USA > Missouri > Lafayette County > History of Lafayette county, Mo. , carefully written and compiled from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of its townships, cities, towns, and villages > Part 17
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SEC. 2. The general assembly shall have no power to remove the county seat of any county, but the removal of county seats shall be pro- vided for by general law ; and no county seat shall be removed unless two- thirds of the qualified voters of the county, voting on the proposition at a general election, vote therefor; and no such proposition shall, be sub- mitted oftener than once in five years. All additions to a town, which is a county seat, shall be included, considered and regarded as part of the county seat.
SEC. 3. The general assembly shall have no power to establish any new county with a territory of less than four hundred and ten square miles, nor to reduce any county, now established, to a less area or less population
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than required for a ratio of representation existing at the time; but when a new county is formed, having a population less than a ratio of represent- ation, it shall be attached for representative purposes to the county from which the greatest amount of territory is taken until such ratio shall be obtained. No county shall be divided or have any portion stricken there- from, without submitting the question to a vote of the people of the county, nor unless a majority of all the qualified voters of the county or counties thus affected, voting on the question, shall vote therefor; nor shall any new county be established, any line of which shall run within ten miles of the then existing county seat of any county. In all cases of the establishment of any new county, the new county shall be held for and obliged to pay its ratable proportion of all the liabilities then existing of the county or coun- ties from which said new county shall be formed.
SEC. 4. No part of the territory of any county shall be stricken off and added to an adjoining county, without submitting the question to the qual- ified voters of the counties immediately interested, nor unless a majority of all the qualified voters of the counties thus affected, voting on the question, shall vote therefor. When any part of a county is stricken off and attached to another county, the part stricken off shall be holden for, and obliged to pay its proportion of all the liabilities then existing of the county from which it is taken.
SEC. 5. When any new county, formed from contiguous territory taken from older counties, or when any county to which territory shall be added taken from an adjoining county, shall fail to pay the proportion of indebt- edness of such territory, to the county or counties from which it is taken, then it may be lawful for any county from which such territory has been taken, to levy and collect, by taxation, the due proportion of indebtedness of such territory, in the same manner as if the territory had not been stricken off.
SEC. 6. No county, township, city or other municipality, shall here- after become a subscriber to the capital stock of any railroad or other cor- poration or association, or make appropriation or donation, or loan its credit to, or in aid of any such corporation or association, or to or in aid of any college or institution of learning, or other institution, whether created for or to be controlled by the state or others. All authority heretofore con- ferred for any of the purposes aforesaid by the general assembly, or by the charter of any corporation, is hereby repealed: Provided, however, That nothing in this constitution contained shall affect the right of any such municipality to make such subscription, where the same has been au- thorized under existing laws by a vote of the people of such municipality prior to its adoption, or to prevent the issue of renewal bonds or the use of such other means as are or may be prescribed by law, for the liquidation or payment of such subscription, or of any existing indebtedness.
SEC. 7. The general assembly shall provide, by general laws, for the organization and classification of cities and towns. The number of such classes shall not exceed four; and the power of each class shall be defined by general laws, so that all such municipal corporations of the same class shall possess the same powers and be subject to the same restrictions. The general assembly shall also make provisions, by general law, whereby any city, town or village, existing by virtue of any special or local law, may elect to become subject to, and be governed by, the general laws relating to such corporations.
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SEC. S. The general assembly may provide, by general law, for town- ship organization, under which any county may organize whenever a ma- jority of the legal voters of such county, voting at any general election, shall so determine; and whenever any county shall adopt township organ- ization, so much of this constitution as provides for the management of county affairs, and the assessment and collection of the revenue by county officers, in conflict with such general law for township organization, may be dispensed with, and the business of said county, and the local concerns of the several townships therein, may be transacted in such manner as may be prescribed by law: Provided, That the justices of the county court in such case shall not exceed three in number.
SEC. 9. In any county which shall have adopted " Township Organiz- ation," the question of continuing the same may be submitted to a vote of the electors of such county at a general election, in the manner that shall be provided by law; and if a majority of all the votes cast upon that question shall be against township organization, it shall cease in said county; and all laws in force in relation to counties not having township organization shall immediately take effect and be in force in such county.
SEC. 10. There shall be elected by the qualified voters in each county, at the time and places of electing representatives, a sheriff and coroner. They shall serve for two years, and until their successors be duly elected and qualified, unless sooner removed for malfeasance in office, and shall be eligible only four years in any period of six. Before entering on the duties of their office, they shall give security in the amount and in such manner as shall be prescribed by law. Whenever a county shall be hereafter established, the governor shall appoint a sheriff and a coroner therein, who shall continue in office until the next succeeding general election, and until their successors shall be duly elected and qualified.
