Sec. 262-51. - Created, boundaries.

That for the purpose of draining, reclaiming, improving and making fit for cultivation and habitation, and thereby to promote the public interest, convenience, and welfare, the lands hereinafter described, which (with the exception of the 16th sections embraced within the designated boundaries) were purchased from the trustees of the internal improvement fund with the understanding and agreement aforesaid with reference thereto (the said 16th sections having been subsequently purchased from the state board of education of Florida), the Jaudon Drainage and Improvement District is hereby created and established, the territorial boundaries of which shall be as follows, to-wit: Beginning at the southwest corner of Township 53 South, Range 31 East, thence 13 miles south, thence 24 miles east, thence one mile north, thence one mile east, thence 12 miles north, thence 25 miles west, to point of beginning, comprising eight townships and 36 sections which sections border on the south and east sides of the said townships, making a total acreage (including the 16th sections) of 207,360 acres.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 1)

Sec. 262-52. - Board of supervisors—Composition, organization, etc.

For accomplishing the purposes of this article there is hereby created a board of supervisors for the said Jaudon Drainage and Improvement District, which shall be the governing body of the said district, and whose duties, authority and powers shall be as hereinafter provided. D. A. McDougal, J. H. McCord and J. F. Jaudon shall constitute and compose the first board of supervisors of said drainage and improvement district, and they shall hold such positions in the order they are named for the term of two, three and four years, respectively, from the date this act becomes a law, and until their successors are elected and qualified; and all vacancies or expiration of terms on said board shall be filled as provided by this act. The board of supervisors shall elect one of their number president of the board, and shall also elect a secretary, and a treasurer, who may or may not be members of the board, and who may be required to give bond for the faithful performance of their duties; and the offices of secretary and treasurer may be filled by one person if the board of supervisors shall so decide. The board of supervisors shall adopt a common seal with a suitable device, and shall keep a permanent record of their proceedings in a substantially bound book to be kept for the purpose, which shall be open to inspection by any interested person, his agent or attorney. The board of supervisors shall report to the landowners of said drainage and improvement district at the annual meetings what work has been done by engineers or otherwise. The members of the board shall receive their actual expenses incurred in attending the meetings of the board, or in attending to any business for and in behalf of said district, which expense account shall be audited by the board before payment, but said board shall receive no compensation for their services unless the landowners at the annual meeting shall determine to pay compensation, which in no event shall exceed $5.00 per day for the time actually engaged in work for the district, and $0.05 per mile for miles actually traveled; provided, however, that if the secretary be a member of the board he shall be entitled to compensation as hereinafter provided.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 2)

Code reference—Boards, commissions, committees and authorities, § 2-816 et seq.

Sec. 262-53. - Same—Filling vacancies.

Every year in the month of February beginning with the year 1925, the board of supervisors shall call a meeting of the landowners in said district for the purpose of electing a supervisor to take the place of the retiring supervisor by giving notice of such election by causing publication thereof to be made for two consecutive weeks in some newspaper published in each county in which lands of the district are situate, the last insertion to be not less than ten days or more than 15 days before the days of such meeting. The meeting shall be held at some convenient place in a county in which some part of such drainage district is situate, which shall be stated in the notice together with the day and hour for holding said meeting.

The landowners when assembled in such meeting shall organize by electing a chairman and secretary of the meeting, who shall conduct the election. At such election each and every acre of land in the district shall represent one share, and each owner shall be entitled to one vote in person, or by proxy in writing duly signed, for every acre of land owned by him in the district, and the person receiving the greatest number of votes shall be declared elected as supervisor. The terms of supervisors, after the expiration of the several terms of office of the members composing the first board of supervisors shall be for three years, and they shall serve until their successors shall have been elected and qualified; and in case of a vacancy in office of any supervisor the remaining supervisors may fill such vacancy until the next annual meeting, when a successor shall be elected for the unexpired term.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 3)

Sec. 262-54. - Taxation; lien; enforcement.

The board of supervisors shall as soon as practicable after their organization levy a uniform tax of not exceeding $1.00 per acre upon each acre of land within such drainage district, to be used for the purpose of paying expenses incurred or to be incurred in organizing said district, making surveys of the same, constructing roads into or through said district and assessing benefits and damages, and to pay other expenses necessarily incurred, as may be estimated by said board and the chief engineer of said district, before said board shall be empowered by subsequent provisions of this article to provide funds to pay the total cost of the works and improvement of the district. Such tax shall become a lien upon the land against which it is assessed from the date of assessment, and shall be collected in the same manner as the annual installments of benefit taxes hereinafter provided for are to be collected. In case the sum received from such assessment exceeds the total cost of items for which the same has been levied the surplus shall be placed in the general fund of the district and used to pay cost of construction. Provided, that if the incorporation of the district be dissolved the amount of surplus, if there be any, shall be prorated and refunded to the land owners paying such assessment. Should it appear to be necessary to obtain funds to pay any expenses incurred or to be incurred in organizing said district, and making surveys and plans for drainage and reclamation, and constructing roads into or through said district, and assessing benefits and damages, and to pay other expenses necessarily incurred, before a sufficient sum can be obtained by the collection of said uniform tax, the board of supervisors may borrow a sufficient amount of money for such purposes at a rate of interest not exceeding eight percent per annum and may issue negotiable notes or bonds therefor signed by the members of the board of supervisors and sealed with the corporate seal of said district and attested by the secretary, and may pledge any and all assessments made under the provisions of this section for the payment thereof. Said board of supervisors may issue to any person or persons performing work or services, or furnishing anything of value, in the organization or accomplishment of the work of said district, negotiable bonds or other evidences of indebtedness bearing interest at not exceeding six percent per annum.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 4)

Sec. 262-55. - Engineer; selection, qualification, general authority.

After organizing, the board of supervisors shall appoint a chief engineer for the district, who may be an individual, copartnership, or corporation, and who shall engage such assistants as the board of supervisors may approve. Such chief engineer shall enter into a bond with good and sufficient surety in a sum to be fixed by said board, which bond and surety shall be approved by said board, conditioned that he will faithfully and honestly perform all duties required of him by said board of supervisors, and deliver to his successor all instruments, papers, maps, documents and other things that may have come into his hands by virtue of his employment. The chief engineer shall have control of the engineering work in said district, and he may, whenever he deems it necessary, confer with the chief engineer of this state, or the board of drainage commissioners, and he may, by and with the consent of the board of supervisors, consult any eminent engineer or engineers, and obtain his or their opinion and advice concerning the reclamation of lands in said district. The said engineer or engineers shall make all necessary surveys of lands within the boundary lines of said district as hereinabove described, and of lands adjacent thereto that will be improved or reclaimed, in part or in whole, by any system of drainage that may be outlined and adopted, and said engineer or engineers shall make a report in writing to the board of supervisors, with maps and profiles of such surveys, which report shall contain a full and complete plan for draining and reclaiming the lands within the boundaries of said district from overflow or damage by water, with length, width and depth of such canals, ditches, drains, dikes, dams, locks, levees, holding basins, reservoirs, or other works, including roads or highways and bridges, that may be necessary or convenient in conjunction with said canals, ditches, drains, dikes, dams, locks, levees, holding basins, reservoirs, or other works, including roads or highways, heretofore constructed or built by the trustees of the internal improvement fund, or any other person or persons, or corporation, public or private, or that may be in process of construction, or which may be hereafter built by them, or anything that may be necessary, which can be advantageously used in such plan for drainage and reclamation, and also an estimate of the cost of carrying out and completing the plan of reclamation, including the cost of superintending the same and all incidental expense connected therewith; said maps and profiles shall also indicate so far as necessary, the physical characteristics of the lands and the location of any public roads, railroads and other rights of way, roadways and other property or improvement located on such lands, or in their vicinity; and in making such plans the said engineer shall consider and recommend plans for irrigation of the lands reclaimed should necessity therefor develop or be anticipated in the general plan.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 5)

Sec. 262-56. - Plan of reclamation, improvement—Preparation, submission.

