New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-08-05
STATE OF LOUISIANA, }
Office of Assistant Attorney General,
New Orleans, La, August 3, 1874.

STATE OF LOUISIANA
Office of Assistant Attorney General, :
New Orleans, La, August ), l6'1.)
Hon. Charles Clinton, Auditor of Public Accounts
SIR have at hand your Enclosures, con tanning
letter and proceedings Of meeting of taxpayers in
Natchitoches The statement OF facts that gather
from them is imperfect in some of its details but 1t
appears the taxpayers ID that parish paid in 1873
an aggregate of six and seveneighths per cent,
and are expected to pay in 1874 seventy inc mills.
or seven and ninetenths per cent on the valuation
of property The current assessment t, it appears,
is partially made up by a forty mills spec ia Judg'
ment tax. How the full amount OF seve nty nine
mills is made up does not appear, for the State tax,
fourteen and half mills, a parish tax OF as much,
and this special Judgment tax would am cunt to
but sixty.nne mills. However, this is unim pOr.
tant to the consideration of the general que stion'
Such a rate of taxation for purposes of civil gov
eminent is out of all reasonable bounds, i'm pos
sible, and certainly in this case void
Tie law imposing Judgment tax (2625, 1923 and
2630 Revised Statutes) IS seriously defect i've 1t
does not provide for the levyins or laying of the
tax by any competent authority. This is strictly
a legislative power. II can not be perform ed by
the Judiciary No functions not of a judicial char
acter can be performed under our constitut ion by
a district or parish court. levy or laying OF
or for local purposes by an elective Apo inted
authority representing the people of the locs lily
and invested distinctly and unnaista kably by
delegation of the legislative authority with the
Lowing power. The people do not an can
not tax themselves through their courts.
and there is no other law provided for
in the sections OF the law comforting the
Judgment tax. No assessor OR assessors are compe.
tent to make it, Now the taxing power for the
parish of Natchtoches without the sanction OF an
election Of the people, is limited TO fourteen and
half mills and that power IS vested n the police
Jury, which may be required, on demand Of the
school authorities to levy two and half mills
thereof for local school purposes and the act limit
ing parish tax to fourteen and half mills is later
date than the statute in reg ard to judgments
Certainly the people of Natchitoch es can
not be taxed IN the year 1874 IN greater
aggregate than twenty-nine mills half State and
half parish unless they vote the tax themse I've
If a police jury only tax in the aggregate
fourteen and a half mills it can only make debts
to that amount and can only stand in judgm ent to
that amount. There must be some fraud in the
claims or proceedings that would lead to or obtain
judgments requiring forty mills special tax beyond
the power of the parish to impose assum debt,
and the judgments may be opened nullfed
whenever the fraud is discovered or the courts
find they have been imposed upon.
1t u.s. in my opinion in conclusion, that tax col.
lectors can enforce o. collect 70 parish tax not
levied by the police Jury, nor levied by it # ex.
ceeding fourteen and a half mills, unless sane
toned by an election. For uncollected parish
taxes of back years they can enforce so much and
no more as the aggregate of State taxation for
those years amounted to.
Your obedient servant,
HENRY &. DIBBLE.
Frau4 81 D, Assistant Attorney General.