Section 6602-2 G. C., provides that whenever the county commissioners declare the necessity of the construction, maintenance, repair, or operation of a sewer improvement, mentioned in Section 1, and declare said improvement is for the purpose of drainage, etc., or when a petition, signed by the freeholders of the majority of the acreage in a sewer district petition, or when a petition signed by the owners of the majority of the foot frontage of a proposed local or lateral sewer improvement, then the commissioners shall prepare the necessary plans, specifications and estimates and "as soon thereafter as possible the board of county commissioners shall declare by resolution, the necessity for making such improvements," which resolution shall contain a statement showing whether said sewer improvement is intended to be main, district, or intercepting sewer, the location, etc., a reference to the plans and specifications, the place where the same are on file, "the mode of payment of the cost and expense of the construction of said improvement, and a description of the lots or parcels of land and other property within said district to be assessed for the payment of a part or the whole of the cost and expense of construction and maintenance of said improvement to be paid by assessments." It further provides for the publication of a copy of said resolution and the posting thereof.

Section 6602-3 G. C., provides that after the expiration of ten. days, after the completion of said publication and posting of said resolution, the board shall determine whether to proceed, and if it decides to proceed a resolution for that purpose to be known as the "Improvement Resolution" shall be passed by the board. It is provided that said resolution shall contain "a statement of the district or part thereof for which the proposed improvement is to be made, the character of materials to be used, a reference to plans, specifications and estimates, and mode of payment of the cost and expenses of the construction and maintenance of the proposed improvement and the resolution may provide for assessing any or all of the cost and expense of such improvement to be paid by assessment upon the lots, lands, and other real property in such district as may be specially benefited thereby."

Section 6602-8 G. C., provides as to what may be included as costs, in the following language:

"The cost herein provided for in addition to the amount of money paid or to be paid for the construction, maintenance, repair, or operation, of any such improvement may include the cost of publication and posting of all resolutions or notices,

the cost of inspection, interest on bonds issued in anticipation of the collection of said assessments and the cost of making said assessments, as well as for any money paid for the condemnation or purchase of land or right of way for any such improvement, and the compensation of the sanitary engineer in making plans and specifications for and superintending the construction, maintenance or repair of any such improvement, and for any other expense necessary and proper for the construction, maintenance, repair, or operation of such improvements."

It is clear, therefore, that the cost of the improvement may include all of what has been foregoing stated.

Under Section 6602-5 it is provided:

"The county shall pay such part of the cost and expense of the improvement, maintenance, repairs and operation for which special assessments are levied as the board deems just, but such part shall be not less than two per cent of all such cost and expense and in addition thereto the county shall pay the cost of intersections."

The first part of Section 6602-5 G. C., provides as follows:

"If it deems expedient the board of county commissioners may by resolution assess the real estate as provided in the improvement resolution, and cause such assessment to be collected, or at their option may issue bonds in anticipation of the collection of such assessment before the work is done or contracted for. Or the board of county commissioners may at its option defer such assessment until the work is completed, and then upon the certificate of the sanitary engineer in charge showing the completion of the work, by resolution assess the real estate as provided in the improvement resolution."

It is also provided that the assessment shall be payable in annual installments not exceeding ten in number.

Section 6602-6 G. C., provides as follows:

"For the purpose of paying a part or the whole of the cost and expense of the construction, maintenance or repair or operation of any such improvement, or for the purpose of paying the sanitary engineer provided for under the provisions of this act, and for paying for his assistants and of all his other necessary expenses, the board of county commissioners may borrow money at a rate of not exceeding six per cent per annum on certificates of indebtedness to be signed by its president and clerk; such certificates of indebtedness shall be made payable at a time not more than five years from their date, or the board of county commissioners may issue and sell county

bonds as other county bonds are sold to pay the whole or part of the cost of the construction, maintenance, repair or operation of any such improvement, and to pay the sanitary engineer provided for under the provision of this act and for paying his assistants and all his other necessary expenses. Said bonds shall be signed, issued and sold as other county bonds are signed, issued and sold, and shall run for a period or periods not exceeding eleven years from their date, and shall not bear a greater rate of interest than six per cent, said bonds shall express upon their face the object for which they were issued, and shall be sold for not less than par and accrued interest.

"The board of county commissioners may levy taxes in addition to all other taxes authorized by law to pay such certificates of indebtedness and the interest thereon, or such bonds and interest thereon. Such levy shall be subject to all the limitations provided by law upon the aggregate amount, rate, maximum rate and combined maximum rate of taxation."

Your first question is whether the sanitary engineer provided for in Section 6602-1 can be paid out of county funds, to be subsequently reimbursed from the money raised under the act, or must the funds for the preliminary expenses be first raised as so provided?