The chief engineer shall make a report in writing to the board of supervisors once every 12 months and oftener if said board shall so require. Upon receipt of the final report of said engineer concerning the surveys made of the lands contained in the said district and the land adjacent thereto, and the plan for reclaiming the same, the board of supervisors shall adopt such report, or any modification thereof approved by the chief engineer after consulting with him, or some one representing him, and thereafter such adopted report shall be the plan for draining and reclaiming such lands from overflow or damage by water, and it shall, after such adoption, be known and designated as the "plan of reclamation and improvement," which plan shall be filed with the secretary of the board of supervisors, and by him kept with the records of the district.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 6)

Sec. 262-57. - Same—Transmission, appointment of commissioners.

Within 30 days after the adoption of the plan of reclamation and improvement, the secretary of the board of supervisors shall prepare and transmit a certified copy thereof to the clerk of the circuit court of the county in which the larger part of said drainage district is located, and at the same time the board of supervisors shall file with said clerk a petition asking the judge of said court to appoint three commissioners to appraise the lands within and without said district to be acquired for rights-of-way, holding basins, and other drainage works of said district, and to assess benefits and damages accruing to all lands in said district by reason of the execution of the "plan of reclamation and improvement," and immediately after the filing of such petition, the judge of said court either in term time or vacation, shall make and enter an order appointing three commissioners who shall be freeholders residing within the State of Florida, and who shall not be landowners in said district, nor of kin by consanguinity or affinity within the fourth degree to any person, owning land in said district. The majority of said commissioners shall constitute a quorum and shall control the actions and decisions of the board of commissioners on all questions.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 7)

Sec. 262-58. - Same—Implementation; organization of board of commissioners.

Said clerk, upon the filing of said order of appointment, shall notify each of said commissioners of his appointment by written or printed notice, and shall state therein the time and place for the first meeting of said commissioners. The secretary of the board of supervisors, or his deputy, shall attend such meeting, and shall furnish to said commissioners a complete list of lands embraced within said district, or adjacent thereto, that can be affected by carrying out and putting into effect the plan of reclamation and improvement, and the names of the owners of such lands, as far as they can be obtained. Said secretary shall also furnish to said commissioners a copy of the plan of reclamation and improvement, with the maps and profiles in his office. The commissioners at said meeting, or within ten days thereafter, shall each take and subscribe to an oath that they will faithfully and impartially discharge their duties as such commissioners and make a true report of the work done by them. The said commissioners shall also at said meeting elect one of their own number chairman, and the secretary of the board of supervisors, or his deputy, shall be ex officio secretary of said board of commissioners during their continuance in office.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 8)

Sec. 262-59. - Duties of board of commissioners.

Immediately after qualifying as provided in the previous section, the commissioners shall begin their duties. They may at any time call upon the attorney of the district for legal advice and information relative to their duties; and the chief engineer, or one of his assistants, shall accompany said commissioners when engaged in the discharge of their duties, and shall render his opinion in writing upon any question affecting their duties when called for by said commissioners. The said commissioners shall proceed to view the premises and determine the value of all lands within or without the district acquired and used for right-of-way, holding basins or other works set out in the plan of reclamation and improvement. They shall assess the amounts of benefits, and also the amount of damages, if any, that will accrue to each governmental lot, 40-acre tract, or other subdivision of land (according to ownership), public highways, railroads and other rights-of-way not traversed by such work and improvements, from carrying out and putting into effect the plan of reclamation and improvement theretofore adopted. The commissioners in assessing the benefits to lands, public highways, railroads and other rights-of-way not traversed by such works and improvements, as provided for in the plan of reclamation and improvement, shall not consider what benefits will be derived by such property after other ditches, improvements or other plans of reclamation shall have been constructed, but they shall assess only such benefits as will be derived from the construction of the works and improvements set out in the plan of reclamation and improvement, or as the same may afford an outlet for drainage or protection from overflow of such property. The commissioners shall give due consideration and credit to any other canal or canals, dam or dams, ditch or ditches, dike or dikes, levee or levees, or other systems of reclamation which may have already been constructed, and which afford partial or complete protection to any tract or parcel of land in the said district. The public highways, railroads and other rights-of-way shall be assessed according to the increased physical efficiency and decreased maintenance cost of roadways by reason of the protection to be derived from the proposed work and improvements. The commissioners shall have no power to change the plan of reclamation and improvement as adopted. The board of commissioners shall prepare a report of their findings which shall be arranged in tabular form. The columns of such shall be headed as follows: Column one, Owner of Property Assessed; Column two, Description of Property Assessed; Column three, Number of Acres Assessed; Column four, Amount of Benefits Assessed; Column five, Amount of Damages Assessed; Column six, Number of Acres to be Taken for Rights-of-Way, Holding Basins, etc.; Column seven, Value of Property to be Taken. The said commissioners shall also, by and with the advice of the chief engineer of the district, estimate the cost of the work set out in the plan of reclamation and improvement, which estimate shall include the cost of property required for rights-of-way, holding basins and other works, and damages, and the probable expense of organization and administration as estimated by the board of supervisors, and shall tabulate the same. Said report shall be signed by at least a majority of the commissioners and filed in the office of the clerk of the circuit court by which such commissioners were appointed. The secretary of the board of supervisors, or his deputy, shall accompany said commissioners while engaged in their duties and shall perform all clerical work for said board. He shall also, under the advice, supervision and direction of the attorney of the district, prepare their report. Said board of commissioners shall report to the board of supervisors the number of days each has been employed and the actual expense incurred. Each commissioner shall be paid $5.00 per day for his services and necessary expenses in addition thereto. In case the report of said commissioners shall contain assessments and benefits and damages to lands not included in the said district, the board of supervisors shall file in the office of the clerk of said court a petition praying that the court grant permission for the extension of the boundary lines of said district so as to embrace all lands that will be benefited as shown by the report of said commissioners. After such petition has been filed the same shall be proceeded with in accordance with the provisions of F.S. § 298.07.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 9)

Sec. 262-60. - Publication of report; notice.

Upon the filing of the report of the commissioners the clerk of said circuit court shall give notice thereof by causing publication to be made once a week for two consecutive weeks in some newspaper published in each county wherein any portion of the lands embraced in said district is located. The last publication to be made at least ten days before a rule day of said circuit court to be named in such notice on which exceptions may be filed. It shall not be necessary for the clerk to name the parties interested but it shall be sufficient to say:

Notice of Filing of Commissioners' Report for Jaudon Drainage and Improvement District

Notice is hereby given to all persons interested in the following described land and property in ____________ County (or Counties) in the State of Florida, viz: (here describe land and property), included within Jaudon Drainage and Improvement District, that the Commissioners heretofore appointed to assess benefits and damages to the property and lands situated in said drainage district, and to appraise the cash value of the land necessary to be taken for rights-of-way, holding basins and other works of said district within or without the limits of said district, filed their report in this office on the ____________ day of ____________/____________/____________, 19____________, and each of you is hereby notified that you may examine said report and file exceptions to all or any part thereof on or before the first Monday in ____________/____________/____________, 19____________.

