Civil Government of Virginia

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SEC. 167. The General Assembly shall enact general laws regulating
and controlling all issues of stock and bonds by corporations.
Whenever stock or bonds are to be issued by a corporation, it
shall, before issuing the same, file with the State Corporation
Commission a statement (verified by the oath of the president or
secretary of the corporation, and in such form as may be
prescribed or permitted by the commission) setting forth fully and
accurately the basis, or financial plan, upon which such stock or
bonds are to be issued; and where such basis or plan includes
services or property (other than money), received or to be
received by the company, such statement shall accurately specify
and describe, in the manner prescribed, or permitted, by the
commission, the services and property, together with the valuation
at which the same are received or to be received; and such
corporation shall comply with any other requirements or
restrictions which may be imposed by law. The General Assembly
shall provide adequate penalties for the violation of this
section, or of any laws passed in pursuance thereof; and it shall
be the duty of the commission to adjudge, and enforce (in the
manner hereinbefore provided), against any corporation refusing or
failing to comply with the provisions of this section, or of any
laws passed in prey nuance thereof, such fines and penalties as
are authorized by this Constitution, or may be prescribed by law.

ARTICLE XIII.

TAXATION AND FINANCE.

SEC. 168. All property, except as hereinafter provided, shall be
taxed; all taxes, whether state, local, or municipal, shall be
uniform upon the same class of subjects within the territorial
limits of the authority levying the tax, and shall be levied and
collected under general laws.

SEC. 169. Except as hereinafter provided, all assessments of real
estate and tangible personal property shall be at their fair
market value, to be ascertained as prescribed by law. The General
Assembly may allow a lower rate of taxation to be imposed for a
period of years by a city or town upon land added to its corporate
limits, than is imposed on similar property within its limits at
the time such land is added. Nothing in this Constitution shall
prevent the General Assembly, after the first day of January,
nineteen hundred and thirteen, from segregating for the purposes
of taxation, the several kinds or classes of property, so as to
specify and determine upon what subjects, state taxes, and upon
what subjects, local taxes may be levied.

SEC. 170. The General Assembly may levy a tax on incomes in excess
of six hundred dollars per annum; may levy a license tax upon any
business which cannot be reached by the ad valorem system; and may
impose state franchise taxes, and in imposing a franchise tax,
may, in its discretion, make the same in lieu of taxes upon other
property, in whole or in part, of a transportation, industrial, or
commercial corporation. Whenever a franchise tax shall be imposed
upon a corporation doing business in this State, or whenever all
the capital, however invested, of a corporation chartered under
the laws of this State, shall be taxed, the shares of stock issued
by any such corporation, shall not be further taxed. No city or
town shall impose any tax or assessment upon abutting land owners
for street or other public local improvements, except for making
and improving the walkways upon then existing streets, and
improving and paving then existing alleys, and for either the
construction, or for the use of sewers; and the same when imposed,
shall not be in excess of the peculiar benefits resulting
therefrom to such abutting land owners. Except in cities and
towns, no such taxes or assessments, for local public improvements
shall be imposed on abutting land owners.

SEC. 171. The General Assembly shall provide for a re-assessment
of real estate, in the year nineteen, hundred and five, and every
fifth year thereafter, except that of railway and canal
corporations, which, after the January the first, nineteen hundred
and thirteen, may be assessed as the General Assembly may provide

SEC 172 The General Assembly shall provide for the special and
separate assessment of all coal and other mineral land, but until
such special assessment is made, such land shall be assessed under
existing laws

