One-fifth of the cost of constructing the said bridge (in line of Benning Road over the Anacostia River) and approaches shall be borne and paid by the Washington Railway and Electric Company, its successors and assigns, to the Collector of Taxes of the District of Columbia, to the credit of the District of Columbia, and the same shall be a valid and subsisting lien against the franchises and property of the said railway company and shall constitute a legal indebtedness of said company in favor of the District of Columbia, and the said lien may be enforced in the name of the District of Columbia by a bill in equity brought by the Mayor of the District of Columbia in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, or by any other lawful proceeding against the said railway company; provided further, that after the completion of said bridge and approaches authorized by the act of June 29, 1932 (47 Stat. 355) no street railway company shall use said bridge or approaches until the said company shall have paid to the Collector of Taxes of the District of Columbia a sum equal to one-fifth of the cost of said bridge and approaches, which sum shall be paid to the Collector of Taxes of the District of Columbia for deposit to the credit of the District of Columbia.

(June 29, 1932, 47 Stat. 355, ch. 308; June 25, 1936, 49 Stat. 1921, ch. 804; June 25, 1948, 62 Stat. 991, ch. 646, § 32(b); May 24, 1949, 63 Stat. 107, ch. 139, § 127; July 29, 1970, 84 Stat. 571, Pub. L. 91-358, title I, § 155(c)(24).)

1981 Ed., § 7-514.

1973 Ed., § 7-514.

Public utilities, multiple company use of utility infrastructures, see § 34-1102.

Office of Collector of Taxes abolished: See Historical and Statutory Notes following § 9-310.

This section originated at a time when local government powers were delegated to a Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia (see Acts Relating to the Establishment of the District of Columbia and its Various Forms of Governmental Organization in Volume 1). Section 401 of Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1967 (see Reorganization Plans in Volume 1) transferred all of the functions of the Board of Commissioners under this section to a single Commissioner. The District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act, 87 Stat. 818, § 711 ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.11), abolished the District of Columbia Council and the Office of Commissioner of the District of Columbia. These branches of government were replaced by the Council of the District of Columbia and the Office of Mayor of the District of Columbia, respectively. Accordingly, and also pursuant to § 714(a) of such Act ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.14(a)), appropriate changes in terminology were made in this section.