First publication ____________/____________/____________, 19____________.

Provided, that where lands in different counties are contained in said report, said notice shall be published in some newspaper in each county in which such lands so affected are situated, and it shall not be necessary to publish a list of all said lands in each county, but only that part of same situated in the respective counties.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 10)

Sec. 262-61. - Hearing; decree.

The board of drainage commissioners of the Everglades Drainage District, the Jaudon Drainage and Improvement District, or any owner of land or other property to be affected by said report, may file exceptions to any part or all of the report of said commissioners within the time specified in the preceding section. All exceptions shall be heard and determined by the court in a summary manner so as to carry out liberally the purposes and needs of the said drainage and improvement district. If any exceptions are filed, or if it is shown upon the hearing of all of said exceptions, that the estimated cost of construction of improvements contemplated in the plan of reclamation and improvement is less than the benefits assessed against the lands in said district, the court shall approve and confirm the report of said commissioners. But if the court upon the objections filed finds that any or all such objections should be sustained it shall order the report changed to conform with such findings, and when so changed the court shall approve and confirm such report and enter its decree accordingly. The court shall adjust and apportion the cost incurred by the filing of such exceptions, and shall condemn any land or other property within or without the boundary lines of the district if shown by the report of the commissioners to be deeded for rights-of-way, holding basins and other works, or that may be needed for material to be used in constructing said works, following as near as possible the procedure that is now provided for by law for the appropriation of land and other property taken for railroads. Provided, however, that any property owner may accept the assessment of damages in his favor made by the commissioners, or acquiesce in their failure to assess damages in his favor, and shall be construed and held to have done so, unless he gives the supervisors of the district on or before the time shall have expired for filing exceptions, as hereinbefore provided, notice in writing that he demands an assessment of his damages by a jury; in which event the supervisors of the district shall institute in the circuit court of the proper county an action to condemn the lands and other property that must be taken or damaged in the making of such improvements with the right and privilege of paying into court a sum to be fixed by the circuit court, or judge, and proceeding with the work before the assessment by the jury. Provided, any person or party interested may within 20 days after the rendition of final judgment by said circuit court prosecute an appeal to the supreme court, and upon such appeal there may be determined either or both of the following questions: First, whether just compensation has been allowed for property appropriated; and, Second, whether proper damages have been allowed for property prejudicially affected by the improvements to be made; Provided, that if it shall be ascertained and determined that any tract or lot of land or parts thereof upon which the uniform tax authorized and levied as provided in section 262-54 has been paid, will not be benefited by or receive any benefit from the completion of the plan of reclamation and improvement, then the uniform tax so paid upon such tract or lot of land, or parts thereof, shall be refunded and paid to the person paying the same.

The clerk of said circuit court shall transmit a certified copy of the court's decree and copy of the commissioner's report as confirmed or amended by the court to the secretary of the board of supervisors of the district, and the clerk of said circuit court shall also transmit a certified copy of the said decree and of that part of the said report affecting land in each county to the clerk of the circuit court of each county wherein any lands in the said district are located, or affected by the said report, where the same shall be filed and become a permanent record, and each such clerk shall receive a fee of $1.00 for receiving, filing and preserving the same.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 11)

Sec. 262-62. - Construction.

The board of supervisors of said district shall have full power and authority to build, construct, excavate and complete any and all works and improvements which may be needed to carry out, maintain and protect the plan of reclamation and improvement. To accomplish that end the said board of supervisors are hereby authorized and empowered to employ men and teams and to purchase machinery, employ men to operate the same, and directly have charge of and construct the works and improvements in such manner, or by the use of other or more efficient means than provided for in the plans adopted. They may in their discretion let the contract for such works and improvements either in a whole or in sections, and when such contract or contracts are let they shall be advertised and let to the lowest and best bidder, who shall give a good and approved bond, with ample security, conditioned that he will well and promptly carry out the contract for such work and improvements, which contract shall be in writing and to which shall be attached, and made a part thereof, complete plans and specifications of the work to be done and improvements to be made under such contract, which plans and specifications shall be prepared by the chief engineers and shall be incorporated in and attached to the contract, which contract shall be prepared by the attorney for the district and approved by the board of supervisors and signed by its president and the contractor, and executed in duplicate. The chief engineer shall be the superintendent of all the works and improvements, and shall, at least once each year, and whenever required by the board of supervisors, make a full report to said board of all work done and improvements made, and make such suggestions and recommendations to the board as he may deem proper.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 12)

Sec. 262-63. - Tax levy.

After the list of lands, with the assessed benefits and the decree and judgment of the court, have been filed in the office of the clerk of the circuit court as provided in section 262-61, then the board of supervisors shall without any unnecessary delay levy a tax of such portion of said benefits on all lands in the district to which benefits have been assessed as may be found necessary by the board of supervisors to pay the cost of the completion of the proposed works and improvements as shown in said plan of reclamation and improvement, and in carrying out the objects of said district, and in addition thereto ten percent of said total amount for emergencies. The said tax shall be apportioned to and levied on each tract of land in said district in proportion to the benefits assessed and not in excess thereof, and in case bonds are issued as hereinafter provided, then the amount of the interest (as estimated by said board of supervisors) which will accrue on such bonds shall be included and added to the said tax, but the interest to accrue on account of the issuing of said bonds shall not be construed as a part of the cost of construction in determining whether or not the expenses and costs of making said improvements are or are not equal to or in excess of the benefits assessed. The secretary of the board of supervisors, as soon as said total tax is levied, shall, at the expense of the district, prepare a list of all taxes levied, in the form of a well bound book, which book shall be endorsed and named Drainage Tax Record of Jaudon Drainage and Improvement District, ____________ County, Florida, which endorsement shall be printed or written at the top of each page in said book, and shall be signed and certified by the president and secretary of the board of supervisors, attested by the seal of the district, and the same shall thereafter become a permanent record in the office of said secretary.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 13)

Sec. 262-64. - Annual levy.

The said board of supervisors shall each year thereafter determine, order and levy the amount of the annual installments of the total taxes levied under the preceding section, which shall become due and collected during said year at the same time that state and county taxes are due and collected, which said annual installment and levy shall be evidenced and certified by the said board not later than November 1 of each year to the collector of each county in which lands and other property of said district are situated. The certificate of said installment tax shall be in substantially the following form:

This is to certify that by virtue and authority of the provisions of the Act of the Legislature of the State of Florida, entitled, An Act Creating the Jaudon Drainage and Improvement District, Defining and Establishing its Boundaries, etc., which was enacted at the regular session of 1923, of the Legislature of the State of Florida, the Board of Supervisors of Jaudon Drainage and Improvement District of Florida have and do hereby levy the sum of $____________ as the annual installment of tax for the year 19____________ of the total tax levied under the provisions of section 13 of said Act, which said total tax has heretofore been certified to the Clerk of the Circuit Court of your County; and said Board of Supervisors of said Drainage District by and with the authority conferred by section 37 of the same Act, has levied also the sum of $____________ as a maintenance tax for said year; said annual installment of tax and maintenance tax on the lands situated in your County are set out in the following table, in which are: First, the names of the owners of said land as they appeared in the report of the commissioners appointed to assess the benefits and damages to the lands in said district as confirmed by the decree of the Court; Second, the description of said lands opposite the names of said owners; Third, the amount of said installment of tax levied on each tract of lands; and, Fourth, the said amount of maintenance tax levied against the same.