SEC. 11. Whenever a vacancy shall happen in the office of sheriff or coroner, the same shall be filled by the county court. If such vacancy hap- pen in the office of sheriff more than nine months prior to the time of holding a general election, such county court shall immediately order a special election to fill the same, and the person by it appointed shall hold office until the person chosen at such election shall be duly qualified; otherwise, the person appointed by such county court shall hold office until the person chosen at such general election shall be duly qualified. If any vacancy happen in the office of coroner, the same shall be filled for the remainder of the term by such county court. No person elected or appointed to fill a vacancy in either of said offices shall thereby be ren- dered ineligible for the next succeeding term.
SEC. 12. The general assembly shall, by a law uniform in its opera- tion, provide for and regulate the fees of all county officers, and for this purpose may classify the counties by population.
SEC. 13. The fees of no executive or ministerial officer of any county or municipality, exclusive of the salaries actually paid to his necessary deputies, shall exceed the sum of ten thousand dollars for any one year. Every such officer shall make return, quarterly, to the county court of all fees by him received, and of the salaries by him actually paid to his depu- ties or assistants, stating the same in detail, and verifying the same by his affidavit; and for any statement or omission in such return, contrary to truth, such officer shall be liable to the penalties of willful and corrupt perjury.
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SEC. 14. Except as otherwise directed by this constitution, the general assembly shall provide for the election or appointment of such other county, township and municipal officers, as public convenience may require; and their terms of office and duties shall be prescribed by law; but no term of office shall exceed four years.
SEC. 15. , In all counties having a city therein containing over one hun- dred thousand inhabitants, the city and county government thereof may be consolidated in such manner as may be provided by law.
SEC. 16. Any city having a population of more than one hundred thousand inhabitants, may frame a charter for its own government, con- sistent with and subject to the constitution and laws of this state, by causing a board of thirteen freeholders, who shall have been for at least five years qualified voters thereof, to be elected by the qualified voters of such city at any general or special election; which board shall, within ninety days after such election, return to the chief magistrate of such city a draft of such charter, signed by the members of such board or a majority of them. Within thirty days thereafter, such proposed charter shall be submitted to the qualified voters of such city, at a general or special elec- tion, and if four-sevenths of such qualified voters voting thereat, shall rat- ify the same, it shall, at the end of thirty days thereafter, become the char- ter of such city, and supersede any existing charter and amendments thereof. A duplicate certificate shall be made, setting forth the charter proposed and its ratification, which shall be signed by the chief magistrate of such city, and authenticated by its corporate seal. One of such certifi- cates shall be deposited in the office of the secretary of state, and the other, after being recorded in the office of the recorder of deeds for the county in which such city lies, shall be deposited among the archives of such city, and all courts shall take judicial notice thereof. Such charter, so adopted, may be amended by a proposal therefor, made by the law-making author- ities of such city, published for at least thirty days in three newspapers of largest circulation in such city, one of which shall be a newspaper printed .in the German language, and accepted by three-fifths of the qualified voters of such city, voting at a general or special election, and not other- wise; but such charter shall always be in harmony with and subject to the constitution and laws of the state.
SEC. 17. It shall be a feature of all such charters that they shall pro- vide, among other things, for a mayor or chief magistrate, and two houses of legislation, one of which at least shall be elected by general ticket; and in submitting any such charter or amendment thereto to the qualified voters of such city, any alternative section or article may be presented for the choice of the voters, and may be voted on separately, and accepted or rejected separately, without prejudice to other articles or sections of the charter or any amendment thereto.
SEC. 18. In cities or counties having more than two hundred thousand inhabitants, no person shall, at the same time, be a state officer and an officer of any county, city or other municipality; and no person shall, at the same time, fill two municipal offices, either in the same or different municipalities; but this section shall not apply to notaries public, justices of the peace or officers of the militia.
SEC. 19. The corporate authorities of any county, city, or other munic- ipal subdivision of this state, having more than two hundred thousand in- habitants, which has already exceeded the limit of indebtedness prescribed
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in section twelve of article X of this constitution, may, in anticipation of the customary annual revenue thereof, appropriate, during any fiscal year, toward the general governmental expenses thereof, a sum not exceeding seven-eighths of the entire revenue applicable to general governmental purposes (exclusive of the payment of the bonded debt of such county, city or municipality) that was actually raised by taxation alone during the pre- ceding fiscal year; but until such excess of indebtedness cease, no further bonded debt shall be incurred, except for the renewal of other bonds.
ST. LOUIS.
