said court or courts of common pleas to the court of quarter sessions having jurisdiction of the proceedings. ment of. The expenses incurred by the county commission- Expenses, payers, and other expenses of the election and proceedings under the petition, shall be paid by the city presenting the petition, or, in case the petition shall be by voters, then by the larger city. of consolidation. Section 7. If it shall appear by the vote, when computed and certified as aforesaid, that a majority of all the lawful voters of the two cities and the inter- Majority in favor vening land, voting upon such question, have voted in favor of the annexation or consolidation, the said court of quarter sessions shall enter a decree annex- Decree. ing and consolidating the lesser city, and any intervening land other than boroughs, with the greater city, so that they form but one city, and in the name of the greater or larger city; but if a majority of the annexation electors, so voting, shall vote against annexation, the proceedings shall be dismissed, and the question of annexation shall not again be submitted to the vote of the electors for a period of less than two years from the date of such election. Majority against ing indebtedness. Tax levy. Court to ascertain Section 8. Each of the constituent cities, and the intervening land, if any, so consolidated, shall pay its own floating and bonded indebtedness and liabilities Bonded and floatof every kind, and the interest thereon, as the same existed at the time of annexation; and the councils of the consolidated city shall levy, respectively, on the properties in each of the said cities and intervening land so consolidated, and as they existed at the time of annexation, a tax sufficient to provide funds for each to pay its own floating and bonded indebtedness and liabilities and interest, as the same may accrue. The court of quarter sessions is given juris indebtedness, etc. diction to ascertain what the bonded and floating indebtedness, and liabilities and properties, and assets, of each of the said cities and the said intervening land may be; due notice being given, and an opportunity to be heard being allowed, to all parties in interest. Section 9. All the citizens of each of the united cities and of the intervening land shall be entitled to, and shall enjoy and exercise, full rights of citizenship Rights of citizenin the said enlarged and consolidated city. All the rights of creditors, and all liens, and all the rights of the constitutent cities and of the government of the intervening land, to enforce the payment of moneys due either, or of contract liabilities, or of other claims or rights of property, existing in either city or in the government of the intervening land at ship. the time of the annexation, shall be preserved un- Rights preserved. impaired to each; and each of the said cities and the government of the intervening land, for the purpose Property, rights and privileges vested in united city. Contracts, franchises, etc. not extended nor enlarged. Ordinances. Proviso. Delinquent taxes and assessments. Appointment of commissioners. Duties of Account of moneys. Proviso. Amount of indebtedness. of enforcing its rights and claims in the premises, and also of having prior rights and claims enforced against it, shall be deemed in law to continue in existence. Except as herein otherwise provided, all the property, real, personal and mixed, and rights and privileges of every kind, vested in or belonging to either of said cities or to the intervening land prior to and at the time of the annexation, shall be vested in and owned by the consolidated, or united, city; but nothing in this act, nor the consolidation itself, shall in any shape, manner or form be construed as in any way extending or in any way enlarging any contract, franchise, privilege, or right or claim, theretofore granted or agreed to be granted by either of the said consolidated cities or the government of the intervening land, to any person or firm or partnership, or limited partnership, joint-stock company or corporation, whomsoever or whatsoever; with this exception, all the ordinances of each of said cities shall be applicable in and to all the territory of the enlarged city, until amended or repealed; and if there be any conflict by reason of different ordinances in the two cities, the ordinance of the larger city shall control: Provided, That the laws applicable to and governing the consolidated city shall in all cases be supreme. All moneys accruing, from time to time, from delinquent taxes prior to the annexation, and all assessments against private property for public improvements for which the contractors shall have been paid, shall be applied to the indebtedness of the city to which the same shall belong. In case of annexation, the court may appoint commissioners to ascertain the floating and bonded indebtedness of each of the said municipal subdivisions, at the time of annexation, including the share of the municipal indebtedness for which any intervening land may be liable, and also an account of all property, of every kind, owned or claimed by the cities, or the share of the intervening land to any property owned by the municipal subdivision of the State of which it is a part, prior to and at the time of annexation. The court may also order an account to be taken by the said commissioners of all moneys on hand or receivable, applicable to the payment of the floating or bonded indebtedness of the respective municipalities or of the intervening land, at the date of annexation. Such money shall be, respectively, applied in payment of the floating or bonded indebtedness of the respective municipalities or of the intervening land: Provided, however, That if an increase in the indebtedness of the consolidated city shall hereafter be contemplated, that the total indebtedness of the constituent cities, and the share of the intervening land in its government indebtedness, together with the indebtedness of the consolidated city, thereafter incurred, shall be used in determining the amount of indebtedness that may be created under the provisions of the constitution relating to municipal indebtedness. court. After the commissioners have made report, the Decree of the court shall, by its decree, fix the said indebtedness and liabilities, and also the properties and assets, of all kinds, at the time of annexation belonging to each territory united in the consolidation. Tenure of office. Section 10. The consolidation shall not, of itself, deprive any elected officer of the respective city governments, so united, of his office and compensation for the full term for which he shall have been elected; but in the meanwhile, and until their successors in the greater city can be lawfully elected, a temporary Temporary govgovernment is provided, as follows: The councils al- ernment. ready elected, of each of the said cities, shall be and are hereby consolidated and form the select and com dated Mayor. mon council of the said consolidated city, with the Councils consolipowers as such, and shall meet at the council chambers of the larger of the two cities. The mayor of the larger of the two cities shall be, for the term for which he shall have been