(Passed the 19th day of April, A. D. 1883.)
SECTION.
1. Payment of annual subsidy authorized.
2. May negotiate with Dominion or Local Governments.
3. Powers of Town, when suspended.
4. Amount of subsidy, how assessed.
5. Assessment of subsidy, when to commence.
6. Issue of debentures authorized.
7. Government subsidy handed over to Co.
8. Repealing clause.
Be it enacted by the Governor, Council and Assembly as follows:
Payment of annual subsidy:
1. The Town of ‘Dartmouth is hereby authorized and empowered to enter into an agreement, with any company furnishing satisfactory guarantees and assurances to the Town Council, and which shall undertake the construction, equipment and continuous operation of a line of Railway, to extend from Windsor Junction or other suitable point on the Intercolonial Railway to the Eastern Shore of the Harbor of Halifax, and to a point on said Shore, within the limits of the Town of Dartmouth, approved of by the Town Council of Dartmouth, for the payment to said company, out of the funds of the said Town, of an annual subsidy not exceeding four thousand dollars, for any period not exceeding twenty years, and on such terms not inconsistent with this Act as the Town Council shall deem advisable ; but no portion of said subsidy shall be payable until after said Railway has been thoroughly completed and fully equipped in accordance with the said agreement.
May negotiate with Dominion of Local governments:
2. Provided no such agreement shall have been entered into May negotiate as aforesaid, the Town of Dartmouth is hereby authorized to enter into an agreement with the Government of Canada, or with Her Majesty Queen Victoria, represented in that behalf by the Minister of Railways of Canada, or with the Government of Nova Scotia, or Her Majesty the Queen, represented in that behalf by the Commissioner of Works and Mines for the Province of Nova Scotia, for the time being, for the payment to such Government of a sum not exceeding four thousand dollars, per annum, for a period not exceeding twenty years, or in the alternative, a sum not exceeding two thousand dollars per annum, for a period not exceeding forty years, in the event of the Intercolonial Railway, or a line of railway connected therewith, being extended into the Town of Dartmouth to a point to be determined in such manner as shall be approved of by the Town Council, with satisfactory assurances and guarantees for the equipment and continuous operation of the said extension, with such accommodation for passengers and freight, as will meet the approval of the Council, which guarantees and assurances shall be embodied in the said agreement, or in some subsequent or supplementary agreement before the said subsidy, or any part thereof, shall become payable, and no part of said subsidy shall be payable until after said Railway has been thoroughly completed and equipped, in accordance with
the said agreement.
Powers of town, when suspended
3. In the event of an agreement being entered into, pursusant to the last preceding section of this Act, the power conferred upon the Town by the first section of this Act, shall be suspended and become inoperative, unless and until the agreement so entered into, under the second section of this Act, shall become inoperative.
Amount of subsidy, how assessed:
4. The Town Council of Dartmouth is hereby authorized to assess the amount of such subsidy, and such amounts as shall from time to time be required to pay the debentures hereinafter authorized to be issued, and interest thereon in each year during the continuance thereof, with a proper allowance for short collection, on the inhabitants and on the property within the Town, by a special rate or assessment for railway purposes, such assessment to be independent of, and not to be regarded as any part of the sum of fifteen thousand dollars at present limited by law to be assessed by the Town Council in any one year. But such rate shall be assessed, levied and collected in the same way, at the same time, and with the same remedies as the ordinary assessment of the said Town.
Assessment of subsidy, when to commence:
5. The first assessment of the said subsidy shall be made at the next annual assessment for general Town purposes, after the railway so to be constructed, under either of the foregoing arrangements, is fully completed, equipped and open for business in accordance with the said agreement, and the payments of said subsidy shall be made in each year at the times, and upon the conditions not inconsistent with this Act, which shall be mentioned in the said agreement.
Issues of debentures authorized:
6. Nothing herein contained shall prevent the Town Council, in any year in which they may deem it advisable, during the continuance of such subsidy from raising a portion of the same, not exceeding two thousand dollars in any one year, by the issue of debentures of the Town, instead of levying an assessment for the whole amount of said subsidy, and the said Town Council is hereby authorized so to raise such portion of the same, and such debentures shall issue under the hand of the Warden, and any two or more of the Councillors, under the Seal of the Town, and countersigned by the Clerk, and shall bear interest at a rate not exceeding six dollars by the hundred by the year, payable half yearly, and shall be redeemable at periods to be expressed in such debentures, not exceeding twenty years from the date of issuing the same, and shall not be issued for a sum less than one hundred dollars each, and such debentures shall be free from taxation.
Government subsidy, handed over to Co.:
7. In the event of the said Railway being constructed by a Company, and of any concessions, or subsidies, or property of to Co. any kind whatsoever, being received from the Government of Canada in aid of the construction of said Railway, the Town Council shall be at liberty to hand over the same to the Company in reduction of the subsidy, as may be mutually agreed upon between the Council and the Company, and in event of the Council being unable to arrange with the Company for a reduction of the subsidy payable by the Town in exchange therefor, the Council shall be empowered to sell or dispose of said property, or concessions, in such manner, and on such terms as they shall see fit, and the moneys derived from said sale shall be invested, and the interest appropriated to the payment of the subsidy in reduction of the assessment therefor, or the principal paid directly in reduction of said subsidy as the Council shall determine.
Repealing clause:
8. Chapter 37 of the Acts of 1882, entitled : “An Act to Repealing enable the Town of Dartmouth to grant a subsidy, and levy an assessment for the same, in aid of the extension of the Railway into the Town, and so much of any other Acts, laws, or by-laws as are inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed.”
“To enable the Town Council of Dartmouth to levy an Assessment in aid of Railway extension”, 1883 c32