The said taxes shall be collectible and payable the present year at the same time that State and County taxes are due and collected and you are directed and ordered to demand and collect the said taxes at the same time you demand and collect the State and County taxes due on the same lands, and this "Drainage Tax Book" shall be your warrant and authority for making such demand and collection.

Witness the signature of the President of the said Board of Supervisors, attested by the seal of said District, and the signature of the secretary of said Board, this ____________ day of ____________/____________/____________, A.D. 19____________.

Then shall follow a table or schedule showing in properly ruled columns, First, the names of the owners of said land as they appeared in the report of the commissioners appointed to assess the benefits and damages to the lands in said district as confirmed by the decree of the circuit court; Second, the description of the said lands opposite the names of the said owners; Third, the amount of said annual installment tax levied on each tract of land; Fourth, the amount of maintenance tax; Fifth, a blank column in which the collector shall record the several amounts as collected by him; Sixth, a blank column in which the collector shall record the date of payment of the different sums; Seventh, a blank column in which the collector shall record the names of the person or persons paying the several amounts. The columns in which the annual installment tax and the maintenance tax, if any, appear shall be correctly totaled and the total amount shall correspond to the amount set out in the above mentioned certificate. The said certificate and table shall be prepared in the form of a well bound book, which shall be endorsed and named, Drainage Tax Book, Jaudon Drainage and Improvement District, ____________ County, Florida, for the year 19____________; which endorsement shall also be printed at the top of each page in said book.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 14)

Sec. 262-65. - Collection of taxes.

It shall be the duty of the collector of each county in which lands of said drainage and improvement district are situated, to receive the Drainage Tax Book each year, and he is hereby empowered, and it shall be his duty, to promptly and faithfully collect the tax therein set out, and to exercise all due diligence in so doing. He is further directed and ordered to demand and collect such taxes at the same time that he demands and collects state and county taxes due on the same lands. Where any tract or part thereof has been divided and sold or transferred, the collector shall receive taxes on any part of any tract, piece or parcel of land, charged with such taxes and give his receipt accordingly. The above and foregoing Drainage Tax Book shall be the warrant and authority of the collector for making such demand and collection. The said collector shall make due return of all Drainage Tax Books immediately after the first Monday in April of each year to the secretary of the board of supervisors of the aforesaid drainage district, and shall pay over and account for all moneys collected thereon each year to the treasurer of said district at the same time that he pays over state and county taxes. Said collector shall in said Drainage Tax Book verify by affidavit his said return. The said secretary shall each year, within ten days after the return of said collector is delivered to him, prepare and certify to said collector a Drainage Back Tax Book containing the list of lands so returned by said collector as delinquent, deliver the same to him and take his receipt therefor, and said collector shall proceed to collect such delinquent drainage taxes and demand payment therefor in the manner as herein provided for the collection of current drainage taxes. Before receiving the aforesaid Drainage Tax Book the collector of county in which lands of the drainage district are located, shall execute to the board of supervisors of the district a bond, with at least two good and sufficient sureties, or some surety or bonding company approved by said board, in a sum that is double the probable amount of any annual installment of said tax to be collected by him during any one year, conditioned that said collector shall pay over and account for all taxes so collected by him according to law. Said bond after being approved by said board of supervisors shall be deposited with the secretary of the board of supervisors, who shall be custodian thereof and who shall produce same for inspection and to use as evident whenever and wherever lawfully requested so to do.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 15)

Sec. 262-66. - Delinquent taxes.

All taxes provided for in this article remaining unpaid after the first Monday in April of the year for which said taxes were levied shall become delinquent and bear a penalty of two percent per month on the amount of said taxes from date of delinquency until paid. In computing said penalty each fractional part of a month shall be counted as a full month.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 16)

Sec. 262-67. - Penalty on delinquent taxes.

If any county collector refuses, fails or neglects to make prompt payment of the tax, or any part thereof, collected under this article to the aforesaid treasurer, then he shall pay a penalty of ten percent on the amount of his delinquency; such penalty shall at once become due and payable and both he and his sureties shall be liable therefor on his aforesaid bond. The said collector shall retain for his services one percent on the amount he collects on current taxes, and two percent of the amount he collects on delinquent taxes.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 17)

Sec. 262-68. - Declaration of lien.

All drainage taxes provided for in this article, together with all penalties for default in payment of the same, all costs in collecting the same, including a reasonable attorney's fee fixed by the court and taxed as costs in the action brought to enforce payment, shall, from the date of assessment thereof until paid, constitute a lien, to which only the lien of the state for general state, county, school and road taxes shall be paramount, upon all the lands against which such taxes shall be levied as is provided in this article. Provided, that if any lands embraced in and forming a part of any drainage district established prior to the drainage and improvement district hereby created are included in the boundaries of this district the lien for taxes assessed or levied for the purposes of this district hereby created, with the penalties for default in the payment thereof and all costs incurred, shall be subject to the prior lien for drainage taxes assessed or levied for the district or districts first established, as well as the lien for state and county taxes, and the certificate asserting such lien shall so state. Such lien shall be evidenced by a certificate substantially in the following form, to-wit:

To ____________, Clerk of the Circuit Court of said county.

This is to certify that by virtue and authority of the provisions of An Act of the Legislature entitled, An Act Creating the Jaudon Drainage and Improvement District, etc., as enacted by the Legislature of Florida at its regular session of 1923, the Board of Supervisors of Jaudon Drainage and Improvement District, in which are situated lands in the counties of ____________ in the State of Florida, have and do hereby certify the tax authorized by the said Act, which tax and the land against which the same is levied in your county, are described in the following table, in which table are: First, the names of the owners of said lands as they appear in the report of the Commissioners as confirmed by decree of the Circuit Court appointing said Commissioners; second, the descriptions of the land opposite the names of said owners; and third, the amount of said taxes levied on each tract of land. (Here insert such table.) The said tax shall be payable in annual installments, the amount of each installment as well as the amount of the maintenance tax will be determined and certified to the county collector of your county not later than November 1 of each year. The aforesaid tax and such maintenance taxes as may be levied from time to time are hereby declared a lien to which only the lien of the State for general State, county, school and road taxes shall be paramount upon all land herein and heretofore described.

Witness the signature of the president of said Board of Supervisors attested by the seal of said district and the signature of the Secretary of said Board this ____________ day of ____________/____________/____________, A.D. 19____________.

The certificate and tables specified in this section shall be prepared in a well-bound book and filed in the office of each of the clerks of the circuit courts of the counties having lands in said district as the same may affect the land in his county, where the same shall become a permanent record of the office. The said book or books shall be prepared by the secretary of the board of supervisors at the expense of the drainage and improvement district, shall be designated as the Drainage Tax Record and each clerk shall receive a fee of $1.00 for filing said book and preserving the same.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 18)

Sec. 262-69. - Enforcement of liens.

The Drainage Tax Book of the district, as returned by the collector to the secretary of the board of supervisors of the drainage district, shall be prima facie evidence in all courts of all matters therein contained. The liens established and declared in the preceding sections may and shall be enforced by an action on delinquent tax bills, made and certified by the county collector, which shall be instituted in the circuit court without regard to the amount of the claim within 12 months after the date same becomes delinquent. The suit shall be brought in the corporate name of the district by its attorney against the land or lands on which such drainage tax has not been paid. The suit shall be brought in the county in which the property is situated, except when the tract or property sued upon be in more than one county, in which event the suit may be brought on the whole tract in any county in which any portion thereof may be situated. The pleadings, process, proceedings, practice and sales, in cases arising under this article, shall, except as herein provided, be the same as in an action for the enforcement of other liens or mortgages upon real estate. All sales of lands made under this section shall be by a commissioner appointed by the court, who shall execute deed or deeds to the purchaser or purchasers for the property sold. All deeds executed and delivered pursuant to this article shall have the same probative force as deeds executed under judgment and decrees in other civil actions.

