The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1885-04-24
THE DOG TAX.

In the first number of the Sentinel
under the new management an editori-
al is printed under the above heading.
After referring to the law requiring
the county treasurer to keep separate
accounts of money arising from dog
tax, and appropriating the fund to the
payment OF damages for sheep destroy
ed by dogs, the writer proceeds to
show figures whose compilation must
have required some time. He says
snow speaking from recollection as
far back as 1866, the said fund was then
more than year in arrears. Now pass
ing up to Jan. 1, 1874, the difference
between the unpaid sheep orders and
the uncollected taxes for said fund was
in arrear S435.60 +; in 1875, $6l1.25; in
1876, S393.55; in 1877, $1s512.
In 1878 there was due the fund Sl6.-
81; in 1879, S716.1S; in 1880, 1296.43;
and in 1881, $17S5S3.
Then at the settlement of Jan. 1881,
there was taken from the dog fund,
and thrown into the County, the sum
of $500; Jan. 1882, $95O0O; Jan. 1883,
$4,000; Jan. 1884, 100000; Jan. 1885,
SSl3.3S making total of S3723.3S.
Now the point we wish to bring be-
fore the public is whether under the
law the County Commissioners and
County Treasurer have any legal right
to appropriate the dox tax to county
purposes.
We think there is no more authority
to do that than there would be to ap-
propriate county money to pay sheep
damages And il we are correct and
we feel confident we are, there is an
error and instead of doing this when
ever there is surplus of dog money,
the tax on dogs should be reduced or
abandoned altogether, or until such
time that said levy of tax on dogs is
needed for the uses and purposes pro-
vided for by the said act"
The law under which the Commits
sioners have acted in this matter. ap-
pears to have escaped the attention of
the Sentinel 1t was passed in 1881,
and reads as follows
SECTION /. "Be 1t enacted, de-, That
the county commissioners of any coun-
ty in this commonwealth, in which a
fund is raised by taxing dogs for the
purpose of paying for damages done by
dog' TO sheep of residents thereof
where the same is under the cotltrol oi
said county commissioners, are hereby
authorized to cause, from time to time
SO much of the said fund to be trans
ferred to the general county fund, as il
their judgment Is not necessary to pay
the damages aforesaid
Bat even without this Act of Assem-
bly,, the commissioners would have NJ
right either to reduce the tax on dogs
nor to abandon il altogether as propos
ed by our contemporary. The Act o
1857 passed for Blair aud extended Il
Columbia county fixes the tax at 81
cents per dog. The Act says, it shal
be the duty of the commissioners u
cause an accurate return of all dogs I,
10 be made they shall levy and caus
TO be collected annually tax of fift,
cents, etc. This is mandatory and no
optional, and the commissioners coul'
be compelled by mandanus to lev,
aud collect such tax.
From the above il will be seen tina
there is full authority for the paymen
of the Surplus of the dog tax into tn
county fund, and that there would b
80 authority in law either for the re
duction or abandonment of the do
tax. 'lt we are correct, and we fec
confident we are the Sentinel is mis-
taken