SEC. 20. The city of St. Louis may extend its limits so as to embrace the parks now without its boundaries, and other convenient and contiguous territory, and frame a charter for the government of the city thus enlarged, upon the following conditions, that is to say: The council of the city and county court of the county of St. Louis, shall, at the request of the mayor of the city of St. Louis, meet in joint session and order an election, to be held as provided for general elections, by the qualified voters of the city and county, of a board of thirteen freeholders of such city or county, whose duty shall be to propose a scheme for the enlargement and definition of the boundaries of the city, the reorganization of the government of the county, the adjustment of the relations between the city thus enlarged and the residue of St. Louis county and the government of the city thus enlarged, by a charter in harmony with and subject to the constitution and laws of Missouri, which shall, among other things, provide for a chief executive and two houses of legislation, one of which shall be elected by general ticket, which scheme and charter shall be signed in duplicate by said board or a majority of them, and one of them returned to the mayor of the city and the other to the presiding justice of the county court within ninety days after the election of such board. Within thirty days thereafter the city council and county court shall submit such scheme to the qualified voters of the whole county, and such charter to the qualified voters of the city so enlarged, at an election to be held not less than twenty nor more than thirty days after the order therefor; and if a majority of such qualified voters, voting at such election, shall ratify such scheme and charter, then such scheme shall become the organic law of the county and city, and such charter the organic law of the city, and at the end of sixty days thereafter shall take the place of and supersede the charter of St. Louis, and all amendments thereof, and all special laws relating to St. Louis county in- consistent with such scheme.
SEC. 21. A copy of such scheme and charter, with a certificate thereto appended, signed by the mayor and authenticated by the seal of the city, and also signed by the presiding justice of the county court and authenti- cated by the seal of the county, setting forth the submission of such scheme and charter to the qualified voters of such county and city and its ratifica- tion, by them, shall be made in duplicate, one of which shall be deposited in the office of the secretary of state, and the other, after being recorded in the office of the recorder of deeds of St. Louis county, shall be deposited among the archives of the city, and thereafter all courts shall take judicial notice thereof.
SEC. 22. The charter so ratified may be amended at intervals of not less than two years, by proposals therefor, submitted by the law-making authorities of the city to the qualified voters thereof at a general or special
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election, held at least sixty days after the publication of such proposals, and accepted by at least three-fifths of the qualified voters voting thereat.
SEC. 23. Such charter and amendments shall always be in harmony with, and subject to the constitution and laws of Missouri, except only, that provision may be made for the graduation of the rate of taxation for city purposes in the portions of the city which are added thereto by the proposed enlargement of its boundaries. In the adjustment of the rela- tions between city and county, the city shall take upon itse.t the entire park tax; and in consideration of the city becoming the propriucor of all the county buildings and property within its enlarged limits, it shall as- sume the whole of the existing county debt, and thereafter the city and county of St. Louis shall be independent of each other. The city shall be exempted from all county taxation. The judges of the county court shall be elected by the qualified voters outside of the city. The city, as en- larged, shall be entitled to the same representation in the general assem- bly, collect the state revenue, and perform all other functions in relation to the state in the same manner as if it were a county, as in this constitution defined; and the residue of the county shall remain a legal county of the state of Missouri, under the name of the county of St. Louis. Until the next apportionment for senators and representatives in the general assem- bly, the city shall have six senators and fifteen representatives, and the county one senator and two representatives, the same being the number of senators and representatives to which the county of St. Louis, as now or- ganized, is entitled under sections eight and eleven, of article IV, of this constitution.
SEC. 24. The county and city of St. Louis, as now existing, shall con- tinue to constitute the eighth judicial circuit, and the jurisdiction of all courts of record, except the county court, shall continue until otherwise provided by law.
SEC. 25. Notwithstanding the provisions of this article, the general assembly shall have the same power over the city and county of St. Louis that it has over other cities and counties of this state.
ARTICLE X .- REVENUE AND TAXATION.
SECTION 1. The taxing power may be exercised by the general as- sembly for state purposes, and by counties and other municipal corpora- tions, under authority granted to them by the general assembly, for county and other corporate purposes.
SEC. 2. The power to tax corporations and corporate property shall not be surrendered or suspended by act of the general assembly.
SEC. 3. Taxes may be levied and collected for public purposes only. They shall be uniform upon the same class of subjects within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax; and all taxes shall be levied and collected by general laws.
SEC. 4. All property subject to taxation shall be taxed in proportion to its value.
SEC. 5. All railroad corporations in this state, or doing business therein, shall be subject to taxation for state, county, school, municipal and other purposes, on the real and personal property owned or used by them, and on their gross earnings, their net earnings, their franchises and their capital stock.
