SEC. 48. The legislature shall provide such penalties and regulations as may be necessary for the proper enforcement of the provisions of this article.

ARTICLE X.

REVENUE AND TAXATION.

SECTION 1. The fiscal year shall commence on the 1st day of July in each year, unless otherwise provided by law.

SEC. 2. The legislature shall provide by law for an annual tax sufficient, with other resources, to defray the estimated ordinary expenses of the State for each fiscal year.

SEC. 3. Whenever the expenses of any fiscal year shall exceed the income, the legislature may provide for levying a tax for the ensuing fiscal year, which, with other resources, shall be sufficient to pay the deficiency, as well as the estimated ordinary expenses of the State for the ensuing year.

SEC. 4. For the purpose of paying the State debt, if any, the legislature shall provide for levying a tax, annually, sufficient to pay the annual interest and principal of such debt within 25 years from the final passage of the law creating the debt.

SEC. 5. The power of taxation shall never be surrendered, suspended, or contracted away. Taxes shall be uniform upon the same class of subjects.

SEC. 6. All property used for free public libraries, free museums, public cemeteries, property used exclusively for schools, colleges, and all property used exclusively for religious and charitable purposes, and all property of the United States, and of this State, and of counties and of municipalities of this State; household goods of the heads of families, tools, implements, and live stock employed in the support of the family, not exceeding $100 in value, and all growing crops, shall be exempt from taxation: Provided, That all property not herein specified now exempt from taxation under the laws of the Territory of Oklahoma, shall be exempt from taxation until otherwise provided by law: And provided further, That there shall be exempt from taxation to all ex-Union and exConfederate soldiers, bona fide residents of this State, and to all widows of ex-Union and ex-Confederate soldiers, who are heads of families and bona, fide residents of this State, personal property not exceeding $200 in value.

All property owned by the Murrow Indian Orphan Home, located in Coal County, and all property owned by the Whittaker Orphan Home, located in Mayes County, so long as the same shall be used exclusively as free homes or schools for orphan children, and for poor and indigent persons, and all fraternal orphan homes, and other orphan homes, together with all their charitable funds, shall be exempt from taxation, and such property as may be exempt by reason of treaty stipulations, existing between the Indians and the United States Government, or by Federal laws, during the force and effect of such treaties or Federal laws. The legislature may authorize any incorporated city or town, by a majority vote of its electors voting thereon, to exempt manufacturing establishments and public utilities from municipal taxation, for a period not exceeding five years, as an inducement to their location.

SEC. 7. The legislature may authorize county and municipal corporations to levy and collect assessments for local improvements upon property benefited thereby, homesteads included, without regard to a cash valuation.

SEC. 8. All property which may be taxed advalorem shall be assessed for taxation at its fair cash value, estimated at the price it would bring at a fair voluntary sale; and any officer or other person authorized to assess values, or subjects, for taxation, who shall commit any wilful error in the performance of his duty, shall be deemed guilty of malfeasance, and upon conviction thereof shall forfeit his office, and be otherwise punished as may be provided by law.

SEC. 9. Except as herein otherwise provided, the total taxes, on an advalorem basis, for all purposes, State, county, township, city, or town, and school district taxes, shall not exceed in any one year 31 mills on the dollar, to be divided as follows:

State levy, not more than 3 mills; county levy, not more than 8 mills: Provided, That any county may levy not exceeding 2 mills additional for county high school and aid to the common schools of the county, not over 1 mill of which shall be for such high school, and the aid to said common schools shall be apportioned as provided by law; township levy, not more than 5 mills; city or town levy, not more than 10 mills; school district levy, not more than 5 mills on the dollar for school district purposes, for support of common school; Provided, That the aforesaid annual rate for school purposes may be increased by any school district by an amount not to exceed 10 mills on the dollar valuation, on condition that a majority of the voters thereof voting at an election vote for said increase.

SEC. 10. For the purpose of erecting public buildings in counties, cities, or school districts, the rates of taxation herein limited may be increased, when the rate of such increase and the purpose for which it is intended shall have been submitted to a vote of the people, and a majority of the qualified voters of such county, city, or school district, voting at such election, shall vote therefor: Provided, That such increase shall not exceed 5 mills on the dollar of the assessed value of the taxable property in such county, city, or school district. SEC. 11. The receiving, directly or indirectly, by any officer of the State, or of any county, city, or town, or member or officer of the legislature, of any interest, profit, or perquisites, arising from the use or loan of public funds in his hands or moneys to be raised through his agency for State, city, town, district, or county purposes shall be deemed a felony. Said offense shall be punished as may be prescribed by law, a part of which punishment shall be disqualification to hold office.

