SECTIONS 19720-19734 - California Statutes

EDUCATION CODE

SECTION 19720-19734

19720. The board of trustees of any library district may, when in
their judgment it is deemed advisable, and shall upon a petition of
50 or more taxpayers and residents of the library district, call an
election and submit to the electors of the district the question of
whether the bonds of the district shall be issued and sold for the
purpose of raising money for any or all of the following:
(a) The purchase of suitable lots.
(b) Procuring plans and specifications and erecting a suitable
building.
(c) Furnishing and equipping the building, and fencing and
ornamenting the grounds, for the accommodation of the public library.
(d) Any or all of the purposes of this chapter.
(e) Liquidating any indebtedness incurred for the purposes.
(f) Refunding any outstanding valid indebtedness, evidenced by
bonds or warrants of the district.

19721. The election shall be called by posting notices, signed by
the board, in three of the most public places in the district, for
not less than 20 days before the election, and by publishing the
notice not less than once a week for three successive weeks in a
newspaper published in the district if there is one, or if there is
none, in a newspaper published in the county.

19722. The notice shall contain:
(a) Time and place of holding the election.
(b) The names of inspectors and judges to conduct the election.
(c) The hours during the day in which the polls will be open.
(d) The amount and denomination of the bonds, the rate of
interest, and the number of years, not exceeding 40, the whole or any
part of the bonds are to be run.

19723. The election shall be conducted in accordance with the
provisions relating to the election of trustees, insofar as they are
applicable to the election for bonds.

19724. Voting shall be by ballot, without reference to the general
election law in regard to form of ballot, or manner of voting, except
that the words to appear on the ballot shall be, "Bonds--Yes," and
"Bonds--No." Persons voting at the bond election shall put a cross
(+) upon their ballots, with pencil or ink, after the words,
"Bonds--Yes," or "Bonds--No," as the case may be, to indicate whether
they have voted for or against the issuance of the bonds. The ballot
shall be handed by the elector voting to the inspector, who shall
then, in his presence, deposit the ballot in the ballot box, and the
judges shall enter the elector's name on poll list.

19725. On the seventh day after the election, at 8 o'clock p.m.,
the returns having been made to the board of trustees, the board
shall meet and canvass the returns, and if it appears that more than
one-half of the votes cast at the election are in favor of issuing
the bonds, then the board shall cause an entry of the fact to be made
upon its minutes and shall certify to the board of supervisors, all
the proceedings had in the premises. Thereupon the board of
supervisors shall issue the bonds of the district, to the number and
amount provided in the proceedings, payable out of the building fund
of the district, naming the district.

19726. The money shall be raised by taxation upon the taxable
property in the district, for the redemption of the bonds and the
payment of the interest thereon.

19727. The total amount of bonds issued shall not exceed 5 percent
of the taxable property of the district, as shown by the last
equalized assessment book of the county.

19728. The board of supervisors by an order entered upon its
minutes shall prescribe the form of the bonds and of the interest
coupons attached thereto, and shall fix the time when the whole or
any part of the principal of the bonds shall be payable, which shall
not be more than 40 years from the date thereof.

19729. The bonds shall not bear a greater amount of interest than 6
percent, to be payable annually or semiannually. The bonds shall be
sold in the manner prescribed by the board of supervisors, but for
not less than par, and the proceeds of the sale thereof shall be
deposited in the county treasury to the credit of the building fund
of the library district, and shall be drawn out for the purposes for
which the bonds were issued as other library moneys are drawn out.

19730. The board of supervisors, at the time of making the levy of
taxes for county purposes, shall levy a tax for that year upon the
taxable property in the district, at the equalized assessed value
thereof for that year, for the interest and redemption of the bonds.
The tax shall not be less than sufficient to pay the interest of the
bonds for that year, and such portion of the principal as is to
become due during the year. In any event the tax shall be high enough
to raise, annually, for the first half of the term the bonds have to
run, a sufficient sum to pay the interest thereon, and during the
balance of the term, high enough to pay the annual interest and to
pay, annually, a proportion of the principal of the bonds equal to a
sum produced by taking the whole amount of the bonds outstanding and
dividing it by the number of years the bonds then have to run.

19731. All money levied, when collected, shall be paid into the
county treasury to the credit of the library district, and shall be
used for the payment of principal and interest on the bonds, and for
no other purpose. The principal and interest on the bonds shall be
paid by the county treasurer, upon the warrant of the county auditor,
out of the fund provided therefor. The county auditor shall cancel
and file with the county treasurer the bonds and coupons as rapidly
as they are paid.

19732. Whenever any bonds issued under this article remain unsold
for the period of six months after having been offered for sale in
the manner prescribed by the board of supervisors, the board of
trustees of the library district for or on account of which the bonds
were issued, or of any library district composed wholly or partly of
territory which, at the time of holding the election authorizing the
issuance of the bonds, was embraced within the district for or on
account of which the bonds were issued, may petition the board of
supervisors to cause the unsold bonds to be withdrawn from market and
canceled.

19733. Upon receiving the petition, signed by a majority of the
members of the board of trustees, the supervisors shall fix a time
for hearing the petition, which shall be not more than 30 days
thereafter, and shall cause a notice, stating the time and place of
hearing, and the object of the petition in general terms, to be
published for 10 days prior to the day of hearing, in some newspaper
published in the library district, if there is one, and if there is
no newspaper published in the library district, then in a newspaper
published at the county seat of the county in which the library
district or part thereof is situated.

19734. At the time and place designated in the notice for hearing
the petition, or at any subsequent time to which the hearing is
postponed, the supervisors shall hear any reasons that are submitted
for or against the granting of the petition, and if they deem it for
the best interests of the library district that the unsold bonds be
canceled, they shall make and enter an order in the minutes of their
proceedings that the unsold bonds be canceled. Thereupon the bonds,
and the vote by which they were authorized to be issued, shall cease
to be of any validity whatever.