Mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado Co., Cal.) 1854-1860, 1858-05-01
Collection Of Taxes. &c.


communications have been published, recently,
touching upon the method adopted by the
Board Of Supervisors for collecting the prop
erty tax. While some condemn the method,
Others sustain il. The public feel an interest
in the acts of those in whose hands they have
entrusted the affairs Of the county; and when
any course of policy is adopted, that they do
not fully understand, particularly when it ef-
fects the county financially, believe far
and impartial statement should be made, in
disapprove. My object is, not to reply to any
thing that has been already said, but merely
give few facts and figures, SO that the pub
lie may judge for themselves.
The intention Of the law is, that the Cellee
tor in person, or by Deputy, shall accompany
the Assessor and collect that character Of tax,
that cannot he secured by real estate, unless
otherwise ordered by the Board Of Supervi-
sors, thereby giving them discretionary power
to act in q manner that Is best calculated TO
promote the interest Of the county; and the
law does not intend that any officer shall per-
form public service without receiving a rea-
sonable compensation neither is it the wish
Of the public. The estimated amount collect
ell per month, by each Deputy, Of the char
uCteT VI TAX uHedul SHOhOH VI u NUOut OOVV
the per centnge allowed is six per cen, ma
king $54. 1t is useless to contend that this
amount is sufficient 70 compensate travelling
Collector. The. BOTfd. having the power to
act in the premises, allow the travelling Col.
lcctor $40 per day.-say for 90 days in
month. Now is this too much, or too litl"?
LIT US see. The board for man and horse,
horse shooting, toll, &c, 81 81 per day (>a'
for thirty days, as his cxlt nScs are tor 30
days although he works but 26O will b. @l35,
leaving Sl25 per month for man and hoiS";
then take 10 per cent from the face Of his
warrant, he has left Sll2 30. This estimate,
which think J. reasonable, proves conclusive
ly that the collections cannot be done at less
rate. Now the question arises whether thu
Board has acted wisely in sending out the
Collectors and allowing compensation, or
whether h would have been better to have
kept them at home. The same system was
adopted in 1858 and 81, and the Collectors
allowed @l4 per day, which resulted bcnef-
cially TO the county. by reference 10 the
Auditors Office il will be seen that the increase
over any previous year was over $4,000 and
the delinquent list from $4,000 to $1,000 lcss
than any previous year. In SO, SO and '67,
without this system, there was from six to
seven thousand dollars returned delinquent,
annually, and principally Of that character Of
tax which cannot be collected unless the COL
lectOr is on the spot at the time Of the aRaess-
mcnt. For instance, the Assessor assesses
any description Of movable property, let Il
be live stock, goods, cash, &c. 1t will be
nearly one year before the Collector can 60 in
search Of it. and 10 times out Of 20 the prop
erty cannot BE- found 1t has changed hands
and location, so the tax il lost, and any one
Mt all acquainted with the property Of the
county knows that q great portion Of the
property is Of this character. And again, the
Assessor being aware Of this, allows . vast
amount of property to 60 by unasSessed, for
the reason that it is useless to cucumber the
assessment roll with it, besides causing un-
necessary expense to the county by wasting
time in assessing it. But If the Collector ID
with him, he passes nothing, even IL it be ever
SO small. By this it will be precieved that the
amount assessed in the county will be greater
than though there were no Collectors out
and the difference in the amount assessed,
with or without the Collector, will alone be
sufficient to pay the expenses Of collecting
Again, it is well known fact, by those who
have ever assessed property in the county, OF
even those who have been at all familiar with
assessing, that one man travelling alone will
progress very slowly, and while the Collector
travels with the Assessor it avoids the noces.
sity Of appointing more Deputies, which the
County and State would be compelled TO pay
for. Our present Assessor has two Deputies,
and II the Collectors were not with him, he
would have five, and then not get over the
County any faster than he does at the present
time so in that case the expense Of assessing
would amount to just the same as il now does
for both, Assessing and Collecting. And
further, il the Collector does his duty, see
no reason why delinquent list should be re-
turned, as this system affords him every op.
portunity Of collecting closely, and without il
he would be forced to return at least from
1000 TO 10000 dollars delinquent. A.
PLAcERvILLE, April 20, 1858.