Prior to 1 April, 1936, Henderson County had defaulted in the payment of principal and interest due on its bonded indebtedness. For the purpose of refunding the indebtedness of said county, as author *566 ized by statute (N. C. Code of 1935, sec. 1334 [8] [j]), and thereby restoring its credit and relieving its taxpayers of burdensome taxes, the Board of County Commissioners of Henderson County entered into a contract with the North Carolina Municipal Council, Inc., of Raleigh, N. C., by which the said board agreed to pay to said council a sum not to exceed one-half of one per cent of the par value of its outstanding bonds for its services and expenses in the preparation and submission to the bondholders of said county of a plan for the refunding of the bonded indebtedness of Henderson County. The said North Carolina Municipal Council, Inc., has fully performed its contract with the Board of County Commissioners of Henderson County. The said board has duly authorized the issuance of bonds of Henderson County to raise money to pay in cash certain sums now due on its bonded indebtedness, and also to pay for the services rendered and the expenses incurred by the North Carolina Municipal Council, Inc., in the preparation and submission to the bondholders of Henderson County of a plan for the refunding of its bonded indebtedness. This plan, when accepted by the bondholders, will result in a substantial decrease in the interest rate on the bonds of Henderson County heretofore issued and now outstanding, and has been approved by the Local Government Commission of North Carolina.

On the facts agreed in the instant case, we are of opinion that the indebtedness incurred by Henderson County for services rendered and for expenses incurred by the North Carolina Municipal Council, Inc., of Raleigh, N. C., in the preparation and submission to the bondholders of Henderson County of a plan for refunding the bonded indebtedness of said county, is a necessary expense of Henderson County, within the provisions of section 7 of Article YII of the Constitution of North Carolina, and that said indebtedness is a valid indebtedness of Henderson County, although it has not been approved by a majority of the qualified voters of said county. Eor that reason, the bonds duly authorized by the defendants, as the Board of County Commissioners of Henderson County, when issued and sold as provided by law, will be valid obligations of Henderson County.

In Henderson v. Wilmington, 191 N. C., 269, 132 S. E., 25, it is said: “The decisions heretofore rendered by the Court make the test of a necessary expense the purpose for which the expense is to be incurred. If the purpose is the maintenance of the public peace, or the administration of justice; if it partakes of a governmental nature or purports to be an exercise by the city of a portion of the State’s delegated sovereignty; if, in brief, it involves a necessary governmental expense — in these cases, the expense required to effect the purpose is necessary within the meaning of Article VII, section 7, and the power to incur such expense is not dependent on the will of the qualified voters.”

*567 The Board of County Commissioners of Henderson County, under the provisions of the County Finance Act, has the power to authorize, issue, and sell bonds of said county for the purpose of refunding the valid indebtedness of said county. Hartsfield v. Craven County, 194 N. C., 358, 139 S. E., 698. An indebtedness incurred in good faith by the governing body of the county for the reasonable and necessary expense of refunding its indebtedness is a necessary expense, and may be incurred without the approval of a majority of the qualified voters of the county, especially when, as in the instant case, the refunding of said indebtedness will result in decreasing the rate of interest on the bonded indebtedness of the county. The judgment is

Affirmed.