If any witness shall refuse to testify as to any fact within his knowledge, or to produce any books or papers within his possession or under his control, required to be used in evidence in any such case, the clerk of the body by whose authority such witness was subpoenaed, if so directed by the body or committee holding the investigation, shall forthwith report, in writing, to the circuit court of such county the facts relating to such refusal; and all questions arising upon such refusal, and also upon any new evidence not included in such first report, which new evidence may be offered either in behalf of or against such witness, shall be heard by such court. If the court determine that the testimony or evidence required of such witness is competent, relevant and material, and ought to be given or produced by the witness, the court shall make an order requiring the witness to testify or to produce books and papers, or both. In case of refusal to comply with such order, the court shall have the power to commit the witness or otherwise punish him for contempt, as provided by law in case of contempt of court. No witness shall be excused from testifying in any criminal proceeding or in any investigation or inquiry before the common council or any committee thereof, or before any department or officer of the city having the right to conduct the investigation, touching his knowledge of any offense committed against the provisions of this act or of any ordinance passed in pursuance thereof or continued in force by this act; but such testimony shall not be used against such witness in any criminal prosecution. Whenever any written charges shall have been adopted by the common council, or by any committee thereof, against any officer, employe or department of the corporation, except members of the council, such charge shall be heard by the council, under such regulations as may be prescribed by ordinance. Should such charge be sustained, the common council shall take action thereon and may remove any officer or employe against whom such charge is sustained; but it shall require a two-thirds vote to impeach or remove an officer or employe.

3479. Finances, management.-55. The common council of every city shall have power to manage the finances thereof, subject, however, as to cities of the first, second, third and fourth classes, to the powers and duties herein prescribed in respect to the several executive departments in such cities created by this act. Such common council, on the passage of an ordinance for the purpose, shall have power to borrow money to an amount not exceeding two per cent. of the taxable property of such city, as the same may appear on the tax duplicate for the year in which such loan shall be effected: Provided, That the entire money borrowed by such city shall not at any time exceed two per cent. of the taxable property of such city, except for the issue of refunding bonds, as hereinafter provided. Such loans may be made only for the purpose of procuring money to be used in the legitimate exercise of the corporate powers of the city and for the payment of the corporate debts. Such ordinance for loans shall provide for the time and manner of advertising the sale of bonds or other securities, and of the receipt of bids for the same, together with the mode and terms of sale. All duties with regard to the

preparation, advertisement, negotiation and sale of such bonds or other securities shall be performed by the city controller, except in cities of the fifth class, where such duties shall be performed by the city clerk. Such controller, or clerk, as the case may be, after such bonds or other securities have been properly executed, shall deliver the same to the city treasurer, taking his receipt therefor, and upon the conclusion of the contract for the sale of such bonds or other securities, shall certify to the treasurer the amount which the purchaser is to pay for the same, together with the name and place of residence of such purchaser. Thereupon it shall be the duty of the treasurer to receive from the purchaser the amount so certified by the controller, or clerk, and to deliver to the purchaser the bonds or other securities, taking his receipt therefor. The treasurer and the controller, or clerk, shall then each make report of his proceedings to the mayor. The common council shall also have power to authorize the issue and sale of refunding bonds, as provided in section. two hundred and thirty-five of this act. The issue of such refunding bonds shall be governed by the same provisions as herein provided for the issue of other bonds and securities. Temporary loans may be authorized in like manner by ordinance of the common council, in anticipation of the revenue of the city for the current and following year, and payable within that period; but the aggregate amount of such temporary loans in any fiscal year shall not exceed the amount of the city tax levy for the same year. No temporary or other loan upon the revenue of any current or succeeding year shall be made until all temporary loans upon the revenue of any preceding year shall have been fully paid. All bonds or other city securities offered for sale pursuant to the provisions of this act, may be negotiable or not, may bear annual interest not exceeding six per cent. per annum, payable annually or semi-annually, may run not longer than thirty years, may contain an option allowing such city to redeem the same at earlier specified dates, in whole or in part, if so directed in the ordinance authorizing such issue, and may be sold for any price not less than par or face value named in such bonds or other securities.

