SEC. 85.

RAILROAD COMMISSION CREATED-ITS POWERS PRESCRIBED. There is hereby created a railroad commission which shall consist of five members and which shall be known as the Railroad Commission of the State of California. The commission shall be appointed by the Governor from the State at large; provided, that the Legislature, in its discretion, may divide the State into districts for the purpose of such appointments, said districts to be as nearly equal in population as practicable;

The Legislature shall fix the salaries of the commissioners, but pending such action the salaries of the commissioners, their officers and employees shall remain as now fixed by law. The Legislature shall have the power, by a two-thirds vote of all members elected to each house, to remove any one or more of said commissioners from office for dereliction of duty or corruption or incompetency.

No provision of this Constitution shall be construed as a limitation upon the authority of the Legislature to confer upon the Railroad Commission additional powers of the same kind or different from those conferred herein which are not inconsistent with the powers conferred upon the Railroad Commission in this Constitution, and the authority of the Legislature to confer such additional powers is expressly declared to be plenary and unlimited by any provision of this Constitution. (Constitution, art. XII, sec. 22.)

SEC. 86.

PUBLIC UTILITIES-SUPERVISION OF-LOCAL REGULATION.

Every private corporation, and every individual or association of individuals, owning, operating, managing, or controlling any commercial railroad, interurban railroad, street railroad, canal, pipe line, plant, or equipment, or any part of such railroad, canal, pipe line, plant, or equipment within this State, for the transportation or conveyance of passengers, or express matter, or freight of any kind, including crude oil, or for the transmission of telephone or telegraph messages, or for the production, generation, transmission, delivery or furnishing of heat, light, water or power or for the furnishing of storage or wharfage facilities, either directly or indirectly, to or for the public, and every common carrier, is hereby declared to be a public utility subject to such control and regulation by the railroad commission as may be provided by the Legislature, and every class of private corporations, individuals, or associations of individuals hereafter declared by the Legislature to be public utilities shall likewise be subject to such control and regulation. The Railroad Commission shall have and exercise such power and jurisdiction to supervise and regulate public utilities, in the State of California, and to fix the rates to be charged for commodities furnished, or services rendered by public utilities as shall be conferred upon it by the Legislature, and the right of the Legislature to confer powers upon the Railroad Commission respecting public utilities is hereby declared to be plenary and to be unlimited by any provision of this Constitution.

From and after the passage by the Legislature of laws conferring powers upon the Railroad Commission respecting public utilities, all powers respecting such public utilities vested in boards of supervisors, or municipal councils, or other governing bodies of the several counties, cities and counties, cities and towns, in this State, or in any commission created by law and existing at the time of the passage of such laws, shall cease so far as such powers shall conflict with the powers so conferred upon the Railroad Commission. *** (Constitution, art. XII, sec. 23.)

SEC. 87.

LEGISLATURE MAY INVEST RAILROAD COMMISSION WITH POWER TO FIX COMPENSATION FOR TAKING PUBLIC UTILITY PROPERTY.

The Railroad Commission shall have and exercise such power and jurisdiction as shall be conferred upon it by the Legislature to fix the just compensation to be paid for the taking of any property of a public utility in eminent domain proceedings by the State or any county, city and county, incorporated city or town, or municipal water district, and the right of the Legislature to confer such powers upon the Railroad Commission is hereby declared to be plenary and to be unlimited by any provision of this Constitution. All acts of the Legislature heretofore adopted, which are in accordance herewith, are hereby confirmed and declared valid. (Constitution, art. XII, sec. 23a.)

SEC. 88.

DUTY ON LEGISLATURE TO ENFORCE ARTICLE.

The Legislature shall pass all laws necessary for the enforcement of the provisions of this article. (Constitution, art. XII, sec. 24.)

SEC. 89.

LEGISLATURE MAY PROVIDE TAXATION EXEMPTION IN CERTAIN CASES.

All property in the State except as otherwise in this Constitution provided, not exempt under the laws of the United States, shall be taxed in proportion to its value, to be ascertained as provided by law, or as hereinafter provided.

The Legislature may provide, except in the case of credits secured by mortgage or trust deed, for a deduction from credits of debts due to bona fide residents of this state. (Constitution, art. XIII, sec. 1.)

SEC. 90.

CONTRACT IMPAIRING POWER OF TAXATION FORBIDDEN.

The power of taxation shall never be surrendered or suspended by any grant or contract to which the State shall be a party. (Constitution, art. XIII, sec. 6.)

SEC. 91.

PAYMENT OF REAL PROPERTY TAXES BY INSTALLMENTS.

The Legislature shall have the power to provide by law for the payment of all taxes on real property by installments. (Constitution, art. XIII, sec. 7.)

SEC. 92.

TAXPAYER'S ANNUAL PROPERTY STATEMENT.

The Legislature shall by law require each taxpayer in this State to make and deliver to the county assessor, annually, a statement, under oath, setting forth specifically all the real and personal property owned by such taxpayer, or in his possession, or under his control, at twelve o'clock meridian on the first Monday of March. (Constitution, art. XIII, sec. 8.)

The Legislature shall have power to redistrict the State into four districts, as nearly equal in population as practical, and to provide for the elections of members of said Board of Equalization. (Constitution, art. XIII, sec. 9.)

