[No. 82.] AN ACT to amend sections one, two, six, seven, twenty, twenty-one and twenty-two, as amended, of act number one hundred forty-nine of the public acts of eighteen hundred ninety-three, entitled "An act to provide for a county and township system of roads and to prescribe the powers and duties of the officers having the charge thereof;" to amend section twenty-five of said act as added by act number ninety-six of the public acts of eighteen hundred ninetyfive; to amend sections twenty-six and twenty-seven of said act as added by act number two hundred thirty of the public acts of eighteen hundred ninety-five; to amend and renumber sections twenty-five and twenty-six of said act as added by act number one hundred of the public acts of eighteen hundred ninety-seven; to amend section thirty of said act as added by act number seventy of the public acts of nineteen hundred five, and to add one new section to said act to stand as section number thirty-one. The People of the State of Michigan enact: SECTION 1. Sections one, two, six, seven, twenty, twenty- Sections amended, reone and twenty-two, as amended, of act number one hundred numbered and forty-nine of the public acts of eighteen hundred ninety-three, added. entitled "An act to provide for a county and township system of roads and to prescribe the powers and duties of the officers having the charge thereof," are hereby amended; section twenty-five of said act as added by act number ninety-six of the public acts of eighteen hundred ninety-five is hereby amended; sections twenty-six and twenty-seven of said act as added by act number two hundred thirty of the public acts of eighteen hundred ninety-five, are hereby amended; sections twenty-five and twenty-six of said act as added by act number one hundred of the public acts of eighteen hundred ninety-seven are hereby amended and renumbered to stand as sections twenty-eight and twenty-nine; section thirty of said act as added by act number seventy of the public acts of nineteen hundred five is hereby amended; one new section, to stand as section number thirty-one is hereby added to said act; said amended and added sections to read as follows: mission of. SEC. 1. On petition of not less than ten freeholders resid- Question, subing in each of the several organized townships, incorporated villages and cities, of any county, or upon a majority vote of the members of the board of supervisors, the board of supervisors of such county shall submit the question of adopting the county road system to a vote of the electors of such county. The said board of supervisors may submit the question at a general or special election called for that purpose, but they shall submit it not later than at the next general Resolution, form of. Time to elapse before election. Notice, by whom given, etc. election. The following form of resolution shall be sufficient for submitting the question, viz.: "Resolved, that the question of adopting the county road system be submitted to a vote of the electors of the county of..... at (the general or special election) to be held on the nineteen hundred day of .... If a special election is to be called, a clause added to the resolution in form following shall be sufficient for that purpose, viz.: "And a special election is hereby called to be held in the several townships and wards of said county on the day last aforesaid, for the purpose of taking such vote." SEC. 2. At least three weeks shall intervene between the adoption of the resolution by the board of supervisors and the time of holding such election. After the adoption of the resolution by the board of supervisors, the county clerk shall give notice thereof. Such notice shall be addressed to the electors of the county and shall set forth the action of the board of supervisors together with a copy of the resolution, and shall further give notice that said question will be stated upon the ballot to be used at said election, as follows: Form of ballot. "Shall the county road system be adopted by the county of ?" Said notice may be in the form follow County road commissioners, when elected, ing, viz.: "To the electors of the county of.... "Notice is hereby given that at a meeting of the board of supervisors of said county, held on the day of..... ..19...., the following resolution was adopted, viz.: (here set forth the resolution). "Notice is further given that said question will be stated on the ballots to be used at said election, as follows: 'Shall the county road system be adopted by the county of........ ?' SEC. 6. In any county where the county road system shall be adopted, a board of county road commissioners, not exceednumber, etc. ing three in number, shall be elected by the people of such county. The number of county road commissioners shall be fixed by the board of supervisors. In the first instance such commissioners shall be appointed by the board of supervisors or elected at a general or a special election called for that purpose, as shall be ordered by the board of supervisors. If such commissioners are appointed, they shall hold office only until the general election held on the first Monday in April then next following, at which time their successors shall be elected. If such commissioners are to be elected at a general election, notice thereof, embodying a copy of the resolution of the board of supervisors, giving the number and terms of office of the commissioners to be elected, shall be published by the clerk in the newspaper or newspapers Notice of election. selected by the board of supervisors, as required by section three of this act; if a special election is called for the elec tion of such commissioners a like notice shall be given by the clerk, which notice shall be posted and published in such newspapers as required by section three. In the month When elected. of March in each year thereafter in which a county road commissioner is to be elected, the county clerk shall give notice that a county road commissioner is to be elected at the following election, to be held on the first Monday of April, and shall publish the same in a newspaper or newspapers in manner aforesaid: Provided, That in the counties of Wayne Proviso, and Mason the election of county road commissioners shall Wayne and be held at the general election on the first Tuesday after counties. the first Monday in November, and notice thereof shall be given at the time notice is given of the general election. Mason oath. SEC. 7. Any person elected or appointed county road com- Commissioner missioner shall, within ten days after being notified in writ- to take and file ing by the clerk of such county, of his election or appointment, take and subscribe the constitutional oath of office and file the same with said clerk. Each and every county Bond. road commissioner shall be required to execute and give official bond in such amount as the board of supervisors of such county may determine, the expense of securing such bond, if any, to be paid from the county road fund. The Term, when to term of office of the first commissioners elected in any county begin. under this act, shall commence immediately upon filing such oath of office, and shall continue as hereinafter provided. The successor to each such commissioner shall be elected in the year in which a regular session of the legislature is held, on the first Monday in April preceding the expiration of his term. If the number of such commissioners shall be fixed at one, he shall hold office for