The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1871-06-29
THE TAX LAW.
Opinion of the Attorney General.

Opinion Of the Attorney General. ,
The following opinion of the tax law was
given on the 22d inst, by Acknowledgement
Chamberlain, in response to questions put by
Messrs. Pope and HASKELL, of this city, At
torneys at Law: e-.r.s.t d. =.
OFFICE oFTHE ATTORNEY GENERAL.
COLUMBIA, S. c., June %, 1871. (.
Alessrs. Pope and Haskell, attorneys at Lac,
Columbia, South Carolina: Z
GENTLEMEN: I regret that 50 much time
has elapsed since my receipt of your commu-
nication of May 25th, in reference to the
construction Of certain points in the tax
laws of this State, The delay in answering,
has arisen solely from the great pressure of
my duties, and more recently, from an alb
sence in Washington and New York. Since
my return, I have considered the questions
which propose, andpow. proceed to state
to YOU the conclusions at which I have alri-
we'd. ..... ...
You call my attention to sections l09 and
III, and you say "Let us suppose the prop
erty to be worth 81 900 and to be assessed at
that value; the tax thereon, for .. the year
1871, would be just $14 for the State and
County Suppose at the tax sale some per-
son should find it to his interest to purchase
the property, and should bid $500 for it; in;
case of redemption under the act upon what
is the 25 per cent. penalty during the. FIRST
year, or the so per cent. penalty during the
second year chargea-upon s14 tax, or upon
the $500 purchase money? If the owner is
not able to redeem (as in many cases he may
not be, } what becomes Of the S4SG purchase
money over and above the tax due to the
Statc?" '~..ss -
1 think the difficulty suggested inehe fore
going extract from your letter will be .remov-
ed when you examine the exact language Of
Section 10S. The sale of land for deliu-,
quent taxes is not made for money, but the.
sale is made to "the person then and there
offering to pay the taxes, assessments and
penalties charged thereon for the least guam
tity thereof" Thus, for example, if tract
of land is assessed for 81 900, and the State
and County taxes thereon amount to four
teen dollars, the bidder at the sale must state
how much of that tract, either in feet or.
acres, as the case may be, he will pay the
taxes with the penalties and charges there.
on, and the party thus bidding, who will
name the least quantity Of land, will be the
purchaser of that amount of property which
lie. shall name in his bid - =, g. e.
You will thus see that there is no purchase
money in the case. ..-.
Now when We come to the redemption of
this property, it is required that the party
desiring to redeem, shall deposit with the
County Treasurer sum equal to the amount
for which the real estate was sold, with all
the legal charges paid by the purchaser, at
the sale, and subsequent taxes paid by such
purchaser, his heirs or assigns, and % per
cent. penalty thereon, and the value of the
growing crops, if any there, &c. Or, if the
person desires to redeem the land after the
expiration of one year; he shall deposit with
tie County Treasurer a sum of money equal
to that for which such real estate was sold
and taxes subsequently paid thereon by the
purchaser, and so per cent. penalty thereon.
l understand the penalty in each ofthesc
cases to refer to the taxes paid by the pur-
chaser after the sale. Thus, if the tax upon
the land purchased at delinquent sale shall
be $40 for the the first year, the penalty to
be paid by the person desiring to redeem
within one year would be $3.50, or if he
delayed until the expiration of one year the
penalty would be S. upon the same tax.
In reference to the growing crops the
value Of. which the person desiring to redeem
is to pay, do-no find that any rule of val
uation has been laid down by the act, but I
am led to the conclusion that it is intended
that the value shall be fixed blythe County
Auditor. The policy of the act seems to be
to regard the'State as really extending gra-
tuity to the delinquent taxpayer in allowing
him to redeem his property which has been
sold, and in the absence of any provision for
arbitration or anything of that sort, I con-
slider the act as intending to claim for the
State, through the. County Auditor, the
right to fix the value of the growing crops.
OF course, an appeal could be taken from the
County Auditor to the State Auditor, and
any injustice or oppression could be brought
to the notice of Governor; but l do not dis
cover that there is. any intention ofpcrmit-
ting any party except the State itself to de-
termine in any respect upon what terms the
property shall be redeemed.
In reply to i"quiry whether an agreement
to let. the purchaser gather the crop would
be sufficient compliance with the law, an
swcr that l think it would be. Of course
proper evidence of such an agreement in
writing, filed with the County Auditor,
would be necessary; but if this were done; I
do not think the County Auditor could in
sst upon anything more before he gave his
certificate of redemption. -
You further inquire, "When all the pro-
visions of the law have been complied with,
who is to put the party into possession 7" l
answer that ,hink'that the party must put
himself into possession, if there be any con-
troversy. Upon compliance with the re-
quirements of the law, the County Auditor
is required to Immediately cancel the sale
and transfer the property Of the party re,