trustees in their discretion may determine, with the only limitation upon such discretion that a debt has existed for two years, the board of trustees have the authority to contract to make the collection of the assessment at a particular time, and where they fail to do so mandamus will lie to compel the collection. -Moreing v. Shields, 28 Cal. App. 513, 152 Pac. 964.

2. Character of assessment.-Assessments of a reclamation district do not have the character of a tax so as to be collectible by execution or levy upon the general property of the owner of the land against which

the assessment is made; such assessments may be made upon the property because the improvement to be made with the money raised in that manner is presumed to benefit the property assessed to an amount at least equal to the charge against it.-Atchison, T. & S. F. Ry. Co. v. Reclamation District No. 404, 173 Cal. 91, 159 Pac. 430.

3. Power to collect assessment by ordinary action. A reclamation district has neither the right nor the power to collect a delinquent assessment by an ordinary action for the recovery of a personal judgment for money, as the law authorizing such assessments does not provide that the district may collect the same by ordinary judgment and execution against the person owning the land so assessed, and if it did so, it would be unconstitutional.-Atchison, T. & S. F. Ry. Co. v. Reclamation District No. 404, 173 Cal. 91, 159 Pac. 430.

4. Reclamation district, nature of.-A reclamation district is an agency of the state, or local public corporation, for purposes of local improvement, similar in that respect

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effect of the amendment was to repeal that portion of the section which had been omitted, and leave the rights of those owners who had paid an assessment later declared invalid unaffected by any express statutory provision as regards the obtaining of credit for such payments.-Spurrier v. Reclamation District No. 17, 172 Cal. 157, 155 Pac. 840.

2. Under the amendment of 1911 land owners of a reclamation district who had paid an assessment subsequently adjudicated invalid, were not entitled to credit for such payments upon any assessment thereafter levied, as was the case prior to such amendment, and such omission was not supplied until 1915.-Spurrier v. Reclamation District No. 17, 172 Cal. 157, 155 Pac. 840.

§ 3467. WORK OF RECLAMATION TO BE DONE UNDER DIRECTION OF TRUSTEES [repealed].

History: Enacted March 12, 1872; repealed May 26, 1917, Stats. and
Amdts. 1917, p. 1208. In effect July 27, 1917.

§ 3468. ACCOUNTS TO BE KEPT OPEN TO INSPECTION [repealed]. History: Enacted March 12, 1872; repealed May 26, 1917, Stats. and Amdts. 1917, p. 1208. In effect July 27, 1917.

§ 3478.

1.

Amendment of 1911, effect of.-Under the amendment of 1911 to section 3478 of the Political Code, which provides that "all reclamation districts now legally existing in this state, which were created by or formed under the provisions of any statute of the state, shall henceforth be subject to the provisions of the Political Code, relating to reclamation districts the same as though such districts had been formed by or created under the provisions of said act relating to 'swamp and overflowed salt marsh and tide lands'; provided that this provision shall not affect any proceeding that shall have been already commenced for the levy or collection of assessments in such district, when this act takes effect," where a petition for the assessment and the appointment of commissioners was filed before such amendment took effect, a proceeding for the levy and collection of such assessment had "been

already commenced," within the meaning of such section, and the old law is applicable to such an assessment, and the superior court has jurisdiction to declare such an assessment illegal.-Finnan v. Reclamation District No. 273, 26 Cal. App. 714, 148 Pac. 227.

2. A judgment annulling such an assessment should be upheld on the ground of fraud, where the attorneys for the contesting land owners are led to believe that an appeal would be taken from the judgment and no further proceedings be taken before the board of supervisors, and thereafter without notice to them, the attorneys for the district change their purpose and conclude to and do file lists with the board of supervisors under the amended law instead of appealing from such judgment.— Finnan v. Reclamation District No. 273, 26 Cal. App. 714, 148 Pac. 227.

SPECIAL

§ 3480. RECLAMATION DISTRICT MAY ISSUE BONDS. ELECTION. Whenever in any reclamation district in this state, now formed or which may hereafter be formed, any assessment has been levied and assessed upon the lands of said district, and remains unpaid in whole or in part, where in the judgment and opinion of the board of trustees of said district it would be for the best interest of said district or the landowners therein to issue bonds for the purpose of obtaining money to pay the costs of reclamation, the indebtedness of the district, or any other legal charge, or when a petition signed by the owners of more than one-half of the land in the district is filed with the secretary of the board, the board of trustees of such district shall by order entered upon the records of said board, order a special election to be held at some place in said district to be designated by said board of trustees, at which said special election shall be submitted to the owners of land in said district the question of whether or not bonds of said district shall be issued in

an amount equal to the amount of such assessment, or the part of such assessment remaining unpaid, which said amount shall be entered by said board of trustees in its records and stated by them in the order for such special election.

[Evidence of ownership and value.] For all purposes of this article relating to signing petitions and by-laws and voting at any election of reclamation districts the equalized assessment roll for the year last preceding, in each county wherein any land of the district is situated shall be sufficient evidence of ownership and of value of lands in the district as hereinafter provided. Guardians, executors, administrators and other persons holding land in a trust capacity under appointment of court may sign such petitions or by-laws or may vote without obtaining special authority therefor.

