Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1895-09-24
PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDS.
Opinion of Solicitor General Victory
Regarding Apportionment of
School Moneys.

In response to an official inquiry So
licitor General Victory has sent the fol
lowing to Hon. Amado Chaves, territorial
superintendent of public instruction:
81 beg to acknowledge receipt of your
letter dated September 10, in which you
request my official opinion on several
points. You ask, first, rs a newly Gre.
ated school district entitled to share OF
the first apportionment after its creation
or is it required to hold three months
term frst!' That such school district
is not entitled to share in the common
school funds is plenty provided in Sec
tion Is of chapter Is, of the laws of 1891
which provides that no district shall be
entitled to receive any portion of the
common school fund in which common
school has not been taught at least three
months during the twelve months proceed
ing
"The citation contained in your second
query is not altogether clear, but pre-
sumo reference is made to the last clause
of section l, found on page 1877, of the
acts of 1891. You ask if the apportion.
ments must be made whether the sheriff
and county treasurer have made their re-
ports and settlements or not. Under the
original act the apportionment Of the
fund raised by general taxation was made
by the territorial board of education
among the several counties of the terri
tory, and the amount coming to each
county was then apportioned each Jan
nary and July by the superintendents of
schools of the respective counties among
the several school districts. The act OF
February 26, 1891, approved just fifteen
days after the original act, changes the
system so that the proceeds of the terri
torial tax levy is turned over by the
county collector, not to the terri
torial treasurer but to the county
treasurer, whereupon it is on the
first Mondays of January, April,
July and October, apportioned among
the several districts. The county tax
collector is required under section ~ of
the act approved February II, 1891, to
turn over to the county treasurer all
school moneys collected by him within
thirty days after the tenth day of each
month on which the same is collected on
penalty of summary removal by the gov
ernor. The county treasurer in turn
(see section 2, of chap. 50 of the laws of
1899 is required to make statement to
the county superintendent of public
schools on the last day in every month of
all funds collected for school purposes in
that month. The evident purpose of this
system was to enable the county school
superintendent to make his quarterly ap-
portionment upon the basis of the
amount in the hands of the treasurer as
evidenced by his monthly reports. The
treasurer's report to the uperintendent
being the basis of the apportionment,
and, in fact, the only means by which the
superintendent is officially informed as to
the state of the county treasury, it fol-
lows that until the collector settles with
the treasurer and the treasurer reports to
the school superintendent there can be
no apportionment. If the collector and
the treasurer fail to comply with law,
they may be compelled BY mandamus or
other legal remedy to do their duty.
"Further replying TO your letter the
law vests in the school superintendent no
discretion as to the time when the appor.