In case said district shall fail to commence suit within 90 days after the taxes have become delinquent, the holder of any bond or bonds issued by the district shall have the right to bring suit for the collection of the delinquent taxes, in which event said district shall be included as a defendant, and the proceedings in such suit brought by any bond holder shall in all respects be governed by the provisions applicable to suits by the said district. All suits for the enforcement of the lien on lands for such delinquent taxes, whether by the district or a bond holder, shall be in chancery, and said proceedings, and any judgment or decree that may be rendered therein, shall be in the nature of proceedings in rem, and it shall not be material that the ownership of said lands be correctly alleged in said proceedings, and the judgment or decree rendered shall be enforced wholly against such lands.

All or any part of said delinquent lands situate in one county may be included in one suit for said county, instituted for the collection of said delinquent taxes; and notice of the pendency of such suit shall be given by publication once each week for four consecutive weeks before judgment is entered for the sale of said lands in some newspaper published in the county where such suits may be pending, which notice may be in the following form:

NOTICE

In the Circuit Court of ____________ County, Florida,

____________, Plaintiff,

vs.

____________, Defendants.

Notice is hereby given to all persons having or claiming interest in the following described lands that suit is pending in the Circuit Court of ____________ County, Florida, in chancery, to enforce the collection of certain drainage taxes on the following described list of lands situated in Jaudon Drainage and Improvement District in said County, the name or names of the owners so far as known having been set opposite the lands owned by them, together with the amounts severally due from each, to-wit: (Here follows a list of owners so far as can be ascertained with a descriptive list of said delinquent lands and amounts due thereon respectively.)

Any and all persons and corporations interested in said lands or any part thereof are hereby notified that they are required by law to appear on or before the first rule day of said court after this notice has been published four weeks, and make defense to said suit or the same will be taken for confessed, and final judgment and decree will be entered directing the sale of all or any part of said lands for the purpose of collecting said taxes, together with the payment of interest, penalty and cost allowed by law, including a reasonable attorney fee.

First publication ____________/____________/____________, 19____________.

The title acquired through any sale of lands under the aforesaid proceedings shall be subject to the lien of all subsequent annual installments of drainage tax. In all suits for the collection of delinquent taxes, the judgment for said delinquent taxes and penalty shall also include all costs of suit and a reasonable attorney's fee to be fixed by the court, recoverable the same as the delinquent tax in the same suit. The proceeds of sale made under and by virtue of this article shall be paid at once to the treasurer of said district, and shall be accounted for by him the same as the drainage taxes; any surplus that may remain after payment of said delinquent taxes, penalties, costs and attorney fees, shall be paid over to or held subject to the order of the defendants, or as may be ordered in the judgment or decree of sale.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 19)

Sec. 262-70. - Trial, execution.

All suits instituted under the preceding sections shall stand for trial as other equitable actions, unless a continuance be granted for good cause shown within the discretion of the court; and such continuance, for good cause shown, may be granted as to a part of said lands or defendants without affecting the duty of the court to dispose finally of the others as to whom no continuance may be granted; and in all cases where no answer has been filed on or before the time for filing same as stated in said notice, said notice having been published as required by the preceding section, or if answer is filed and the cause shall be decided for plaintiff, the court by its decree shall grant the relief prayed for; and it shall direct a commissioner of the court to sell the lands described in the bill or petition to the highest and best bidder, for cash in hand at public outcry, at the court house door of the county wherein the suit is pending, after having first advertised such sale (such advertisement may include all the lands described in the decree and ordered sold), once each week for two consecutive weeks in some newspaper published in the county; and if all the lands so advertised for sale be not sold on the day as advertised, such sale shall continue from day to day until completed; and said collector or commissioner shall by proper deeds convey to the purchaser or purchasers the lands so sold, and the title to said land shall thereupon become vested in such purchaser as against all others whomsoever, subject, however, to the liens for all subsequent annual installments of drainage tax, and saving to infants and insane persons having no guardian or curator the rights they now have by law; provided, any land owner shall have the right to redeem any and all lands sold at such sale within one year after the day when the lands are offered for sale.

Provided, all such suits may be disposed of on oral testimony, and this law shall be liberally construed so as to give to said lien for said drainage tax the effect of a bona fide mortgage for a valuable consideration, and a first lien upon all said lands as against all persons having an interest therein. In such suits it shall be sufficient to allege generally and briefly the organization of the district, and the levy, and nonpayment of the taxes, setting forth the descriptions of the lands proceeded against, and the amount chargeable to each tract. Provided, that no informality or irregularity in holding any of the meetings provided herein, or valuation or assessment of the lands, or in the name of the owner, or the number of acres therein shall be a valid defense.

Provided, further, that in any case where the lands are offered for sale by such commissioner as provided by this Act, and the sum of the tax due, together with interest, costs and penalty, is not bid for the same, it shall be the duty of said commissioner making such sale to bid the whole amount due thereon as aforesaid in the name of the district, and shall sell same to such district; and shall execute his deed therefor, conveying to such district such lands so sold to it which said lands may be held and disposed of by the board of supervisors as the interests of said district may demand. Provided, that in all judgments, decrees and orders of sale of such delinquent lands the court shall make proper and equitable provisions for ascertaining the amount, and for the payment of all unpaid state and county taxes with the penalties and costs thereon, against the lands ordered sold, to be paid either out of the proceeds of sale thereof or by the purchaser or purchasers.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 20)

Sec. 262-71. - Duties of treasurer.

The treasurer of such district shall receive and receipt for all the drainage taxes collected by the county collector or collectors, and he shall also receive and receipt for the proceeds of all tax sales made under the provisions of this article. Said treasurer shall receive such compensation as may be fixed by the board of supervisors. Said board of supervisors shall furnish the secretary, and the treasurer with necessary office room, furniture, stationery, maps, plats, typewriter and postage. The secretary, and the treasurer, or either of them, may appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the board of supervisors, one or more deputies as may be necessary. Said treasurer shall give bond in such amount as shall be fixed by the board of supervisors, conditioned for the faithful performance of his duties and that he will well and truly account for and pay out, as provided by law, all moneys received by him as taxes from the county collector or collectors, and the proceeds from tax sales for delinquent taxes, and from any other source whatever on account or claim of said district, which bond shall be signed by at least two sureties, or by some surety or bonding company, approved and accepted by said board of supervisors, and said bond shall be in addition to the bond for proceeds of sales of bonds, which is required by a subsequent section of this article. Said bond shall be placed and remain in the custody of the president of the board of supervisors, and shall be kept separate from all papers in the custody of the secretary or treasurer. Said treasurer shall keep all funds received by him from any source whatever deposited at all times in some bank, banks, or trust company to be designated by the board of supervisors. All interest accruing on such funds shall, when paid, be credited to the district. It shall be the duty of the board of supervisors to audit or have audited the books of the said treasurer of said district at least once a year and make report thereof to the land owners at the annual meeting and publish a statement within 30 days thereafter, showing the amount of money received, the amount paid out during such year, and the amount in the treasury at the beginning and end of the year. The aforesaid treasurer of the district shall pay out funds of the district only on warrants issued by the district, said warrants to be signed by the president of the board of supervisors and attested by the signature of the secretary. All warrants shall be in the following form:

$____________ Fund ____________ No. of Warrant ____________ Treasurer of Jaudon Drainage and Improvement District, State of Florida.