SEC. 12. The legislature shall have power to provide for the levy and collection of license, franchise, gross revenue, excise, income, collateral and direct inheritance, legacy, and succession taxes; also graduated income taxes, graduated collateral and direct inheritance taxes, graduated legacy and succession taxes; also stamp, registration, production, or other specific taxes.

SEC. 13. The State may select its subjects of taxation, and levy and collect its revenues independent of the counties, cities, or other municipal subdivisions.

SEC. 14. Taxes shall be levied and collected by general laws, and for public purposes only, except that taxes may be levied when necessary to carry into effect section 31 of the bill of rights. Except as required by the enabling act, the State shall not assume the debt of any county, municipal corporation, or political subdivision of the State, unless such debt shall have contracted to defend itself in time of war, to repel invasion, or to suppress insurrection.

SEC. 15. The credit of the State shall not be given, pledged, or loaned to any individual, company, corporation, or association, municipality, or political subdivision of the State; nor shall the State become an owner or stockholder in, nor make donation by gift, subscription to stock, by tax or otherwise, to any company, association, or corporation.

SEC. 16. All laws authorizing the borrowing of money by and on behalf of the State, county, or other political subdivision of the State, shall specify the purpose for which the money is to be used, and the money so borrowed shall be used for no other purpose.

SEC. 17. The legislature shall not authorize any county or subdivision thereof, city, town, or incorporated district, to become a stockholder in any company, association, or corporation, or to obtain or appropriate money for, or levy any tax for, or to loan its credit to any corporation, association, or individual.

SEC. 18. The legislature may authorize the levy and collection of a poll tax on all electors of this State, under 60 years of age, not exceeding $2 per capita, per annum, and may provide a penalty for the nonpayment thereof.

SEC. 19. Every act enacted by the legislature, and every ordinance and resolution passed by any county, city, town, or municipal board or local legislative body, levying a tax, shall specify distinctly the purpose for which said tax is levied, and no tax levied and collected for one purpose shall ever be devoted to another purpose.

SEC. 20. The legislature shall not impose taxes for the purpose of any county, city, town, or other municipal corporation, but may, by general laws, confer on the proper authorities thereof, respectively, the power to assess and collect such taxes.

SEC. 21. There shall be a state board of equalization consisting of the governor, state auditor, state treasurer, secretary of state, attorney-general, state inspector and examiner, and president of the board of agriculture. The duty of said board shall be to adjust and equalize the valuation of real and personal property of the several counties in the State, and it shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed by law, and they shall assess all railroad and public service corporation property.

SEC. 22. Nothing in this constitution shall be held or construed to prevent the classification of property for purposes of taxation; and the valuation of different classes by different means or methods.

PUBLIC INDEBTEDNESS.

SEC. 23. The State may, to meet casual deficits or failure in revenues, or for expenses not provided for, contract debts; but such debts, direct and contingent, singly or in the aggregate, shall not, at any time, exceed $400,000, and the moneys arising from the loans creating such debts shall be applied to the purpose for which they were

obtained or to repay the debts so contracted, and to no other purpose whatever.

SEC. 24. In addition to the above limited power to contract debts, the State may contract debts to repel invasion, suppress insurrection or to defend the State in war; but the money arising from the contracting of such debts shall be applied to the purpose for which it was raised, or to repay such debts, and to no other purpose whatever.

