Section 12. Improvement of highways
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Improvement of highways
Debts hereafter authorized for the improvement of highways shall be created only in the manner provided in section four of this article. No provision of this article shall be deemed to impair or affect the validity of any debt of the state heretofore contracted or any right or obligation heretofore created between the state and any of its civil divisions.
Improvement of highways
A debt or debts of the state may be authorized by law for the improvement of highways. Such highways shall be determined under general laws, which shall also provide for the equitable apportionment thereof among the counties. The aggregate of the debts authorized by this section shall not at any one time exceed the sum of fifty millions of dollars. The payment of the annual interest on such debt and the creation of a sinking fund of at least two per centum per annum to discharge the principal at maturity shall be provided by general laws whose force and effect shall not be diminished during the existence of any debt created thereunder. The legislature may by general laws require the county or town or both to pay to the sinking fund the proportionate part of the cost of any such highway within the boundaries of such county or town and the proportionate part of the interest thereon, but no county shall at any time for any highway be required to pay more than thirty-five hundredths. None of the provisions of the fourth section of this article shall apply to debts for the improvement of highways hereby authorized.