SEC 173 The General Assembly shall levy a state capitation tax of,
and not exceeding, one dollar and fifty cents per annum on every
male resident of the State not less than twenty one years of age,
except those pensioned by this State for military services, one
dollar of which shall be applied exclusively in aid of the public
free schools, in proportion to the school population, and the
residue shall be returned and paid by the State into the treasury
of the county or city in which it was collected, to be
appropriated by the proper county or city authorities to such
county or city purposes as they shall respectively determine, but
said state capitation tax shall not be a lien upon, nor collected
by legal process from, the personal property which may be exempt
from levy or distress under the poor debtor's law. The General
Assembly may authorize the board of supervisors of any county, or
the council of any city or town, to levy an additional capitation
tax not exceeding one dollar per annum on every such resident
within its limits, which shall be applied in aid of the public
schools of such county, city or town, or for such other county,
city or town purposes as they shall determine

SEC 174 After this Constitution shall be in force, no statute of
limitation shall run against any claim of the State for taxes upon
any property, nor shall the failure to assess property for
taxation defeat a subsequent assessment for and collection of
taxes for any preceding year or years, unless such property shall
have passed to a bona fide purchaser of value, without notice, in
which latter case the property shall be assessed for taxation
against such purchaser from the date of his purchase

SEC 175 The natural oyster beds, rocks and shoals, in the waters
of this State, shall not be leased, rented or sold, but shall be
held in trust for the benefit of the people of this State, subject
to such regulations and restrictions as the General Assembly may
prescribe, but the General Assembly may, from time to time, define
and determine such natural beds, rocks or shoals, by surveys or
otherwise

SEC 176 The State Corporation Commission shall annually ascertain
and assess, at the time hereinafter mentioned, and in the manner
required of the Board of Public Works, by the law in force on
January the first nineteen hundred and two, the value of the
roadbed, and other real estate, rolling stock, and all other
personal property whatsoever (except its franchise and the non
taxable shares of stock issued by other corporations) in this
State, of each railway corporation, whatever its motive power, now
or hereafter liable for taxation upon such property, the canal bed
and other real estate, the boats and all other personal property
whatsoever (except its franchise and the non taxable shares of
stock issued by other corporations) in this State, of each canal
corporation, empowered to conduct transportation, and such
property shall be taxed for state, county, city, town and district
purposes in the same manner as authorized by said law, at such
rates of taxation as may be imposed by them, respectively, from
time to time, upon the real estate and personal property of
natural persons provided, that no tax shall be laid upon the net
income of such corporations.

SEC. 177. Each such railway or canal corporation, including also
any such as is exempt from taxation as to its works, visible
property, or profits, shall also pay an annual state franchise tax
equal to one per centum upon the gross receipts hereinafter
specified in section One Hundred and Seventy eight for the
privilege of exercising its franchise in this State, which, with
the taxes provided for in section One Hundred and Seventy six,
shall be in lieu of all other taxes or license charges whatsoever
upon the franchises of such corporation, the shares of stock
issued by it, and upon its property assessed under section One
Hundred and Seventy six provided, that nothing herein contained
shall exempt such corporation from the annual fee required by
section One Hundred and fifty seven of this Constitution, or from
assessments for street and other public local improvements
authorized by section One Hundred and Seventy, and provided,
further, that nothing herein contained shall annul or interfere
with, or prevent any contract or agreement by ordinance between
street railway corporations and municipalities, as to compensation
for the use of the streets or alleys of such municipalities by
such railway corporations.

SEC 178 The amount of such franchise tax shall be equal to one per
centum of the gross transportation receipts of such corporation,
for the year ending June the thirtieth of each year, to be
ascertained by the State Corporation Commission, in the following
manner:

(a) When the road or canal of the corporation lies wholly within
this State, the tax shall be equal to one per centum of the entire
gross transportation receipts of such corporation

(b) When the road or canal of the corporation lies partly within
and partly without this State or is operated as a part of a line
or system extending beyond this State, the tax shall be equal to
one per centum of the gross transportation receipts earned within
this State, to be determined as follows: By ascertaining the
average gross transportation receipts per mile over its whole
extent within and without this State, and multiplying the result
by the number of miles operated within this State provided, that
from the sum so ascertained there may be a reasonable deduction
because of any excess of value of the terminal facilities or other
similar advantages in other states over similar facilities or
advantages in this State.

