AMENDMENT 471 RATIFIED
Special District Tax for Public Hospital Purposes in Baldwin County.
The special district tax now levied and collected for public hospital purposes in election precincts numbered one through seven of Baldwin county, Alabama, and authorized by law shall be continued upon approval of this constitutional amendment and by simultaneous approval of a majority of the qualified electors in election precincts one through seven of Baldwin county voting thereon in the constitutional election submitting this proposed amendment to the county electorate.
Upon such approval, the governing body of Baldwin county shall levy and cause to be collected annually, beginning October 1, 1987, for a period of 20 years, in addition to any taxes now authorized or that may be hereafter authorized by the Constitution and laws of Alabama, a special district tax of two mills on each one dollar ($1.00) assessed valuation of taxable property in election precincts numbered one through seven of Baldwin county, Alabama, to be used exclusively for public hospital purposes (as the term "public hospital purposes" is defined in amendment LXXVI [76] to the Alabama Constitution of 1901 proposed by Acts of 1949, page 897, submitted December 13, 1949, and proclaimed ratified December 21, 1949) within said election precincts numbered one through seven.
Whenever such tax shall have been authorized by vote of such qualified electors, and levied by the governing body of Baldwin county, such governing body may anticipate the proceeds therefrom for any one or more of the purposes for which the tax shall have been voted, by issuing, without further election, interest bearing tax anticipation bonds, warrants, or certificates of indebtedness of said county payable solely from and secured by a pledge of a sufficient amount of the annual proceeds from said tax received by the county.
The governing body of Baldwin county shall have power to designate as the agency of the county, to construct, acquire, equip, operate and maintain public hospital facilities for said election precincts numbered one through seven any public corporation heretofore or hereafter organized for hospital purposes in the county. When a public corporation shall have been so designated, the proceeds of said tax thereafter collected shall be paid to it and shall be used by it for any one or more of the purposes for which the tax shall have been voted; provided, that payments of the proceeds of said tax to said public corporation shall be made only to such extent as will not result in the impairment of the obligation of any contract theretofore made with respect to said tax. Said public corporation may anticipate the proceeds from said tax so required to be paid to it by issuing, for any one or more of the purposes for which the tax shall have been voted, the bonds, warrants, or certificates of indebtedness of said corporation, and may pledge for the payment of the principal thereof and interest thereon a sufficient amount of the annual proceeds from said tax so paid to it.
No securities issued or contracts made by Baldwin county under the authority of this amendment, which are payable solely out of the proceeds of said tax, and no securities issued or contracts made by any such public corporation, whether or not issued or made under the authority of this amendment, shall be construed to be bonds of Baldwin county or of a political subdivision thereof within the meaning of section 222 of the Constitution, or construed to create or constitute an indebtedness of the county within the meaning of section 224 of the Constitution. Said securities shall be construed to be negotiable instruments notwithstanding the fact that they may be payable solely from a limited source. All pledges of said tax and all contracts made with respect thereto pursuant to the provisions of this amendment shall take precedence in the order in which they are made and shall create a charge on the proceeds of said tax prior to the expenses of operating and maintaining any public hospital facilities.
As used in this act, the term "election precincts" means the election precincts or beats of the county as they existed on July 27, 1965.
This amendment shall be self-executing.