[Notice of election.] Notice of such special election must be given by the board of trustees by posting notices thereof in at least three public places in the district at least twenty-one days prior thereto, and also by publication for the same length of time in some newspaper of general circulation published in each county in which any portion of said district may be situated; and such notice must specify the time and place of holding such election, the aggregate face value of bonds proposed to be issued and the names of three landholders of the district to act as a board of election. Affidavits of the publication and posting of such notice must be filed with the county clerk of the county in which said district or the greater part thereof is situated (herein designated as the main county), together with a copy of said order calling the election, certified by the president of the board of trustees.

[Who may vote.] At such election each owner of lands in the district shall be entitled to vote in person or by proxy and shall have the right to cast one vote for each dollar's worth of real estate owned by him in the district, such value and ownership thereof to be determined from the next preceding assessment roll of the county or counties in which the lands of said district are situate, and the board of trustees of the district shall, prior to the election, cause to be prepared and certified by the proper officer and furnished to the board of election, a true and correct copy of the said next preceding assessment roll of the said county or counties, which said certified roll shall be used by the said board of election in determining the number of votes each voter is entitled to cast.

[Executors, etc., may cast vote.] Executors, administrators, special administrators and guardians may cast the votes of the estates represented by them.

[Proxy.] No person shall vote by proxy at such election unless authority to cast such vote shall be evidenced by an instrument in writing, duly acknowledged and certified in the same manner as grants of real property and filed with the board of election. The ballots cast at such election shall contain the words: "Bonds-yes," or the words "Bonds-no," and also the name of the person casting the ballot with the number of votes cast by him. A list of the ballots cast shall be made by the board of election, containing the name of each voter, and, if the ballot be cast by proxy, the name of the person casting it, and the number of votes cast by each, and whether the same be cast for or against the issuing of the bonds.

[Election officers.] If any person appointed as a member of the board of election shall fail to attend at the opening of the polls, the voters then present may appoint in his place any landholder of the district. Each member of such board of election, must, before entering upon his duties take and subscribe an official oath, which oath may be administered by an officer authorized to administer oaths or by any landholder in the district.

The polls shall be kept open from ten o'clock a. m. of the day of election until four o'clock p. m.

[Canvass of votes.] At the close of the polls the board of election shall at once proceed to canvass the votes and declare the result and shall forward a certificate showing such result and the number of votes cast for and against the issuing of bonds, to the county clerk of the main county, and shall deliver a duplicate thereof to the board of trustees of the district, and shall also deliver to the said county clerk of the main county all ballots cast at such election and all documents and papers used at such election.

[Contest.]

Any person interested may contest such election within twenty days after such filing of said certificate with the said county clerk by bringing suit in the superior court of the main county; otherwise the declaration of the result by the board of election shall be final and conclusive.

[Issue of bonds.] If a majority of the votes cast at such election are in favor of the issuance of bonds, the board of trustees of the district shall cause bonds in the amount stated in the order for the election to be executed and delivered, together with the assessment list, to the treasurer of said main county.

[Denomination. Interest.] Said bonds shall be of the denomination of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars each; they shall be signed by the president of the board of trustees of the district and attested by the county auditor of said main county, and shall be numbered consecutively in the order of their maturity, and shall bear interest at a rate not to exceed six per cent per annum, payable semiannually on the first day of January and the first day of July in each year at the office of said county treasurer upon the presentation of the proper coupons therefor. Coupons for each installment of interest shall be attached to said bonds and shall bear the facsimile signature of the county auditor.

[Payment.] The principal of said bonds shall be made payable on the first day of July, or the first day of January, and in such years as the trustees may prescribe, but said bonds shall be payable serially within twenty years from their date in the manner following, to wit:

(1) Not less than ten per centum of the aggregate face value of bonds issued shall be payable within ten years from their date.

(2) Not less than ten per centum of the aggregate face value of bonds remaining unpaid at the end of ten years shall be payable each year beginning with the eleventh year from their date, until the whole amount of said bonds has been paid. [Form of bonds.] Said bonds shall be substantially in the following form: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

No.

STATE OF CALIFORNIA.
COUNTY OF .

RECLAMATION DISTRICT NO. ...

Reclamation District No.

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for value received hereby acknowledges itself indebted to and promises to pay to the holder hereof at the office of the treasurer of said ..... county, in the State of California, on the first day of .... 19..., the sum of $.. in gold coin of the United States of America, with interest thereon in like gold coin from date hereof until paid, at the rate of

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per cent, per annum, payable at the office of said treasurer semiannually on the first day of January and the first day of July in each year on presentation and surrender of the interest coupons hereto attached. This bond is one of a series of

bonds of like tenor and effect, except as to denomination and maturity, numbered from to inclusive, amounting in the aggregate to

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dollars, issued in accordance with section three thousand four hundred eighty of the Political Code of the State of California pursuant to an election held in said reclamation district on the .... day of 19..., authorizing its issuance, and is based upon and secured by an assessment levied on the lands in said district, and filed in the office of the county treasurer of said county of ... on the 19..., and the said reclamation district does hereby certify and declare that said election was duly called and held upon due notice, and the result thereof was duly canvassed and ascertained, in pursuance of and in strict conformity with the laws of the State of California applicable thereto, and that all of the acts and conditions and things required by law to be done, precedent to and in the issue of said bonds have been done and have been performed in regular and in due form and in strict accordance with the provisions of the law authorizing the issuance of reclamation bonds.

In testimony whereof, the said district, by its board of trustees, has caused this bond to be signed by the president of said board and attested by the auditor of said county

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