782 LAWS OF MARYLAND. [CH. 613

or dispose of real and personal property for the benefit of said
town, including the power to lease or rent the same, to incur
expenses and debts on behalf of said town, to provide for and
pay the expenses of governing said town, including the expense
of having a meeting place for said Mayor and Council and a
place for keeping the records, books, property and other things
of said town, the expense of registering voters, conducting
elections, providing records, books, and other things necessary
for the proper government of said town, the expense of paying
the salary of the Town Treasurer, the expense of hiring per-
sons, including an attorney or attorneys to perform work or
services for said town, to enter into contracts on behalf of said
town for the foregoing or any other lawful purpose in connec-
tion with the government of said town and to fix the amount of
compensation to be paid thereunder, and to expend the moneys
and funds of said town for any of the foregoing or any other
lawful purpose for the benefit of said town, and to do all other
acts, and things, subject only to limitation of this Act, for the
good government of the Town, and for the benefit of said town.
Provided, however, that neither the Town nor the Mayor and
Council nor any person shall have power or authority, in any
one year, to contract debts or incur any financial liability on
behalf of said town in excess of the current annual revenues
of said town, except as may be authorized by General, Local or
Special Act of the General Assembly of Maryland.

Whenever a petition to improve any street with concrete or
other hard surfaced sidewalks, curbs or gutters, is presented
to the town, signed by at least 60 per cent of the owners of
record of the property abutting on the streets to be improved,
the Town shall call a public hearing of all interested property
owners, and after such hearing, the Town shall have power to
provide for the improvement and construction of concrete or
other hard surfaced sidewalks, curbs, and gutters in any block
where there is improved property, and to assess against the
abutting property and collect from the owners thereof the total
cost thereof, including engineering and all overhead and in-
cluding the costs of radii at corners in case of curbs and gutters
and of intersecting sidewalks at corners, the assessment being
in proportion to the number of front feet owned, abutting on
the portion of the street so improved. That such assessments,
when made, shall constitute a tax or lien upon such abutting
property with priority over all liens recorded after the passage
of this Act, and such amounts as are not paid in advance as
provided in the preceding section shall be payable in four equal
quarterly installments with interest thereon from the date of
assessment at the rate of six percentum per annum, the first
installment shall be due 30 days after the date of assessment,
and succeeding installments every three months thereafter