Pay to ____________ the sum of ____________ dollars out of the money in ____________ fund of drainage district.

For ____________.

By order of Board of Supervisors of Jaudon Drainage and Improvement District, Florida.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 21)

Sec. 262-72. - Construction, maintenance of canals, other waterways.

In order to effect the drainage, protection and reclamation and improvement of the land in the district subject to tax the board of supervisors is authorized and empowered to clean out, straighten, open up, widen, or change the course and flow, alter or redeem any canal, ditch, drain, river, watercourse or natural stream; and to concentrate, divert or divide the flow of water in or out of said district; to construct and maintain main and lateral ditches, canals, levees, dikes, dams, locks, sluices, revetments, reservoirs, holding basins, floodways, pumping stations, syphons and roads and highways, and may connect same or any of them with any canals, drains, ditches, levees, roads, highways, or other works that may have been heretofore, or which may be hereafter constructed by the trustees of the internal improvement fund, or the board of drainage commissioners of the state, or other corporation, public or private, and with any natural stream, lake or watercourse in or adjacent to said district, and to build and construct any other works and improvements deemed necessary to preserve and maintain the works in or out of said district; to construct or enlarge or cause to be constructed or enlarged any and all bridges that may be needed in or out of said district, across any drain, ditch, canal, floodway, holding basin, excavation, public highway, railroad right-of-way, track, grade, fill or cut; to construct roadways over levees and embankments; to construct any and all of said works and improvements across, through or over any public highway, railroad right-of-way, track, grade, fill or cut, in or out of said district; to remove any fence, building or other improvements in or out of said district; and shall have the right to hold, control and acquire by donation or purchase, and, if need be, condemn any land, easement, railroad right-of-way, sluice, reservoir, holding basin, or franchise in or out of said district for right-of-way, holding basin, or for any of the purposes herein provided, or for material to be used in constructing and maintaining said works and improvements for drainage, protecting and reclaiming the lands in said district. Said board of supervisors shall also have the right to condemn for the use of the district any land or property within or without said district not acquired or condemned by the court on the report of the commissioners assessing benefits and damages, and shall follow the procedure that is now provided by law for the appropriation of land or other property taken for railroad rights-of-way in case of condemnation.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 22)

Sec. 262-73. - Attorney.

The board of supervisors shall employ an attorney to act for the district and to advise said board. Such employment shall be evidenced by an agreement in writing, which, as far as possible, shall specify the exact amount to be paid to said attorney for all services and expenses. Such attorney shall conduct all legal proceedings and suits in court where the district is a party or interested, and shall in all legal matters advise the said board of supervisors, all officers, employees or agents of said district and board, and generally look after and attend to all matters of a legal nature for said board and district. When the said board may deem it necessary, they may, by and with the advice of said attorney, and under the like terms and conditions as above set forth, employ another attorney or attorneys.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 23)

Sec. 262-74. - Records.

The board of supervisors shall cause to be kept a well bound book, entitled Record of Board of Supervisors of Jaudon Drainage and Improvement District, in which shall be recorded minutes of all meetings, proceedings, certificates, bonds given by all employees and any and all corporate acts, which record or records shall at all times be open to the inspection of anyone interested, whether taxpayer or bond holder.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 24)

Sec. 262-75. - Entry onto property restricted.

The board of supervisors of said district shall not have the right to enter upon or appropriate any land for rights-of-way, holding basins, or other works of the said district, until the prices awarded to the owners of such land shall have been paid to such owners, or into the hands of the clerks of the circuit courts for the use of such owners; and if the sums awarded be not so paid within five years from the date of filing the commissioner's reports, all proceedings as to the taking of such property for rights-of-way, holding basins and other works not so paid for shall abate at the cost of said district. Whenever any land is acquired by said district under the provisions of this Act and the price of such property has been paid the owner by the district, the title, use, possession and enjoyment of such property shall pass from the owner and be vested in the district, and subject to its use, profit, employment and final disposition. The price awarded for all lands acquired by any district for rights of way, holding basins, or other works, and the amount of damages assessed by the board of commissioners and confirmed by the court to any tract or parcel of land or other property in the district, shall be paid in cash to the owner thereof, or to the clerk of the court for the use of such owner, and that portion of any tract or parcel of land not taken for use of the district shall be assessed for the benefits accruing in accordance with the provisions of previous sections of this article.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 25)

Sec. 262-76. - Bridges.

All bridges contemplated by this article and all enlargements of bridges already in existence shall be built and enlarged according to and in compliance with the plans, specifications and orders made or approved by the chief engineer of the district. If any such bridge shall belong to any corporation, or be needed over a public highway or right of way of any corporation, the secretary of said board of supervisors shall give such corporation notice by delivering to its agent or officer, in any county wherein said district is situate, a copy of the order of the board of supervisors of said district declaring the necessity for the construction or enlargement of said bridge. A failure to construct or enlarge such bridge within the time specified in such order shall be taken as a refusal to do said work by said corporation, and thereupon the said board of supervisors shall proceed to let the work of constructing or enlarging the same at the expense of the corporation for the cost thereof, which costs shall be collected by said board of supervisors from said corporation, by suit therefor if necessary. But before said board of supervisors shall let such work, it shall give some agent or officer of said corporation, now authorized by the laws of this state to accept service of summons or upon whom service of summons for said corporation might be made, at least 20 days' actual notice of the time and place of letting such work. Any owner of land within or without the district may, at his own expense, and in compliance with the terms and provisions of this article construct a bridge across any drain, ditch, canal or excavation in or out of said district. Said district shall have full authority to construct and maintain any ditch or lateral provided in its plan of reclamation and improvement, across any of the public highways of this state, without proceedings for the condemnation of the same, or being liable for damages therefor. Within ten days after a dredge boat or any other excavating machine shall have completed a ditch across any public highway, a bridge shall be constructed and maintained over such drainage ditch where the same crosses such highway; provided, however, the word corporation as used in this section shall not apply to counties.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 26)

Sec. 262-77. - Warrants, interest.

Any warrant issued under this article that is not paid when presented to the treasurer of the district, because of lack of funds in the treasury, such fact shall be endorsed on the back of such warrant; and such warrant shall draw interest thereafter at the rate of six percent per annum, until such time as there is money on hand to pay the amount of such warrant and the interest then accumulated, but no interest shall be allowed on warrants after notice to the holder or holders thereof that sufficient funds are in the treasury to pay said endorsed warrants and interest.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 27)

Sec. 262-78. - Surety bonds.

The sureties required on any or all bonds required to be given by this article may be a surety or bonding company approved by the board of supervisors and shall be made payable to the district by its corporate name, in which name all suits shall be instituted and prosecuted. All penalties herein shall be payable to and recoverable by said district. All bonds required by this article shall cover defaults of deputies, clerks or assistants of the officers appointing them.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 28)

Sec. 262-79. - Change of venue.

No change of venue shall be allowed in any of the proceedings had under the provisions of this article, except where the judge of the court in which the petition has been filed shall be disqualified for any of the reasons stated in the statute of this state relating to the change of venue in civil cases. If the judge of such court is disqualified, or is charged by any person interested in the formation of said district with being disqualified for any reasons stated in the statutes, it shall be the duty of said judge to request that a judge from some other judicial circuit of this state be assigned to sit and hear the proceedings and render his decree and judgment the same as the regular judge could have done. Such judge shall retain jurisdiction in such reclamation proceedings only until the disqualification of the regular judge of the circuit court shall have been removed.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 29)

Sec. 262-80. - Abatement of actions by death, disability.