Under the provisions of the Smith Law the county commissioners are required to submit a budget each year and to specifically set forth therein the amount to be raised for each and every purpose allowed by law for which it is desired to raise money for the incoming year, and under the provisions of said law the county commissioners are required at the beginning of each fiscal half year to make appropriations for each of the several objects for which money has been provided, and all expenditures within the following six months shall be made from and within such appropriations and the balances thereof; and it is further provided in such law that no appropriation shall be made for any purpose not set forth in the annual budget.

Such being the case, I cannot conceive of any fund in the county treasury which could be used for the payment of compensation or expenses of the sanitary engineer, even though the amount so expended is to be reimbursed from funds raised under the act in question. Consequently, I advise that the sanitary engineer provided for in Section 6602-1 cannot be paid out of county funds, to be subsequently reimbursed from the money raised under the act.

Your next question is as follows:

"Can the construction of the improvement be paid for as the work progresses by certificates of indebtedness, authorized by Section 6 of the act, such certificates being issued to mature in a short time; and then, at the completion of the work, bonds be issued to cover the entire cost, including the taking up of the certificates?”

In this connection Section 5660 of the General Code must be considered. Said section provides in part as follows:

*

* *

"The commissioners of a county * * shall not enter into a contract * involving the expenditure of money * unless the auditor * first certifies that the money required for the payment of such obligation is in the treasury to the credit of the fund from which it is to be drawn, or has been levied and placed on the duplicate, and in process of collection and not appropriated for any other purpose; money to be derived from lawfully authorized bonds sold and in process of delivery shall, for the purpose of this section, be deemed in the treasury and in the appropriate fund."

This section of the General Code is very similar to Section 3806 G. C., relative to municipal corporations, and the decisions of the courts under Section 3806 would have some bearing in construing the provisions of Section 5660.

It was held in the case of Comstock vs. Nelsonville, 61 O. S., 288, that Section 2702 R. S. (now Section 3806 G. C.), was applicable to so much of the cost and expense of a street improvement as was to be paid by the municipality out of funds arising from a levy on the general tax list, but not applicable to so much of the cost and expense of a street improvement as is to be paid by an assessment on the property bounding and abutting on such improvement or adjacent thereto.

The case of Emmert vs. Elyria, 74 O. S., 185, held that Sections 45 and 45a of the municipal code (1536-205 and 1536-205a R. S.), (now Sections 3806 and 3810 G. C.), do not apply to contracts for street improvements when bonds have been authorized by the municipality to be issued to pay the entire estimated cost and expense of the improvement.

Whatever may have been the reasoning of the court in such case, and whether or not the said case is in conflict with the case of Village vs. Diekmeier, 79 O. S., 323, we are not concerned with in this opinion, for the reason that in the case of Emmert vs. Elyria the bonds had already been authorized, although not yet sold and in process of delivery-and the case of Emmert vs. Elyria

only goes to the extent of not requiring a certificate when bonds have at least been authorized.

Therefore, I am of the opinion that Section 5660 of the General Code must be complied with at the time the contract is made, as provided for in Section 6602-4 G. C. Such being the case, the money must be in the treasury or levied and placed on the duplicate and in process of collection, and not appropriated for any other purpose, or bonds must at least have been duly authorized. The issuing of certificates of indebtedness as the work progresses in order to take care of the work done under the contract would be in violation of Section 5660, which requires the money to be in the treasury at the time of entering into the contract.

I therefore advise that the construction of the improvement cannot be paid for as the work progresses by certificates of indebtedness authorized by Section 6 of the act, but that the entire money called for by such contract, insofar as the county's portion thereof is concerned, must be in the treasury at the time of entering into the contract; the case of Comstock vs. Nelsonville, supra -if the same construction is to be given Section 5660 as was given by the court in said case in regard to Section 3806-being authority that no certificate is required relative to the amount that is to be paid by assessment.

Section 4799, General Code, Is Not Repealed by the Provisions of Section 4877, General Code, as Amended in 103 Ohio Laws, 544. The Compensation of the Deputy Clerk and Clerks of Boards of Deputy State Supervisors and Inspectors of Elections, Shall Not Exceed the Rate of $100.00 Per Month, to be Paid Only for the Time Actually Employed (Sec. 4877, G. C.)-The Compensation of All Temporary Clerks and Assistants Is Limited to Said Rate for the Time Actually Employed, to be Computed Upon the Basis of the Actual Number of Days in the Calendar Month in Which Such Services Are Rendered.

No. 980-(Opinion Dated October 27, 1915.) The Bureau of Inspection and Supervision of Public Offices, Columbus, Ohio.

lows:

Gentlemen: I have your request for opinion, which is as fol

"We would respectfully request your written opinion upon the following question:

"What is the meaning of the language used in Section