term shall cease and determine, and the mayor shall nominate, and with the consent of the board of aldermen appoint, some suitable person to discharge the duties of comptroller, with all the duties, liabilities and responsibilities of said office, who shall serve until another comptroller shall be elected by the people at the next general election, and shall have duly qualified. Any surplus remaining on account of any appropriation at the end of any year may be applied as the common council may direct. TITLE XVII. voting to means to meet be provided. $4. Any alderman or other official of said city who Penalty for shall vote to authorize any expense or to incur any in- authorize debtedness by or against said city, when the means to meet expense when or pay the same shall not be provided or applicable to the same shall not purpose, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof, the term of office of such alderman or other official shall cease and determine, and he shall be ineligible to hold any office in said city for the space of five years from the date of such conviction. § 5. All contracts for supplying the public lamps with Contracts for gas, except those in the public buildings, shall provide for gas to provide for lighting the lighting of the same, and for keeping them in repair by same. the companies or persons supplying such gas. 6. Whenever the mayor and comptroller shall certify when work that the interests of the city require certain work to be may be done without calling done without calling for proposals, at an expense not to ex- for proposals. ceed one thousand dollars, such work may be ordered by a two-thirds vote of the common council, and the expense shall be paid out of the appropriate fund, to be designated when the work is ordered to be done; and provided further, that whenever the head of any proper department shall certify that it is necessary for the best interests of the city, after a severe snow storm, to remove the snow from one or more of the principal thoroughfares, or to immediately repair any damage done by the elements or otherwise, or to prevent such damage, or to prevent the spreading of disease, or to suppress or prevent a riot, the mayor shall be empowered to authorize such department to incur such liability in the premises on the part of the city as may be necessary, and the common council shall order all charges incurred under this provision to be examined by the auditor, and when audited to be paid by the comptroller out of the appropriate fund; and in case no means shall have been provided to cancel such liabilities, the mayor, comptroller and city clerk shall provide the necessary means by issuing certificates of indebtedness of the city for a sum sufficient, and not to exceed the amount of such liabilities; and a sum sufficient to redeem such certificates, TITLE XVII. with interest, shall be included in the next annual tax levy. Supplies for any department needed for immediate use, not exceeding upon any one requisition in amount two hundred and fifty dollars, on the requisition of such department, and with the approval of the mayor, may be purchased by the department requiring the same, and the supply so purchased shall be audited and paid for in the same manner, and from the same fund as though the same had been ordered by the common council. § 7. Whenever any fuel, furniture, interest, books, stationery or other supplies or any repairs have been duly ordered for the department of police and excise, or fire and buildings, by the board of aldermen, the department respectively requiring such supplies or repairs shall advertise for proposals in the newspapers for the same, and open the bids and award the contracts therefor, in the same manner, and with the same circumstances as the department of city works or common council are authorized in this act in relation to needed work and improvement for other departments of said city; provided also that with the consent of the common council, the department of police and excise and fire and buildings respectively shall purchase such articles of supplies or cause such repairs to be done as may be from time to time necessary to the efficiency of such departments, provided however, that the expense thereof shall not at any one time exceed the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars. The bills for all purchases made in pursuance of the provisions of this section shall be certified by the president or a commissioner of the department respectively having cognizance of the purchase, and upon being audited by the auditor shall be paid by the comptroller. TITLE XVIII. OF ASSESSMENTS FOR LOCAL IMPROVEMENTS AND OF STREET OPENINGS. SEC. 1. When common council may open streets, etc.-Expense to be a lien on property. 2. Notice to be published. 3. Expense not to exceed value of lot independent of buildings thereon. 4. District of assessments to be laid out and map made. 5. Petitioners liable for all expenses in case application is denied. 6. Common council may order work to be done-Proviso. 7. All expenses to be included in report. 8. Certified copy of contract, etc., to be filed with comptroller. 9. When assessment to be levied, etc. 10. When common council to direct assessment to be made. 11. Payment to contractors. 12. Appropriation to pay bonds. 13. Common council may order re-assessment heretofore made. 14. Jurisdiction and control of streets and squares. 15. Common council to make application for appointment of commissioners. 16. Map to be made. 17. Commissioners, oath and duties of. 18. Form of report of. 19. When residue of lots to be included in report-Title to, when to vest in 21. 22. Damages, assessment of. 23. Report to be filed-Notice-Examination of reports--review and cor- 24. How heard. 25. Costs. 26. Upon confirmation, assessors to apportion and assess expense-Form of 27 Payment of damages. 28. Compensation of commissioners. 29. Appointment of guardians for infants, etc. 30. Power of courts to vacate assessments. 31. Assessments, to be liens. 32. Assessors to apportion and assess expense of grading streets, etc. 33. When to make assessments-Not to affect title of state. 