SEC. 25. Except the debts specified in sections 23 and 24 of this article, no debts shall hereafter be contracted by or on behalf of this State, unless such debt shall be authorized by law for some work or object, to be distinctly specified therein; and such law shall impose and provide for the collection of a direct annual tax to pay, and sufficient to pay, the interest on such debt as it falls due and also to pay and discharge the principal of such debt within twenty-five years from the time of the contracting thereof. No such law shall take effect until it shall, at a general election, have been submitted to the people and have received a majority of all the votes cast for and against it at such election. On the final passage of such bill in either house of the legislature, the question shall be taken by yeas and nays, to be duly entered on the journals thereof, and shall be: "Shall this bill pass, and ought the same to receive the sanction of the people?" SEC. 26. No county, city, town, township, school district, or other political corporation, or subdivision of the State, shall be allowed to become indebted, in any manner, for any purpose, to an amount exceeding, in any year, the income and revenue provided for such year, without the assent of three-fifths of the voters thereof, voting at an election, to be held for that purpose, nor in cases requiring such assent, shall any indebtedness be allowed to be incurred to an amount including existing indebtedness, in the aggregate exceeding 5 per centum of the valuation of the taxable property therein, to be ascertained from the last assessment for State and county purposes previous to the incurring of such indebtedness: Provided, That any county, city, town, township, school district, or other political corporation, or subdivision of the State, incurring any indebtedness, requiring the assent of the voters as aforesaid, shall, before or at the time of doing so, provide for the collection of an annual tax sufficient to pay the interest on such indebtedness as it falls due, and also to constitute a sinking fund for the payment of the principal thereof within twenty-five years from the time of contracting the

same.

SEC. 27. Any incorporated city or town in this State may, by a majority of the qualified property taxpaying voters of such city or town, voting at an election to be held for that purpose, be allowed to become indebted in a larger amount than that specified in section 26, for the purpose of purchasing or constructing public utilities, or for repairing the same, to be owned exclusively by such city: Provided. That any such city or town incurring any such indebtedness requiring the assent of the voters as aforesaid, shall have the power to provide for, and, before or at the time of incurring such indebtedness, shall provide for the collection of an annual tax in addition to the other taxes provided for by this constitution, sufficient to pay the interest on such indebtedness as it falls due, and also to constitute a sinking fund for the payment of the principal thereof within twenty-five years from the time of contracting the same.

SEC. 28. Counties, townships, school districts, cities, and towns shall levy sufficient additional revenue to create a sinking fund to be used, first, for the payment of interest coupons as they fall due; second, for the payment of bonds as they fall due; third, for the payments of such parts of judgments as such municipality may, by law, be required to pay.

SEC. 29. No bond or evidence of indebtedness of this State shall be valid unless the same shall have endorsed thereon a certificate, signed by the auditor and attorney-general of the State, showing that the bond or evidence of debt is issued pursuant to law and is within the debt limit. No bond or evidence of debt of any county, or bond of any township or any other political subdivision of any county, shall be valid unless the same have endorsed thereon a certificate signed by the county clerk, or other officer authorized by law to sign such certificate, and the county attorney of the county, stating that said bond, or evidence of debt, is issued pursuant to law, and that said issue is within the debt limit.

SEC. 30. The legislature shall require all money collected by taxation, or by fees, fines, and public charges of every kind, to be accounted for by a system of accounting that shall be uniform for each class of accounts, State and local, which shall be prescribed and audited by authority of the State.

ARTICLE XI.

STATE AND SCHOOL LANDS.

SECTION 1. The State hereby accepts all grants of land and donations of money made by the United States under the provisions of the enabling act, and any other acts of Congress, for the uses and purposes and upon the conditions, and under the limitations for which the same are granted or donated; and the faith of the State is hereby pledged to preserve such lands and moneys and all moneys derived from the sale of any of said lands as a sacred trust, and to keep the same for the uses and purposes for which they were granted or donated.

SEC. 2. All proceeds of the sale of public lands that have heretofore been or may be hereafter given by the United States for the use and benefit of the common schools of this State, all such per centum as may be granted by the United States on the sales of public lands, the sum of $5,000,000 appropriated to the State for the use and benefit of the common schools in lieu of sections 16 and 36, and other lands of the Indian Territory, the proceeds of all property that shall fall to the State by escheat, the proceeds of all gifts or donations to the State for common schools not otherwise appropriated by the terms of the gifts, and such other appropriations, gifts, or donations as shall be made by the legislature for the benefit of the common schools, shall constitute the permanent school fund, the income from which shall be used for the maintenance of the common schools in the State. The principal shall be deemed a trust fund held by the State, and shall forever remain inviolate. It may be increased, but shall never be diminished. The State shall reimburse said permanent school fund for all losses thereof which may in any manner occur, and no portion of said fund shall be diverted for any other use or purpose.