AMENDMENT 314 RATIFIED
Amendment of Amendment No. 239.
Amendment CCXXXIX [239] of the Constitution of Alabama. The legislature may provide for the formation of districts in Jefferson county, Alabama, for establishing and maintaining a system for fighting or preventing fires, also for the collection and disposal of garbage and trash; provided, however, that no territory lying within the limits of a municipal corporation at the time of the establishment of any such district shall be included within such district; and provided further, that no such district shall be established unless the establishment thereof has been first approved by the qualified electors residing within the proposed district at an election held as provided for by a law or laws adopted by the legislature. A district may be established for either or both of the aforesaid purposes. The legislature may provide for submitting to the qualified electors within the proposed district the question of whether the district shall be created for either or both of the aforesaid purposes.
The expenses of establishing and maintaining any such fire-fighting and fire prevention system or any such garbage collection and disposal system in a district, as the case may be, shall be paid for exclusively by the proceeds of a service charge, which shall be levied and collected in an amount sufficient to pay the said expenses.
Said service charges shall be levied upon and collected from the persons and property to whom and to which such services are available; and the service charge shall be a lien upon any such property.
The legislature may provide for the enlargement of a district by the addition of territory thereto, subject to the following conditions: (1) No territory lying within a municipal corporation at the time of such enlargement shall be added to a district; (2) subject to (3), next below, no territory shall be added unless the qualified electors thereof have approved the addition of such territory to the district; (3) the legislature may provide a procedure whereby territory will be included in a district upon the written petition for its inclusion signed by at least seventy percent (70%) of the qualified electors residing within said territory.
The legislature shall adopt laws providing for the administration of the affairs of the district by the governing body of the district, the governing body of the county or by any agency of the county, and empowering the body administering the affairs of the district to levy and collect the service charge, subject to such restrictions and conditions as the legislature imposes. The legislature may provide that any such service charge shall not become effective unless approved by the electors of the territory, and may provide the conditions on which an election on such service charge shall be held.
The legislature shall be authorized to enact laws providing for the collection and enforcement of the service charges and of the lien for such charges.
The legislature may provide for the issuance of bonds for such districts with or without an election; provided, however, that all bonds issued hereunder shall be payable only out of the proceeds of the service charge authorized hereby, and no such bond shall be a general obligation of the county.
