1040                             Laws of Maryland                       [Ch. 689

powering said County Commissioners, subject to certain limita-
tions, to sell said bonds at, above or below the par value thereof;
empowering said County Commissioners to provide for the re-
demption of said bonds in advance of maturity and to provide for
the payment of a premium in excess of par in connection with any
such redemption; expressly permitting the execution and authen-
tication of said bonds in facsimile; empowering said County to
apply to the payment of the principal of and interest on said
bonds any funds received from the State of Maryland and the
United States which may be properly allocable to said purpose;
empowering and directing the said County Commissioners to con-
tract to levy and to levy, impose or fix annually ad valorem taxes
which will provide funds sufficient for the payment of said prin-
cipal and interest as and when the same shall be due and payable;
exempting any of said bonds so issued and the interest payable
thereon from all State, county and municipal taxation in the
State of Maryland.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That, as used herein, the term "County" shall mean the body poli-
tic and corporate of the State of Maryland, known as the County
Commissioners of Somerset County; the term "Board" shall mean
the public body corporate of the State of Maryland, known as the
Board of Education of Somerset County; and the term "public
schools" shall be construed to mean and include the construction,
reconstruction, improvement, extension, alteration, repair and
modernization of new and existing public school buildings in Somer-
set County, the sites thereof, the cost of architectural and engineer-
ing services, the costs incurred in the issuance of the bonds hereby
authorized, the costs incurred in the development of sites acquired
for said public school buildings and the cost of equipping or re-equip-
ping new and existing public school buildings.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the County is hereby au-
thorized and empowered to borrow, at one time or from time to
time, not exceeding Eight Hundred Thousand Dollars ($800,000.)
for the purpose of providing the Board with public schools, as de-
fined in Section 1 of this Act, and to evidence such borrowing by
the issuance, upon its full faith and credit, of its serial maturity
general obligation bonds, in the manner and upon the terms and
conditions hereinafter set forth.

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That before borrowing any
money or issuing any bonds pursuant to the authority of this Act,
the County shall first request the Board to submit to it the Board's
program for acquiring public schools, as defined in Section 1 of this
Act, said report to show the portion of said program which the
Board proposes to undertake and the amount of money, needed by
the Board for such portion. After review of said report, the County
shall make a determination as to which, if any, part of said pro-
gram it will finance pursuant to the authority of this Act and, if
the County and the Board shall then be in agreement as to such
portion of said program so to be financed, the County may proceed
to exercise the authority conferred by this Act, in whole or in part,
if, in its judgment, market conditions for municipal bonds will make
such financing feasible and, if the County shall elect to proceed