34. Assessors to make report, give notice of hearing, etc. 35. Committee to report, etc. 36, 37. Common council to correct report, etc. 38. Act of 1858 extended and made applicable to city. 39. Where amount to be assessed exceeds that limited by law-Assessments TITLE XVIII. SECTION 1. The common council may, upon the petition When common council may of a majority of the property owners, or of the owners of open streets, a majority of the property to be affected, or by a three- etc. fourths vote of the board of aldermen and the consent of the mayor without such petition, open, close, extend, widen, regulate, grade, pave, regrade and repave roads, streets, lanes and avenues, and cause public squares and parks to be opened, regulated, ornamented and perfected in the manner hereinafter provided, and generally have such other improvements in and about such streets, avenues and squares as the public wants and convenience shall require. The expense of all such improvements shall be assessed Expense to be and be a lien on the property benefited thereby, in propor- property. tion to the amount of said benefit. In all cases where the common council shall decide upon the grading and paving any street or avenue, they shall cause a sufficient number of culverts or drains to be constructed under such street or avenue, as may be necessary to carry off the surface water of the lands which shed their water across the line of such street or avenue. lien on published. § 2. Whenever the common council shall have declared, Notice to be by resolution, its intention to make any such improvement, or when a petition shall be presented, the common council shall cause a notice to be published in the corporation newspapers, that such application has been made, and of the time (which shall not be less than twenty-five days after the first publication of such notice) when they will proceed on such petition or resolution, which notice shall be published daily in the corporation newspapers for two weeks successively; and in case a remonstrance against the proposed improvement, signed by a majority of the property owners and the owners of a majority of the property to be affected within the district of assessment which shall be fixed by the common council for said improvement, shall be presented to them on or before the day specified in said notice, they shall not allow the said improvement TITLE XVIII. to be made, or proceed therein, but nothing in this Act contained shall be so construed as in any way to affect the proceedings heretofore commenced by the common council. Expense not to § 3. No proceedings shall be commenced by the common exceed value of council by any of the officers of the city, to regulate and independent of grade, or to pave any street or avenue in said city, the lot, buildings thereon. District of Assessment to be laid out and map made. Petitioners liable for all Common souncil may be done. expense of which shall impose upon any city lot of land an assessment exceeding its value, independent of any erection of buildings thereon, and which value shall be ascertained as hereinafter provided. § 4. The common council shall lay out a district of assessment in every case before any other proceedings are had therein, and shall cause a map to be made, on which map shall be designated, by feet and inches, as near as may be, the several pieces of land and premises to be assessed for the improvement, and shall estimate the expenses of any improvement or work referred to in the third section of this title, and the assessors of the city shall ascertain the value of the premises proposed to be assessed for such expenses, stating how much of said expenses is proposed to be assessed upon each lot, and shall report the same to the common council before any such improvement or work shall be ordered or determined upon by the said common council; such assessors shall at the same time report to the common council, for their information, an estimate of the amount of benefit which such lot will derive from such improvement; but such estimated benefit shall not be computed as a part of the value of said lots for the basis of assessment referred to in this act. § 5. All persons so applying, and who shall have signed a petition for any such improvement, are hereby declared liable for all charges and expenses which may accrue on such application, if the same is refused by the said common council; a sum sufficient to cover such expenses as may be determined by the common council shall be deposited by the persons so applying with the treasurer; the sums so deposited shall be returned to them if the improvement shall be ordered, and not otherwise, except the surplus thereof after paying such expenses. § 6. If the common council shall determine that such order work to improvement shall be made in accordance with the provisions of this act, they may then proceed to order such improvement or work to be done; and the determination of the common council, in respect to all the facts to be ascer tained for the purpose of commencing and carrying on such proposed improvement or work, shall be final and conclusive; provided that such action shall be in conform- TITLE XVIII. ity with this act, and that no such improvement or work Proviso. shall be made which shall in any event exceed in amount the estimated expense of such improvement or work, and that the assessment for the expense of such improvement shall be confined to the district of assessment laid out by the common council as aforesaid. In no event shall any expense for any improvement or work contemplated by the first and second sections of this act be a charge against the city of Brooklyn; except so far as said city may be the owner of lands to be assessed for such work or improve ment. be included in $ 7. All expenses, chargeable in any proceeding here- All expenses to after had for opening or widening any street or avenue in report. the city of Brooklyn, for searcher or surveyor's fees, shall be included in the report of the commissioners appointed for that improvement, and shall thereafter be confirmed by the supreme court at a regular or special term thereof; and no such expense shall be due or payable unless included and confirmed as herein required. of contract, etc. to be filed with 8. It shall be the duty of the department having in Certified copy charge any work, the cost of which is to be paid for by assessment, to file, with the comptroller of said city, a cer- comptroller. tified copy of the contract under which said work is to be done, together with a copy of the resolution of the common council directing the work under the contract to be done. Such copies shall be filed with the comptroller, within five days after contracts shall have been duly executed by the contractor. When assessment to $9. No assessment for any local improvement authorized after the passage of this act shall be levied and con- be levied, etc. firmed, or be a lien upon the property to be assessed therefor, until after the work shall have been completed according to the contract, and a certificate of such completion, signed by the department having the matter in charge, shall have been filed with the comptroller; and it is hereby declared to be the duty of the department having the matter in charge, within five days after the completion of said work, to file said certificate, and also to furnish the common council a statement of the items constituting the cost and expense of said work, together with the fees and percentage now provided by law, and the filing of such certificate shall be presumptive evidence that such work has been completed according to contract. council to § 10. The common council shall, after receiving the When common statement mentioned in the preceding section, by resolu- direct |