The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-08-09
AFTERNOON SESSION.


 The Convention met pursuant to ad- journmenl. there being ninety delegates present upon the call of the roll.
 The President-The Convention had under ct nsideration when 1t adjourned in the forenoon Section II of the report of the committee on Municipal Cor porations. There was pending an amendment offered by the gentleman from Jcfferscn. The gentleman from Sumter has the floor.
 Mir. hapman-At the close of the morning session the amendment of the delegate from Jefferson. MT. Beddow. was the pending question. That makes 6. very slight apparent change in the section of the Comm tee. l shall ad- dress myself Mir President. entirely and only to hat amendment. The cid law has been and is now, that the taxes of municipal corporations shall be assessed according to the State taxes of the preceding year. That means. MT. President and geatlemen of the Convention. that munic. pal cor p9ration must wait unti! one year af- CT the taxes fer the Stlte and county are paid or collecta ble before it can make an assessment upon the property ot citizens in any municipality. There is no reason. gentlemen, that can see. why the assessments should not be made in a city or town during the same year that the assessment is made for the Stlte and county. The reason 1 apprehcnd that tho word preceding
 was put into the Constitution or into the law was tha: the State and county assessments were not completed. in other words, they were not fixed, so that there could be no change In them until after the July term of the Nom- missioners' Court each year. It was then only a municipal corporation could ascertain what the State tax was upon property. Now tha: was predicted up- on the idea that cities and towns were compelled to make their tax year df- ferent from the state and county. That now is an unfair and indeed a false presumption. because the muni- cipalities can arrange it's tax year. and should do it, so as to conform to the tax year of the State and county. What would be the result when the State tax for any year is finally adjusted in July, where they are allowed to raise or re- duce assessme nts immediately after municipal corporations can immediately assess is taxes. 1 would ask the del egates of the Convention to take one moment upon ths. A municipal corr poration under the law as it stands, does not have to send the Assessor around to take the assessment he does not have to go out and ask each man what property he has to assess. :hc town assessor usually goes to he State tax book and assessment books of .he county and from them he simply puts down the State tax and reduces it by half and that takes the town tax. In the ordinary town the assessor can do it in one day, and in d few days for good sized city. Every munic! !pality can make q tax year conform to that of the State and before the Tax Col lector for the State can have his books ready to collect his tax in the fall the Tax Collector for the town can have his ready and be collecting taxes. Now that is the only reason that I appre- hend why it has been heretofore held in the law that the tax should be for the preceding year instaed of the cur rent year. Now we go into the prac- tlcal effects of 1t. Let us take the prac- teal results. It very often happens. Mr. President. in our town I don't t know how it is in other towns, that a | great deal of property escapes taxa
 ton because the merchant who pre- pareS for the fal. trade moves in a stock of goods in August or September just before the time for assessment of eeA-ACF' IiN 5Cto III d SlOCh OL perhaps $lO000 worth of goods. He sells the fall goods for that year and assesses for the State and county taxes, but be- fore the time comes for the town to assess a year following, that man has disposed of his property and he is gone. lie owns no real estate in the town, | and the town loses the taxes upon that | stock of goods. l. not infreuuently | happens that this is the case. If a | man owns real estate l concede that it | makes no difference. because the tax | assessor for the munclpality tdstens upon that real estate as for the State
 and cCunty taxes, but it does not faSten
 upon personal property Whic h has gone
 and disappeared and sold out by retail
 to every one, asd there is no way in
 the world to get any property upon | which To levy d lien for town taxes | Now in so far as the illustration made | by the delegate from Jefferson it IS immaterial. because the succeeding year the property will be assessed at
 its increased value. but it sometimes | happens even that that is a hardship | because man assesses his real prop erty, and suppose his house should be burned. and yet for the current year
 he is assessed at three or four timr S ! ihc value.
 The President-The time of the gen tleman from sumter has expired
 | MT. oleman (Greene)-Mr. Presi- dent perhaps tt+re is more involved l in the proposed amendment than would | De thought upon first impressions. I | have rot been very faVora ble 70 the re port or this comm ttee, bu. when it l las d prop r provision Tn it, think it | luGht to be sustained. and I think it will De I hav4 but lit le to say m reply other than to read the law and to give the reason for tilXng it upon the pre- 1 redlnS year as contained in our do ciSion rendered by the Supreme Court.
 he present Constitution has been in
 force for many years. It uses the pre- | else language used by this report: As assessed for State taxation during the | preceding year" Now the reaAn as signed for that is very clearly stated | 'N the Judge, who rendered the de- | rISion read this morning by the dele- gate from Jefferson. Here is the req | son assigned for requiring cities and
 towns or municipalities to assess the ] taxes as assessed by the Statn the pre-
 rcdlng year, and It has it's force. and | every one who listens to it will be inn i pressed with the truth of it. This Was rendered by Judge Clopton in the l Elyton land case.
 [ The court is disrussing why the State 1 lia'"s these limitations upon munici- | jaIttleS. "ln interp etng limitations
 upon leEiS atiVr power in State Con-
 Htltuti"n9, tn" nature and objects of the | particular limitations should be kept 1 m Ni,W.' Now that sentence has a
 good deal in Il, if you will remember