already elected, the mayor of the consolidated or united city, with the powers as such, and for all purposes whatsoever; and the mayor of the smaller city shall be the deputy mayor of the consolidated city, for the term for which he was elected as mayor of the smaller city, with the power to veto as hereinafter provided, and to perform such other duties as the mayor of the consolidated city shall require of him, and he shall also preside and act as mayor, in case the office of mayor of the consolidated city shall become vacant, by death or otherwise. Deputy Mayor. Approval of ordi Every ordinance or resolution which relates solely and exclusively to the smaller city shall, before it takes effect, be presented, duly engrossed and certified, to the said deputy mayor for his approval. If he approves it, it shall then be presented to the mayor nances, etc. of the consolidated city for his approval. In case either the said deputy mayor or the said mayor shall not approve said ordinance or resolution, he shall return the same to the branch of councils wherein it originated, within ten days, or at the next meeting of councils after ten days have expired; and if thereupon each branch of councils pass the same, within five days of the receipt of such veto, by a vote of threefifths of all the members elected to each branch, said three-fifths including a majority of all the members elected to each branch from the smaller city, it shall become effective as though it had been approved by Vetoes, etc. City departments. Heads of departments. Officers and employes. Expiration of term of office. Election. the mayor and deputy mayor. Said ordinance or resolution shall, equally, become effective if it shall not be returned to council, as herein provided, within ten days after it shall have been presented to the said deputy mayor and mayor. The Departments of Public Safety, Public Works, Collector of Delinquent Taxes, Assessors, City Treasurer, City Comptroller, Law, Charities and Corrections, and Sinking Fund Commissions, of the larger and the lesser cities, hereby consolidated and respectively made one, for the consolidated city, with the powers as such; and the heads of the departments, respectively, as appointed prior to annexation by the mayor of the larger city, or elected, shall be the heads. of the departments of the consolidated city, with the power as such; and the respective heads of the departments, appointed by the smaller city, or elected,. shall be the assistant director or assistant head of each of said consolidated departments, respectively, but under the control and jurisdiction of the said heads of said departments. All the employes of all departments, and officers of each of the said cities, at the time of annexation. including the firemen and police, shall be regarded as the officers and employes of the consolid ted city, and subject to the supremacy of the said mayor; but any one of such employes or officers, not elected by the people, may be, if in the opinion of the mayor of the consolidated city it shall be deemed advisable so to do, discharged; subject, however, to all the provisions of law relating thereto, governing cities of the class to which said consolidated city shall belong. At the expiration of the term of office of the said officers, for which each has, before annexation, been elected by the people of each city, their successors shall be elected by the voters of the consolidated city; and said election shall be held at the municipal election immediately preceding such expiration, and the successors shall hold office under the laws regulating cities of the class to which the consolidated city shall then belong. If the term of office of said officers shall' not expire at the same date, then the said election of their successors shall be held at the first regular municipal election which shall be held preceding the earliest date at which any one term expires. This election shall be of only such officers as the law then Terms of office of governing the consolidated city shall provide for. councilmen. When the terms of office of the common councilmen of the greater and lesser city expire at the same time, the terms of all select councilmen shall also expire at that time. Whenever the terms of common councilmen in the larger and smaller cities do not expire in the same year, the terms of the common council men in the city which would first expire shall be and are hereby extended one year, and said councilmen shall continue in office for said extended term, at which time the terms of all select and common councilmen in said consolidated city shall expire. Before the expiration of the terms of said councilmen, as division of wards. herein provided, the wards of said enlarged city shall Consolidation and be divided and consolidated, and the apportionment Apportionment. of the select and common councilmen made, in accordance with the laws regulating cities of the class to which the same belongs. At the regular municipal election immediately preceding the expiration of said Election. terms, select and common councilmen shall be elected from all the wards of said consolidated city, according to law, as apportioned. The select councilmen elected, at said election, from the even numbered wards, to serve for two years, and those elected from the odd numbered wards, to serve for four years. Thereafter all councilmen shall be elected for the regular terms, as provided in the laws governing cities of the class to which said consolidated city shall belong. For all the purposes named in this section the intervening land, if any, between the two cities, shall be regarded as part of the larger city, and to belong to the ward next adjacent to it. The registered voters Voters of interof said intervening land shall vote in such ward upon vening land. the question of consolidation. Section 11. Whenever it shall happen that the said cities, and the intervening land, if any, to be united, located in dis are located in whole or in part in distinct counties, When cities are then the respective courts of quarter sessions of each tinct counties. county and the courts of common pleas of each county, as well as the commissioners and other officers of each county, shall have, respectively, the jurisdiction Jurisdiction. and power, and each shall perform the duties hereinbefore enumerated in respect to the said consolidation, including all steps preceding and succeeding such consolidation, within the limits of each county, respectively. Result of election court of quarter to be certified to sessions. If more than one election shall be held, the results of all the elections shall ultimately be certified to the court of quarter sessions of the county in which the larger city is located; and the question whether the two cities, and the intervening land, if any, shall be united and become one consolidated city, shall be determined by the majority vote of all the lawful voters of the said two cities, and of the intervening land, if any, cast at said election, duly held, for or against such consolidation, and the result shall be de. Decree. creed by the court. Section 12. Nothing in this act shall be construed to affect the common school laws applicable to either School lawe |