No action under this article shall abate by reason of the death or disability of any party to any proceeding, but upon suggestion of such death or disability the cause shall be immediately revived in the name of the heirs, devisees, or their legal representatives, and summons shall be served on such heirs, devisees or legal representatives at least five days before the day set for hearing the cause, and said summons may be served in vacation or term time; if the heirs, devisees or legal representatives of the deceased party are nonresidents, notice shall be given them by publication once a week for four consecutive weeks in some newspaper published in each county in which the lands described in the petition are situate, and the cause shall then proceed in all respects as in case of the original parties being in court.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 30)

Sec. 262-81. - Effect of appeals.

No appeal from any action of the circuit court had under this article shall be permitted to act as supersedeas or to delay any action or the prosecution of any work begun under the provisions of this law.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 31)

Sec. 262-82. - Dissolution, increased taxation.

If after determining the objections made to the commissioners' report, the court shall find that the estimated costs of works and improvements as reported by the board of commissioners, or as amended by the court, exceed the estimated benefits, the court shall then render its decree, declaring the incorporation of the district to be dissolved as soon as all costs incurred which shall include court costs and all obligations and expenses incurred in behalf of the district by the board of supervisors shall have been paid, and if the uniform tax levied under the provisions of section 262-54 be found insufficient to pay all such costs the board of supervisors shall make such additional uniform tax levies as will be necessary to pay such deficiency; provided, that in estimating the cost of constructing the works and improvements of the district the amount of interest that might accrue upon bonds that may be issued by the board of supervisors under the provisions of this article shall not be considered as a part of the cost of construction.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 32)

Sec. 262-83. - Compensation of personnel.

The board of supervisors, except where otherwise provided, shall by resolution, at time of hiring or appointing, provide for the compensation for work done and necessary expense incurred by any officer, engineer, attorney or other employee and shall also pay the fees, per diem and necessary expense of all court and county officers who may by virtue of this article render service to said district. It is understood that the ordinary fee statute does not apply to services rendered under this article by any county officer, but each officer shall receive only a reasonable compensation for services actually rendered, the same to be fixed by the court in which the proceeding is pending, except where otherwise provided in this article; that said drainage district may prepare, write or print all copies of petitions, writs, orders and decrees or other papers, and furnish same to the clerk or other officer for his use, and in such event said officer shall be entitled to receive as compensation for issuing the said writs and copies of petitions, decrees, orders or other papers, only the reasonable value of the services actually rendered.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 33)

Sec. 262-84. - "Owner" defined.

The word "owner" as used in this article shall mean the owner of the freehold estate, as appears by the deed record, and it shall not include reversioners, remaindermen, trustees or mortgagees, who shall not be counted and need not be notified by publication, or served by process, but shall be represented by the present owners of the freehold estate in any proceeding under this article.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 34)

Sec. 262-85. - Overseers.

For the purpose of preserving any ditch, drain, dyke, levee or other work constructed or erected under the provisions of this article, the board of supervisors shall have power to appoint an overseer or overseers of the district, who shall hold their positions at the will of the board. It shall be the duty of such overseer or overseers to keep the canals, ditches, drains, levees, dykes and other works of the district in good repair, and remove all obstructions from canals, ditches, drains, or watercourses, within or without said district that may affect the works of the district and to perform such other duties as may be prescribed by said supervisors.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 35)

Sec. 262-86. - Issuance of bonds.

The board of supervisors may, if in their judgment it seems best, issue bonds not to exceed 90 percent of the total amount of the taxes levied under the provisions of section 262-63, in denominations of not less than $100.00, bearing interest from date at a rate not to exceed six percent per annum, payable semiannually, to mature at annual intervals within 30 years, commencing after a period of years not later than ten years, to be determined by the board of supervisors, both principal and interest payable at some convenient banking house or trust company's office to be named in said bonds, which said bonds shall be signed by the president of the board of supervisors attested with the seal of said district and by the signature of the secretary of the said board. All of said bonds shall be executed and delivered to the treasurer of said district, who shall sell the same in such quantities and at such dates as the board of supervisors may deem necessary to meet the payments for the works and improvements in the district. Said bonds shall not be sold for less than $0.95 on the dollar, with accrued interest, shall show on their face the purpose for which they are issued, and shall be payable out of money derived from the aforesaid taxes. A sufficient amount of the drainage tax shall be appropriated by the board of supervisors for the purpose of paying the principal and interest of the said bonds and the same shall, when collected, be preserved in a separate fund for that purpose and no other. All bonds and coupons not paid at maturity shall bear interest at the rate of six percent per annum from maturity until paid, or until sufficient funds have been deposited at the place of payment, and the said interest shall be appropriated by the board of supervisors out of the penalties and interest collected on delinquent taxes or any other available funds of the district. Any expense incurred in paying said bonds and interest thereon and a reasonable compensation to the bank or trust company for paying same, shall be paid out of other funds in the hands of the treasurer and collected for the purpose of meeting the expenses of administration. It shall be the duty of said board of supervisors in making the annual tax levy, as heretofore provided, to take into account the maturing bonds and interest on all bonds, and to make provision in advance for the payment thereof. In case the proceeds of the original tax levy made under the provisions of section 262-63 are not sufficient to pay the principal and interest on all bonds issued, then the board of supervisors shall make such additional levy or levies upon benefits assessed as are necessary for this purpose, and under no circumstances shall any tax levy be made that will in any manner or to any extent impair the security of said bonds or the fund available for the payment of the principal and interest of the same. Said treasurer shall, at the time of the receipt by him of said bonds, execute and deliver to the president of the board of the said district, a bond with good and sufficient sureties to be approved by the said board of supervisors, conditioned that he shall account for and pay over as required by law and as ordered to do by said board of supervisors any and all money received by him on the sale of such bonds, or any of them, and that he will only sell and deliver such bonds to the purchaser or purchasers thereof under and according to the terms herein prescribed, and that he will return to the board of supervisors when ordered so to do, duly cancelled any and all bonds not sold, which said bonds shall remain in the custody of the president of said board of supervisors, who shall produce the same for inspection or for the use as evidence whenever and wherever legally requested so to do. The said treasurer shall promptly report all sales of bonds to the board of supervisors, which board shall at reasonable times thereafter, prepare and issue warrants in substantially the form provided in section 262-71 for the payment of the maturing bonds so sold and the interest payments coming due on all bonds sold. Each of said warrants shall specify what bonds and accruing interest it is to pay, and the said treasurer shall place sufficient funds at the place of payment to pay the maturing bonds and coupons when due as well as a reasonable compensation to the bank or trust company for paying same. The successor in office of any such treasurer shall not be entitled to said bonds or the proceeds thereof until he shall have complied with all the foregoing provisions applicable to his predecessor in office. The aforesaid bond of said treasurer, may, if the said board shall so direct, be furnished by a surety or bonding company, which may be approved by said board of supervisors; provided, if it should be deemed more expedient to the board of supervisors, as to money derived from the sale of bonds issued, said board may by resolution, select some suitable bank or banks or other depository, as temporary treasurer or treasurers, to hold and disburse said moneys on the orders of the board as the work progresses, until such fund is exhausted or transferred to the treasurer by order of the said board of supervisors. The funds derived from the sale of said bonds or any of them shall be used for the purpose of paying the cost of the drainage works, road construction and other improvements and such costs, expenses, fees and salaries as may be authorized by law and used for no other purpose.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 36)

Sec. 262-87. - Tax levy for maintenance.