3480. Appropriations by ordinance.-56. No order or warrant for any purpose shall be drawn against the funds of any city, in the hands of the treasurer or other officer, unless an appropriation has been made by ordinance for such purpose and such appropriation is not exhausted, or unless such order or warrant shall be for a salary fixed by statute or ordinance, or in payment of a judgment which such city is compelled to pay, or for interest due on city bonds.

3481. Tax Levy-Failure to Fix.-57. If the common council of any city shall fail to pass ordinances fixing the annual tax levy and appropriating money for the various departments of the city government by or before the first Monday of October in any year, then and in that case the last preceding annual appropriations made for any such department or departments shall be deemed to be continued and renewed for the cur rent year, and the last preceding annual tax levy continued; and, in such latter case, the city clerk, or controller, as the case may be, shall report

such continued tax levy to the county auditor, as required by section two hundred and one of this act.

SINKING FUND.

3482. Creation of sinking fund.-58. For the purpose of creating a sinking fund for the gradual extinguishment of the bonded indebtedness of any city, the common council thereof, by an ordinance passed by a two-thirds vote, may determine to create such fund; and such action having been taken, the common council shall annually thereafter, until the payment of the bonded indebtedness of such city shall be fully provided for, levy and cause to be collected, in addition to the other taxes of the corporation, a tax of not less than five cents, nor more than ten cents, on each one hundred dollars of the taxable property in the corporation; which tax shall be collected as other taxes, and applied to extinguishing the bonded indebtedness of the city, as hereinafter provided. In case such sinking fund tax is so levied and collected in any city, all other levies of sinking fund taxes in such city provided for in other sections of this act shall be omitted.

3483. Commissioners, appointment.-59. The sinking fund derived from the tax levy, as provided for in the preceding section, shall be under the control of three commissioiners, to be known as the board of sinking fund commissioners, of whom the city controller shall be one and the other two shall be appointed by the mayor as follows: After the taking effect of this act, the mayor shall appoint two sinking fund commissioners, one for two years and one for four years, who shall be of different political parties. Every two years thereafter one commissioner shall be appointed by the mayor to serve for four years, who shall not be of the same political party as his colleague.

3484. Terms of commissioners, vacancy.-60. Thereafter the term of office of such sinking fund commissioner (other than the controller, who shall be, ex-officio, commissioner during his term of office) shall be for four years from and after the first day of February after their appointment, and they shall serve until their successors are appointed and qualified. In case of a vacancy in the office of sinking fund commissioner, the mayor shall appoint a commissioner to fill out the unexpired term, but it shall be the duty of the mayor in making any such appointment to see that the two commissioners other than the city controller are not of the same political faith: Provided, That in cities of the fifth class the city clerk shall act as commissioner, ex-officio, and perform the duties herein prescribed for the city controller.

3485. Organization of commissioners.-61. Such commissioners shall appoint one of their number as president, and the city controller for the time being, or the city clerk, as the case may be, shall act as secretary of the board, and the office of the board shall be in some place provided by the common council.

3486. Salary of commissioners-Bond.-62. Each of such commissioners, other than the city controller, or clerk, shall receive such salary

as the common council may fix, and shall take an oath faithfully to discharge the duties of his office, and give a bond payable to the city, in the penal sum of five thousand dollars, conditioned upon the faithful discharge of his duties as sinking fund commissioner. Such bond shall be procured from a surety company, and shall be approved by the mayor. Upon the acceptance of such bond the controller, or clerk, is authorized, without other appropriation therefor, to draw his order upon the city treasurer for the expense of such bond, the same being certified to him as correct by the mayor.

3487. Depository-Selection-Bids.-63. During the month of June. of each year, and not later than the fifteenth of June, such commissioners shall notify each incorporated bank and trust company in such city of the amount of money then in the sinking fund and of the probable additions thereto, and deductions therefrom during the coming fiscal year, and that upon the thirtieth day of June, ensuing, bids will be received and opened for the selection of a depository for the sinking fund for the ensuing year, at which bidding the bidder offering the highest rate of interest for the use of the moneys in the fund during the ensuing year, and being, in the judgment of the commissioners, the best bidder, shall be designated as sinking fund depository for the year.