SEC. 6. The property, real and personal, of the state, counties and
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other municipal corporations, and cemeteries, shall be exempt from taxa- tion. Lots in incorporated cities or towns, or within one mile of the limits of any such city or town, to the extent of one acre, and lots one mile or more distant from such cities or towns, to the extent of five acres, with the buildings thereon, may be exempted from taxation, when the same are used exclusively for religious worship, for schools, or for purposes purely charitable; also, such property, real or personal, as may be used exclusively for agricultural or horticultural societies: Provided, That such exemptions shall be only by general law.
SEC. 7. All laws exempting property from taxation, other than the property above enumerated, shall be void.
SEC. 8. The state tax on property, exclusive of the tax necessary to pay the bonded debt of the state, shall not exceed twenty cents on the hundred dollars valuation; and whenever the taxable property of the state shall amount to nine hundred million dollars, the rate shall not exceed fif- teen cents.
SEC. 9. No county, city, town, or other municipal corporation, nor the inhabitants thereof, nor the property therein, shall be released or discharged from their or its proportionate share of taxes to be levied for state pur- poses, nor shall commutation for such taxes be authorized in any form whatsoever.
SEC. 10. The general assembly shall not impose taxes upon counties, cities, towns or other municipal corporations; or upon the inhabitants or property thereof, for county, city, town or other municipal purposes; but may, by general laws, vest in the 'corporate authorities thereof, the power to assess and collect taxes for such purposes.
SEC. 11. Taxes for county, city, town and school purposes, may be levied on all subjects and objects of taxation; but the valuation of property therefor shall not exceed the valuation of the same property in such town, city or school district for state and county purposes. For county purposes the annual rate on property, in counties having six million dollars or less, shall not, in the aggregate, exceed fifty cents on the hundred dollars valua- tion; in counties having six million dollars and under ten million dollars, said rate shall not exceed forty cents on the hundred dollars valuation; in counties having ten million dollars and under thirty million dollars, said rate shall not exceed fifty cents on the hundred dollars valuation; and in counties having thirty million dollars or more, said rate shall not exceed thirty-five cents on the hundred dollars valuation. For city and town pur- poses the annual rate on property in cities and towns having thirty thou- sand inhabitants or more, shall not, in the aggregate, exceed one hundred cents on the hundred dollars valuation; in cities and towns having less than thirty thousand and over ten thousand inhabitants, said rate shall not exceed sixty cents on the hundred dollars valuation; in cities and towns having less than ten thousand and more than one thousand inhabi- tants, said rate shall not exceed fifty cents on the hundred dollars valuation; and in towns having one thousand inhabitants or less, said rate shall not exceed twenty-five cents on the hundred valuation. For school purposes in districts, the annual rate on property shall not exceed forty cents on the hundred dollars valuation: Provided, The aforesaid annual rates for school purposes may be increased, in districts formed of cities and towns, to an amount not to exceed one dollar on the hundred dollars valuation; and in other districts to an amount not to exceed sixty-five cents on the hundred
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dollars valuation, on the condition that a majority of the voters who are tax-payers, voting at an election held to decide the question, vote for said increase. For the purpose of erecting public buildings in counties, cities. or school districts, the rates of taxation herein limited may be increased when the rate of such increase and the purpose for which it is intended shall have been submitted to a vote of the people, and two-thirds of the qualified voters of such county, city, or school district, voting at such elec- tion shall vote therefor. The rate herein allowed to each county shall be- ascertained by the amount of taxable property therein, according to the last assessment for state and county purposes, and the rate allowed to each city or town by the number of inhabitants, according to the last census taken under the authority of the state, or of the United States; said re- strictions, as to rates, shall apply to taxes of every kind and description, whether general or special, except taxes to pay valid indebtedness now ex- isting or bonds which may be issued in renewal of such indebtedness.
SEC. 12. No county, city, town, township, school district or other polit- ical corporation or subdivision of the state, shall be allowed to become. indebted in any manner or for any purpose to an amount exceeding in any year the income and revenue provided for such year, without the assent of two-thirds the voters thereof, voting at an election to be held for that purpose; nor in cases requiring such assent shall any indebtedness be- allowed to be incurred to an amount including existing indebtedness, in the aggregate, exceeding five per centum on the value of the taxable prop- erty therein, to be ascertained by the assessment next before the last as- sessment for state and county. purposes, previous to the incurring of such indebtedness: Provided, That with such assent any county may be allowed to become indebted to a larger amount for the erection of a court house or jail: And provided further, That any county, city, town, township, school district or other political corporation, or subdivision of the state, incurring any indebtedness, requiring the assent of the voters as aforesaid, shall, be- fore or at the time of doing so, provide for the collection of an annual tax, sufficient to pay the interest on such indebtedness as it falls due, and also: to constitute a sinking fund for payment of the principal thereof, within twenty years from the time of contracting the same.
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