To maintain and preserve the ditches, drains, or other improvements made pursuant to this article and to repair and restore the same, when needed, and for the purpose of defraying the current expenses of the district, the board of supervisors may, upon the completion of said improvements and on or before October 1 in each year thereafter, levy a tax upon each tract or parcel of land within the district, to be known as a maintenance tax. Said maintenance tax shall be apportioned upon the basis of the net assessments of benefits accruing for original construction, shall not exceed ten percent thereof in any one year and shall be certified to the collector of each county in which lands of said district are situate, in the same book in like manner and at the same time as annual installment tax is certified, but in a separate column, under the heading maintenance tax. Said collector shall demand and collect the maintenance tax and make return thereof and shall receive the same compensation therefor and be liable for the same penalties for failure or neglect so to do as is provided herein for the annual installment tax.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 37)

Sec. 262-88. - Petition of adjustment of assessments or benefits.

Whenever the owners of 25 percent or more of the acreage of the lands in the district shall file a petition with the clerk of the circuit court for the county where the greater part of the lands of the district are located stating that there has been a material change in the values of the property in the district since the last previous assessment of benefits and praying for a readjustment of the assessment or benefits for the purpose of making a more equitable basis for the levy of the maintenance tax, the said circuit clerk shall give notice of the filing and hearing of said petition in the manner and for the time provided for in section 262-60. Such notice may be in the following form:

Notice is hereby given to all persons interested in the lands included within the Jaudon Drainage and Improvement District that a petition has been filed in the office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of ____________ County, ____________, praying for a readjustment of the assessment of benefits for the purpose of making a more equitable basis for the levy of the maintenance tax in said district, and that said petition will be heard by said Circuit Court on the first day of the next ____________ term of said court.

Date of first publication ____________/____________/____________, 19____________.

Upon the hearing of said petition if said court shall find that there has been a material change in the values of the lands in said district since the last previous assessment of benefits the court shall order that there be made a readjustment of the assessment of benefits for the purpose of providing a basis upon which to levy the maintenance tax of said district. Thereupon the court shall appoint three commissioners, possessing the qualifications of commissioners appointed under section 262-57 to make such readjustment of assessments in the manner provided in section 262-59, and said commissioners shall make their report, and the same proceedings shall be had thereon, as nearly as may be, as are herein provided for the assessment of benefits accruing for original construction; provided, that in making the readjustment of the assessment of benefits said commissioners shall not be limited to the aggregate amount of the original or any previous assessment of benefit, and that after the making of such readjustment the limitation of ten percent as the annual maintenance tax which may be levied shall apply to the amount of benefits as readjusted; and provided further, that there shall be no readjustment of benefits oftener than once in five years.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 38)

Sec. 262-89. - Amendment of reclamation plan.

Where the works set out in the plan of reclamation and improvement of said district are found insufficient to reclaim in whole or in part any or all of the lands of the district the board of supervisors shall have the right to formulate new or amended plans containing new canals, ditches, levees or other works and additional assessments may be made in conformity with the provisions of section 262-63, the same to be made in proportion to the increased benefits accruing to the lands because of the additional works. If it should be found at any time that the amount of total tax levied under the provisions of section 262-63 is insufficient to pay cost of works set out in the plan of reclamation and improvement, or additional work done under the provisions of this section, the board of supervisors may make an additional levy to provide funds to complete the work, provided the total of all levies of such tax does not exceed the total amount of benefits assessed.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 39)

Sec. 262-90. - Removal of personnel.

The board of supervisors may at any time remove any officer, attorney, chief engineer or other employee appointed or employed by said board.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 40)

Sec. 262-91. - Incorporation of existing improvements.

At the time of the construction in said district of the plan of reclamation and improvement hereinbefore referred to, all canals, ditches or systems of drainage already constructed in said district and all watercourses shall, if necessary to the drainage of any lands in said district, be connected with and made a part of the work and improvements of the plan of drainage of said district. But no canals, ditches, drains or system of drainage constructed in said district after the completion of the aforesaid plan of drainage of said district shall be connected therewith, unless the consent of the board of supervisors shall be first had and obtained, which consent shall be in writing and shall particularly describe the method, terms and conditions of such connection, and shall be approved by the chief engineer. Said connection, if made, shall be in strict accord with the method, terms and conditions laid down in said consent. If the land owner or owners wishing to make such connection are refused by the board of supervisors or decline to accept the consent granted, the said land owner or owners may file a petition for such connection in the circuit court having jurisdiction in said district, and the matter in dispute shall in a summary manner be decided by said court which decision shall be final and binding on the district and land owner or owners. No connection with the works or improvements of said plan of drainage of said district or with any canal, ditch, drain or artificial drainage wholly within said district shall be made, caused or effected by any land owner or owners, company or corporation, municipal or private, by means of or with any ditch, drain, cut, fill, roadbed, levee, embankment or artificial drainage, wholly without the limits of said district unless such connection is consented to by the board of supervisors, or in the manner hereinbefore provided.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 41)

Sec. 262-92. - Payment of assessments.

Any person or corporation, co-partnership or other parties owning lands assessed for the construction of any canal, ditch or other improvement under the provisions of this article, shall have the privilege of paying such tax assessment to the treasurer of the board of supervisors at any time on or before a date to be fixed by the board of supervisors and the amount to be paid shall be the full amount of the tax levied, less any amount added thereto to meet interest. When such tax assessment has been paid, the secretary of the board shall enter upon the drainage tax record opposite each tract for which payment is made the words paid in full, and such tax assessment shall be deemed satisfied, and the secretary of the board of supervisors shall also make or cause to be made the same entry opposite each tract for which payment is made in the table included in the certificate filed in the office of the clerk of the circuit court under the provisions of section 262-64.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 42)

Sec. 262-93. - Private construction of drains.

Any landowner within the said district may construct ditches to drain his lands into the public ditches; and if any intervening landowner should refuse permission to cross his land with such ditch, the landowner seeking to construct such ditch may by proceedings in the circuit court, to be conducted in the same manner as condemnation proceedings instituted by railroads, condemn a right of way for such ditch. In such proceedings the jury shall deduct from the damages the benefits that will accrue to such intervening landowner by the construction of such ditch, and such intervening landowner shall have the right to use such ditch for the drainage of his own lands.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 43)

Sec. 262-94. - Security of bonds.

All bonds issued by the board of supervisors under the provisions of this act shall be secured by a lien on all lands and other property benefited in the district, and the board of supervisors shall see to it that a tax is levied annually and collected under the provisions of this article, so long as it may be necessary to pay any bond issued or obligation contracted under its authority; and the making of said assessment and collection may be enforced by mandamus.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 44)

Sec. 262-95. - Obstruction of canals, etc.

Whoever shall wilfully obstruct any canal, drain, ditch, or watercourse, or shall damage or destroy any drainage works constructed under the provisions of this article, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be punished as in case of other misdemeanors; and in addition thereto shall be liable to the district, or the person or persons injured, for double the cost of removing such obstruction or repairing such damage, and for the full amount of injury occasioned to any lands or crops or other property, by reason of such misconduct.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 45)

State law reference— Penalty for violation, F.S. §§ 775.081, 775.082.

Sec. 262-96. - Supplemental nature of act.

Nothing in this article shall be construed to repeal any of the drainage laws now in force, or that have been, or may be enacted at the present session of the legislature, but it is an additional system for the purpose of draining and reclaiming and rendering fit for cultivation and habitation, and otherwise improving the lands embraced within the boundaries of said drainage and improvement district.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 9791 (1923), § 47)

Secs. 262-97—262-120. - Reserved.