3488. Opening of depository bids.-64. On such thirtieth day of June, or if the same be a Sunday or holiday, on the first business day thereafter, bids shall be received by such commissioners at their office and shall be opened publicly by the president of such commissioners in the presence of the bidders. Each bid shall state the amount of interest which will be allowed by the bidder for the use of the sinking fund as a call deposit during the ensuing year, and each bid shall be accompanied by a cash deposit of one hundred dollars, which shall be returned to all unsuccessful bidders, and shall be retained in the case of the successful bidder, to guarantee the fulfillment of the bid.

3489. Successful bidder-Bond.-65. The successful bidder shall, within twenty-four hours, furnish a bond to the approval of the sinking fund commissioners in an amount not less than double the probable amount of deposits, as fixed by the sinking fund commissioners in their call for bids, conditioned upon the faithful accounting to the sinking fund commissioners of all moneys which may come into the possession of the depository. Upon the approval of such bond and the execution of a contract by which such bidder is bound to account for the interest on all sinking funds received at the rate named in the successful bid, the one hundred dollar deposit shall be returned to the bidder and the board of sinking fund commissioners shall make an order declaring the successful bidder to be the official depository of the sinking fund during the ensuing year.

3490. Treasurer-Sinking fund taxes.-66. All sinking fund taxes paid to the city treasurer shall be accounted for by such treasurer, and shall be by him paid over on the first day of each month to the depository designated by the sinking fund commissioners; and all moneys in the hands of such treasurer belonging to any sinking fund of such city

theretofore collected shall also be paid over at once to such depository, which depository shall execute to the treasurer its receipt for such deposits and the receipts of such depository countersigned by the controller, or clerk, shall be a full and sufficient discharge to the treasurer of all liability on account of such sinking fund. No part of such sinking fund shall ever be paid over to any sinking fund commissioner.

3491. Depository, interest credits.-67. On the thirtieth day of June of each year the sinking fund depository shall credit to the sinking fund the amount of interest then accrued, to be added by such depository to the sinking fund under the terms and conditions of the contract between such depository and the sinking fund commissioners.

Character of depository.-68. No depository shall be selected other than an incorporated trust company, or a bank incorporated under the laws of the United States or of the State of Indiana.

3493. Investments, payment of bonds.-69. Such commissioners shall have no authority whatever to invest such sinking fund or any part thereof, in any other securities or obligations than obligations of such city, and all obligations of such city so purchased shall, upon their purchase, be cancelled by such commissioners and the fact of such cancellation reported immediately to the mayor and city controller, or clerk. Such commissioners shall, whenever bonds of the city shall be presented to them for redemption at par, redeem the same, if there be in the sinking fund sufficient means for that purpose: Provided, That no bonds of such city which are not due shall be redeemed when such redemption would so deplete the sinking fund as to be likely to prevent the payment of bonds due or about to mature.

3494. Tax levy-How certified.-70. The tax levied for the sinking fund, as herein before provided, shall be certified by the controller, or city clerk, as the case may be, to the auditor of the county wherein such city is situated, as other city tax levies are certified, and shall be placed on the tax list by such county auditor and collected as other taxes, and such taxes shall be a lien on the property whereon they are assessed the same as state and county taxes, and subject to the same penalties for delin

quency.

3495. Meetings of commissioners.-71. Regular meetings of the sinking fund commissioners shall be held on the thirtieth day of June in each year, or, if that be a Sunday or holiday, upon the day following; but special meetings may be called by the president or by the controller, or city clerk. The proceedings shall be recorded by the secretary who shall keep proper books showing the bonded indebtedness of the city, and the account of the funds in the hands of the depository and the amount of taxes turned over to the depository by the city treasurer from month to month. All questions relating to the designation of a depository, the payment of bonds or interest, or involving the payment or appropriation of money shall be decided by a viva voce vote, with the name of each member voting recorded on the journal, and no question shall be decided unless approved by a majority of the board.

3496. Controller or clerk-Reports.-72. The city controller, or city