Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-10-18
DAVIDSON COUNTY.
The FinanetaI Condition Of the County
Important Report TO the County

Important Report TO the County
C0urt. -t -t
Extract from the Report Of the Finance Com
mittee to the Quarterly Term of the County
Court of Davidson County, held on the LIST
Monday in October, 1911.
- $50 - - = -
We beg leave to report, that, in our opin-
ion, serious defects exist in the Revenue
laws:
l. Is it contemplated by existing laws,
that Collectors, Clerks, and Printers, shall
be entitled to the fees they claim If so,
are those fees payable from the County
Treasury, on, from The realized proceeds OF
lands phen sOtdf
2. If officers are entitled to payment
from the County Treasury, what remedy
has the county? After advancing those fees
to the several parties, the tax sales, so called,
do not secure the county, which does not
hold the lands, even when bought for the
county by the Collectors, whose reports,
once made, are forgotten apparently, and
are placed, if preserved at all, in the nllLSty
papers, and judging from the past, there
left, little or no attempt being made to col
lect. = sa-s -..r .... .---.s.
8. Is it right for the county to receive
money on the sales, from innocent pur-
given, or the purchaser put in possession?
These are grave questions. The county
fails to collect the tax assessed, and ad-
vances fees, which, in the greatest number
of instances, are never received back into
the treasury. 1t is not just that so much of
the taxes remain unpaid. The prompt tax
payer has right to complain that so many
who receive equal benefits and protection
with himself, escape from year to year,
paying nothing into the county treasury, and
laughing at the so-called process of collec-
ton. . ...---.. -
Some legislation should be sought at the
approaching session of the Legislature,
which would simplify the question, and
compel the recusant, by some summary
process, to pay his just proportion of the
public expense.
The eondemning of lands in the Circuit
Court, the advertisements after that action,
the enormous fees connected Herewith, are
all absurd and unnecessary. We cannot
doubt that the Legislature will remove the
difficulties, if the subject were fairly pre-
scented to them. The State has a much
greater interest than any county,yet that in
terest is mutual; as the law now appears to
be, it is the interest of collectors, in many
instances, to fail to collect the tax. Let MS
suppose a case, A owes a tax Of, say two
dollars, the commission on which would be
sir cents; how much more profitable is it to
the collector to fail to collect, and to report
the land, and receive one dollar, with the
additional wrong done of taxing A with
clerks fee S1.50 and printers fee also, 81.
The SIMPLE performance Of his duty, as
prescribed in section sos of the Code,
would, in many instances, enable him to
collect; but suppose A has no goods
and chattels on which to distrain, at
the expiration of the twenty days provided
IN section 607, the collector should report
all delinquents, then, if the property be LA
Bile for taxes, it could be condemned at the
first session of the Circuit Court, but the
collector should be required in each in
stance, not generally, to produce satisfactory
evidence to the court that he has, made the
proper exertion and has failed to find goods
and chdttels, each case would stand on its
own merits, a failure to properly describe
any one parcel of land, would not endanger
Che whole action of the Circuit Court, and,
if the collector be really entitled to any fee,
it should be paid him from money realized
by the safe, and not from the county treasury,
It thus becomes manifest,y his interest to
report correctly, because if his money is not
made, he gets nothing.
We might add much to this branch of our
report, but viii not weary your patience.
We have caused receipt books for poll
taxes to be prepared The law requiring
the exhibit by the voter of his poll tax re-
eeipt in voting, goes into effect Jan. 1,
1872, we have carefully prepared the re-
ceipts, and recommend that the county
cause stamps to be prepared forseach voting
precinct, which can be instantly used in
stamping the date when voted This win
bring considerable money into The treasury,
and also prevent Illegal voting.
49, w. A. GLENN, County Judge.
II. L. CLAIBORNE, s ~
j. H.iGALBEATTH, -esNs.A
Fl Es. L q WAreDs- Finance Com