the term of two years from the first day of May in the year of his election and a successor shall be biennially elected. If the number of such commissioners be so fixed at two, they shall hold office for two and four years respectively from said first day of May, and thereafter one commissioner shall be biennially elected for the full term of four years. If the number of such commissioners shall be so fixed at three, they shall hold office for two, four and six years respectively from the said first day of May, and thereafter one commissioner shall be biennially elected for the full term of six years. No member of the board of supervisors shall be eligible to the office of county not eligible. road commissioner, and such offices shall not be held by the same person at the same time: Provided, That the board of Proviso, supervisors of any county where the county road system has number may been adopted and the number of road commissioners has been fixed by the board of supervisors at a greater number than one, may reduce the number, and in case of a reduction in number as aforesaid no successors shall be elected to those commissioners whose terms shall soonest expire until the Supervisors be reduced. When board to determine tax needed. Limit of. number of commissioners shall be reduced to the number specified by the board of supervisors, and thereafter successors shall be elected for the term hereinbefore provided, depending upon the number to which said board shall have been thus reduced and fixed by the board of supervisors. SEC. 20. On or before the first day of October of each year, said board of county road commissioners shall determine upon the amount of tax which in their judgment should be raised for such year in said county for the purposes aforesaid, specifying and itemizing the roads and parts of roads upon which such moneys are to be expended, stating the amount asked for each of such roads, and shall cause such determination to be entered upon their records. Such tax shall not exceed two dollars on each one thousand dollars of assessed valuation of such county according to the assessment roll of the last preceding year, except in counties where the privilege of a greater tax has been granted by the legislature, and in the counties of Wayne, Kent and Houghton it shall not exceed twenty-five cents on each one thousand dollars of the assessed valuation of the county according to Duty of board the assessment rolls of the last preceding year. At the anof supervisors. nual meeting of the board of supervisors held in October, the county clerk shall lay such determination before the board of supervisors and such board of supervisors shall pass upon the said determination, and if a majority of such board of supervisors shall agree therewith, then such tax shall be`apportioned between the several townships and cities of said county according to their equalized valuation. If the deter mination of the board of county road commissioners shall not meet with the approval of a majority of the board of supervisors then the said board of supervisors shall proceed to decide upon the amount of tax to be raised for such year in such county for the purposes aforesaid, and may allow or reject in whole or in part any or all of the items for the sections of roads thus submitted for its consideration; and it shall not be lawful for such county road commissioners without the consent of such board of supervisors to expend any such moneys upon any other roads than as thus specified, which tax shall not exceed two dollars upon each one thousand dollars of the assessed valuation of the county according to the assessment rolls for the last preceding year, except in counties where the privilege of a greater tax has been granted by the legislature, and which tax shall not be less than one dollar upon each one thousand dollars of such valuation, except by a two-thirds vote of all the members Tax in Wayne, elect of said board of supervisors. In the counties of Wayne, Kent and Houghton counties. Apportion ment by board. Kent and Houghton the tax shall not exceed twenty-five cents on each one thousand dollars of assessed valuation, according to the assessment rolls for the last preceding year. After the said board of supervisors shall have decided upon the amount of tax to be raised, the said board shall thereupon apportion such tax between the several townships and cities. of said county according to their equalized valuation. The Assessing officers, duty supervisors or other assessing officers in such townships of. and cities shall levy and apportion the taxes so apportioned as provided in this section, to their respective townships and cities, upon the tax rolls of such townships and cities respectively, upon which the county taxes are assessed. The taxes so assessed shall be collected and paid to the county treasurer, the same as other county taxes. All the provisions of law relating to the assessment, levy, collection and return of county taxes and the sale of property delinquent therefor, shall apply to taxes to be raised pursuant to this act. The county treasurer shall keep a separate account of County treasthe taxes collected and moneys received under this act, and urer, duty of. shall pay the same out only upon the order of such board of county road commissioners and upon warrants signed by the chairman and countersigned by the clerk of the board. In counties having a county auditor, or board of county auditors, the warrants shall pass through the hands of such county auditors and be further countersigned by them, when payment shall be made thereof by the county treasurer. All Moneys, how moneys raised under the provisions of this act shall be expended by such board of county road commissioners exclusively for the purposes herein mentioned. expended. etc. SEC. 21. Said board of county road commissioners shall Indebtedness, have no power to contract indebtedness for any amount in limited. excess of the moneys credited to such board and actually in the hands of the county treasurer: Provided, That the board Proviso. may incur liability upon contracts, after a tax is voted, to an amount not exceeding three-fourths the said tax. It is Counties to hereby made the duty of the counties to keep in reasonable repair roads, repair, so that they shall be reasonably safe and convenient for public travel, all county roads, bridges and culverts that are within their jurisdiction and under their care and control and which are open to 'public travel. The provisions of Liability of law respecting the liability of townships, cities, villages and townships, etc. corporations for damages for injuries resulting from a failure in the performance of the same duty respecting roads under their control, shall apply to counties adopting such county road system. In actions arising thereunder, service shall be Judgments, made upon the chairman of the board of supervisors or the how paid. county clerk of the county made defendant therein, which shall be named in the process as the "county of ..... and any judgment obtained thereon against such county shall be audited and paid as are other claims against such county. vote indebted SEC. 22. Whenever the board of supervisors of the county Electors may by a majority vote of all the members elect resolve to con- ness. tract indebtedness or issue bonds to raise money for the construction and maintenance of county roads, the question shall be submitted to a vote of the electors of the county at |