SEC 179 Each corporation mentioned in sections One Hundred and
Seventy six and One Hundred and Seventy seven shall annually, on
the first day of September, make to the State Corporation
Commission the report which the law, in force January the first,
nineteen hundred and two, required to be made annually to the
Board of Public Works by every railroad and canal company in this
State, not exempt from taxation by virtue of its charter, which
report shall also show the property taxable in this State
belonging to the corporation on the thirtieth day of June
preceding, and its total gross transportation receipts for the
year ending on that date. Upon receiving such report the State
Corporation Commission shall, after thirty days' notice previously
given, as provided by said law, assess the value of the property
not exempt from taxation, of the corporation, and ascertain the
amount of the franchise tax and other state taxes chargeable
against it. All taxes for which the corporation is liable shall be
paid on or before the first day of December following the
provisions of said law, except as changed by this article shall
apply to the ascertainment and collection of the franchise, as
well as other taxes of such corporations. Said taxes, until paid,
shall be a lien upon the property within this State of the
corporation owning the same, and take precedence of all other
liens or incumbrances.

SEC. 180 Any corporation aggrieved by the assessment and
ascertainment made under sections One Hundred and Seventy six and
One Hundred and Seventy eight may, within thirty days after
receiving a certified copy thereof, apply for relief to the
circuit court of the city of Richmond Justice of the application,
setting forth the grounds of complaint, verified by affidavit,
shall be served on the State Corporation Commission, and on the
Attorney General whose duty it shall be to represent the State.
The court, if of opinion that the assessment or tax is excessive
shall reduce the same, but if of opinion that it is insufficient,
shall increase the same. Unless the applicant paid the taxes under
protest, when due, the court, if it disallow the application,
shall give judgment against it for a sum, by way of damages, equal
to interest at the rate of one per centum per month upon the
amount of taxes from the time the same were payable. If the
application be allowed, in whole or in part, appropriate relief
shall be granted, including the right to recover any excess of
taxes that may have been paid, with legal interest thereon, and
costs, from the State or local authorities, or both, as the case
may be, the judgment to be enforceable by mandamus or other proper
process issuing from the court finally adjudicating the
application. Subject to the provisions of Article Six of this
Constitution, the Supreme Court of Appeals may allow a court of
error to either party.

SEC. 181. As of January the first, nineteen hundred and three, the
system of taxation, as to the corporations mentioned in sections
One Hundred and Seventy six and One Hundred and Seventy seven,
shall be as set forth in sections One Hundred and Seventy six to
One Hundred and Eighty, inclusive, and for that year the franchise
tax shall be based upon such gross receipts for the year ending
the thirtieth day of June, nineteen hundred and three, and such
system shall so remain until the first day of January, nineteen
hundred and thirteen, and thereafter until modified or changed, as
may be prescribed by law provided, that, if the said system shall
for any reason become inoperative, the General Assembly shall have
power to adopt some other system.

SEC. 182. Until otherwise prescribed by law, the shares of stock
issued by trust or security companies chartered by this State, and
by incorporated banks, shall be taxed in the same manner in which
the shares of stock issued by incorporated banks were taxed, by
the law in force January the first, nineteen hundred and two, but
from the total assessed value of the shares of stock of any such
company or bank, there shall be deducted the assessed value of its
real estate otherwise taxed in this State, and the value of each
share of stock shall be its proportion of the remainder.

SEC. 183. Except as otherwise provided in this Constitution, the
following property and no other, shall be exempt from taxation,
state and local, but the General Assembly may hereafter tax any of
the property hereby exempted save that mentioned in sub-section
(a)

(a) Property directly or indirectly owned by the State, however
held, and property lawfully owned and held by counties, cities,
towns, or school districts, used wholly and exclusively for
county, city, town, or public school purposes, and obligations
issued by the State since the fourteenth day of February, eighteen
hundred and eighty two or hereafter exempted by law. (b) Buildings
with land they actually occupy, and the furniture and furnishings
therein lawfully owned and held by churches or religious bodies,
and wholly and exclusively used for religious worship, or for the
residence of the minister of any such church or religious body,
together with the additional adjacent land reasonably necessary
for the convenient use of any such building.

