THEODORE R. MCKELDIN, GOVERNOR 1387

erendum of the voters of the City, unless the Mayor and Alder-
men shall by resolution so direct. The City may retain pro-
fessional legal assistance for the issuance of any of the
bonds hereby authorized and the limitation contained in Sec-
tion 1(A) of Chapter 691 of the Acts of the General Assembly
of Maryland, passed at its January Session in the year 1943,
shall be inapplicable to any such employment.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the maturing prin-
cipal and interest of any bonds issued pursuant to the author-
ity hereby conferred shall be payable primarily from water
rents or other charges imposed for the consumption of water
heretofore or hereafter levied and imposed by the City and to
the extent that the proceeds from the collection of such water
rents or other charges are insufficient, in any year, for the
above mentioned purpose, the principal and interest of said
bonds shall be payable from ad valorem taxes which the City is
hereby authorized and empowered to levy upon all property
subject to assessment for taxation within the corporate limits
of the City without limitation as to rate or amount. The power
of the City to levy and impose water rents, either on a metered
or flat rate basis, is hereby confirmed, and the City shall like-
wise have the power to change or increase said rates from
time to time hereafter as conditions may dictate and to levy
and impose any such water rents or charges upon any con-
sumer of water, connected with the City's water system, whose
property may be located outside the corporate limits of the
City. Any such water rents or other charges shall be billed or
collected on a quarterly or semi-annual basis and, if any such
bill is uncollected within thirty (30) days from its date of
mailing, the water of the consumer neglecting to pay such bill
may be turned off by the City. All such water rents and
charges shall constitute liens on real property, collectible in
the same manner as ad valorem taxes of the City.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That in conjunction with
the construction, extension, expansion or improvement of any
of the systems described in Section 1 hereof, the following
powers are hereby expressly conferred upon the City to the
extent not already possessed by the City:

(a) To condemn any property, right or interest belonging to
any person, persons, corporation or corporations (whether
such corporation be public or private, and whether such prop-
erty, right or interest be impressed with a prior public or quasi
public use or not) for the purpose of making any of the im-
provements described in Section 1 hereof. The manner of pro-
cedure in case of any condemnation proceeding shall be that
established in Article 33(A) of the Code of Public General
Laws of Maryland, Title: "Eminent Domain";