SEC. 94.

PROPERTY, WHERE ASSESSED.

All property, except as otherwise in this Constitution provided, shall be assessed in the county, city, city and county, town or township, or district in which it is situated, in the manner prescribed by law. (Constitution, art. XIII, sec. 10.)

SEC. 95.

INCOME TAX MAY BE LEVIED.

Income taxes may be assessed to and collected from persons, corporations, joint-stock associations, or companies resident or doing business in this State, or any one or more of them, in such cases and amounts, and in such manner, as shall be prescribed by law. (Constitution, art. XIII, sec. 11.)

SEC. 96.

NO POLL TAX TO BE LEVIED.

No poll tax or head tax for any purpose whatsoever shall be levied or collected in the State of California. (Constitution, art. XIII, sec. 12.)

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SEC. 97.

EXEMPTION OF CERTAIN TREES AND VINES.

Fruit and nut bearing trees under the age of four years from the time of planting in orchard form, and grapevines under the age of three years from the time of planting in vineyard form, shall be exempt from taxation, and nothing in this article shall be construed as subjecting such trees and grapevines to taxation. (Constitution, art. XIII, sec. 123.)

SEC. 98.

LEGISLATURE TO PROVIDE FOR ENFORCEMENT.

The Legislature shall pass all laws necessary to carry out the provisions of this article. (Constitution, art. XIII, sec. 13.)

SEC. 99.

BASIS OF TAXATION FOR STATE PURPOSES.

Taxes levied, assessed and collected as hereinafter provided upon railroads, etc., shall be entirely and exclusively for State purposes, and shall be levied, assessed and collected in the manner hereinafter provided. * * * All the provisions of this section shall be self-executing, and the Legislature shall pass all laws necessary to carry this section into effect, and shall provide for a valuation and assessment of the property enumerated in this section, and shall prescribe the duties of the State Board of Equalization and any other officers in connection with the administration thereof. The rates of taxation fixed in this section shall remain in force until changed by the Legislature, two thirds of all the members elected to each of the two houses voting in favor thereof. *** Until the year 1918 the State shall reimburse any and all counties which sustain loss of revenue by the withdrawal of railroad property from county taxation for the net loss in county revenue occasioned by the withdrawal of railroad property from county taxation. The Legislature shall provide for reimbursement from the general funds of any county to districts therein where loss is occasioned in such districts by the withdrawal from local taxation of property taxed for State purposes only. *** ** (Constitution, art. XIII, sec. 14.)

SEC. 100.

HARBOR FRONTAGE SUBJECT TO EMINENT DOMAIN.

The right of eminent domain is hereby declared to exist in the State to all frontages on the navigable waters of this State. (Constitution, art. XIV, sec. 1.)

SEC. 101.

PEOPLE SHALL ALWAYS HAVE ACCESS TO NAVIGABLE WATERS.

No individual, partnership, or corporation, claiming or possessing the frontage or tidal lands of a harbor, bay, inlet estuary, or other navigable water in this State, shall be permitted to exclude the right of

way to such water whenever it is required for any public purpose, nor to destroy or obstruct the free navigation of such water; and the Legislature shall enact such laws as will give the most liberal construction to this provision, so that access to the navigable waters of this State shall be always attainable for the people thereof. (Constitution, art. XIV, sec. 2.)

SEC. 102.

TIDE LANDS NOT TO PASS INTO PRIVATE HANDS.

All tide lands within two miles of any incorporated city or town in this State, and fronting on the waters of any harbor, estuary, bay, or inlet, used for the purposes of navigation, shall be withheld from grant or sale to private persons, partnerships, or corporations. (Constitution, art. XIV, sec. 3.)

SEC. 103.

LIMITATION OF STATE INDEBTEDNESS.

The Legislature shall not, in any manner, create any debt or debts, liability or liabilities, which shall, singly or in the aggregate with any previous debts or liabilities, exceed the sum of three hundred thousand dollars, except in case of war to repel invasion or suppress insurrection, unless the same shall be authorized by law for some single object of work to be distinctly specified therein, which law shall provide ways and means, exclusive of loans, for the payment of the interest of such debt or liability as it falls due, and also to pay and discharge the principal of such debt or liability within seventy-five years of the time of the contracting thereof, and shall be irrepealable until the principal and interest thereon shall be paid and discharged and such law may make provision for a sinking fund to pay the principal of such debt or liability to commence at a time after the incurring of such debt or liability of not more than a period of one fourth of the time of maturity of such debt or liability. *** The Legislature may, at any time after the approval of such law by the people, if no debt shall have been contracted in pursuance thereof, repeal the same. (Constitution, art. XVI, sec. 1.)

SEC. 104.

EXEMPTIONS OF HOMESTEADS.

The Legislature shall protect, by law, from forced sale, a certain portion of the homestead and other property of all heads of families. (Constitution, art. XVII, sec. 1.)

SEC. 105.

HOLDING OF UNIMPROVED LANDS AGAINST PUBLIC INTEREST.

The holding of large tracts of land, uncultivated and unimproved, by individuals or corporations, is against the public interest, and should be discouraged by all means not inconsistent with the rights of private property. (Constitution, art. XVII, sec. 2.)