(c) Private family burying grounds not exceeding one acre in area,
reserved as such by will or deed or shown by other sufficient
evidence to be reserved as such, and so exclusively used, and
public burying grounds and lots therein exclusively used for
burial purposes, and not conducted for profit, whether owned or
managed by local authorities or by private corporations.

(d) Buildings with the land they actually occupy and the
furniture, furnishings, books and instruments therein, wholly
devoted to educational purposes, belonging to, and actually and
exclusively occupied and used by churches, public libraries,
incorporated colleges, academies, industrial schools, seminaries,
or other incorporated institutions of learning, including the
Virginia Historical Society, which are not corporations having
shares of stock or otherwise owned by individuals or other
corporations, together with such additional adjacent land owned by
such churches, libraries and educational institutions as may be
reasonably necessary for the convenient use of such buildings,
respectively, and also the buildings thereon used as residences by
the officers or instructors of such educational institutions, and
also the permanent endowment funds held by such libraries and
educational institutions directly or in trust, and not invested in
real estate provided, that such libraries and educational
institutions are not conducted for profit of any person or
persons, natural or corporate directly or under any guise or
pretence whatsoever. But the exemption mentioned in this sub
section shall not apply to any industrial school, individual or
corporate, not the property of the State, which does work for
compensation, or manufactures and sells articles, in the community
in which such school is located; provided, that nothing herein
contained shall restrict any such school from doing work for or
selling its own products or any other articles to any of its
students or employees.

(e) Real estate belonging to, actually and exclusively occupied,
and used by, and personal property, including endowment funds,
belonging to Young Men's Christian Associations, and other similar
religious associations, orphan or other asylums, reformatories,
hospitals and nunneries, which are not conducted for profit, but
purely and completely as charities.

(f) Buildings with the land they actually occupy, and the
furniture and furnishings therein, belonging to any benevolent or
charitable association and used exclusively for lodge purposes or
meeting rooms by such association, together with such additional
adjacent land as may be necessary for the convenient rise of the
buildings for such purposes; and

(g) Property belonging to the Association for the Preservation of
Virginia Antiquities, the Confederate Memorial Literary Society,
and the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union.

No inheritance tax shall be charged, directly or indirectly,
against any legacy or devise made according to law for the benefit
of any institution or other body or any natural or corporate
person whose property is exempt from taxation as hereinbefore
mentioned in this section.

Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to exempt
from taxation the property of any person, firm, association or
corporation, who shall, expressly or impliedly, directly or
indirectly, contract or promise to pay any sum of money or other
benefit, on account of death, sickness, or accident to any of its
members or any other person; and whenever any building or land, or
part thereof, mentioned in this section and not belonging to the
State, shall be leased or shall be a source of revenue or profit,
all of such buildings and land shall be liable to taxation as
other land and buildings in the same county, city, or town; and
nothing herein contained shall be construed as authorizing or
requiring any county, city, or town to tax for county, city or
town purposes, in violation of the rights of the lessees thereof
existing under any lawful contract heretofore made, any real
estate owned by such county, city or town, and heretofore leased
by it.

Obligations issued by counties, cities, or towns may be exempted
by the authorities of such localities from local taxation.

SEC. 184. No debt shall be contracted by the State except to meet
casual deficits in the revenue, to redeem a previous liability of
the State, to suppress insurrection, repel invasion, or defend the
State in time of war. No scrip, certificate, or other evidence of
state indebtedness, shall be issued except for the transfer or
redemption of stock previously issued, or for such debts as are
expressly authorized in this Constitution.

SEC. 185. Neither the credit of the State, nor of any county,
city, or town, shall be, directly or indirectly, under any device
or pretence whatsoever, granted to or in aid of any person,
association, or corporation; nor shall the State, or any county,
city, or town subscribe to or become interested in the stock or
obligations of any company, association, or corporation, for the
purpose of aiding in the construction or maintenance of its work;
nor shall the State become a party to or become interested in any
work of internal improvement, except public roads, or engaged in
carrying on any such work; nor assume any indebtedness of any
county, city, or town, nor lend its credit to the same; but this
section shall not prevent a county, city or town from perfecting a
subscription to the capital stock of a railroad company authorized
by existing charter conditioned upon the affirmative vote of the
voters and freeholders of such county, city or town in favor of
such subscription: provided, that such vote be had prior to July
first, nineteen hundred and three.

SEC. 186. All taxes, licenses, and other revenue of the State,
shall be collected by its proper officers and paid into the state
treasury. No money shall be paid out of the state treasury except
in pursuance of appropriations made by law; and no such
appropriation shall be made which is payable more than two years
after the end of the session of the General Assembly, at which the
law is enacted authorizing the same; and no appropriation shall be
made for the payment of any debt or obligation created in the name
of the State during the war between the Confederate States and the
United States. Nor shall any county, city, or town pay any debt or
obligation created by such county, city, or town in aid of said
war.

SEC. 187. The General Assembly shall provide and maintain a
sinking fund in accordance with the provisions of section Ten of
the act, approved February the twentieth, eighteen hundred and
ninety-two, entitled "an act to provide for the settlement of the
public debt of Virginia not funded under the provisions of an act
entitled an act to ascertain and declare Virginia's equitable
share of the debt created before, and actually existing at the
time of the partition of her territory and resources, and to
provide for the issuance of bonds covering the same, and the
regular and prompt payment of the interest theron, approved
February the fourteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty-two." Every
law hereafter enacted by the General Assembly, creating a debt or
authorizing a loan, shall provide for the creation and maintenance
of a sinking fund for the payment or redemption of the same.

SEC. 188. No other or greater amount of tax or revenue shall, at
any time, be levied than may be required for the necessary
expenses of the government, or to pay the indebtedness of the
State.

SEC. 189. On all lands and the improvements thereon, and on all
tangible personal property, not exempt from taxation by the
provision of this article, the rate of state taxation shall be
twenty cents on every hundred dollars of the assessed value
thereof, the proceeds of which shall be applied to the expenses of
the government and the indebtedness of the State, and a further
tax of ten cents on every hundred dollars of the assessed value
thereof, which shall be applied to the support of the public free
schools of the State: provided, that after the first day of
January, nineteen hundred and seven, the tax rate upon said real
and personal property, for such purposes shall be prescribed by
law. But the General Assembly during such period of four years, in
addition to making annually an appropriation for pensions not to
exceed the last appropriation made for such purpose prior to
September the thirtieth, nineteen hundred and one, may levy
annually, a special tax for pensions, on such real and personal
property of not exceeding five cents on the hundred dollars of the
assessed value therof.

ARTICLE XIV.

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.

HOMESTEAD AND OTHER EXEMPTIONS.

SEC. 190. Every householder or head of a family shall be entitled,
in addition to the articles now exempt from levy or distress for
rent, to hold exempt from levy, seizure, garnishment, or sale
under any execution, order, or other process issued on any demand
for a debt hereafter contracted, his real and personal property,
or either, including money and debts due him, to the value of not
exceeding two thousand dollars, to be selected by him: provided,
that such exemption shall not extend to any execution, order, or
other process issued on any demand in the following cases:

First. For the purchase price of said property, or any part
thereof. If the property purchased, and not paid for, be exchanged
for, or converted into, other property by the debtor, such last-
named property shall not be exempted from the payment of such
unpaid purchase money under the provisions of this article;

Second. For services rendered by a laboring person or mechanic;

Third. For liabilities incurred by any public officer, or officer
of a court, or any fiduciary, or any attorney-at-law for money
collected;

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