The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-04-21
COUNTY BOARD
 LEVIES TAXES | County Licenses Must Be Paid Next Year. MATTER WAS ARGUED
Fifty Per Cent ofState License
 to Be Collected.
Montgomery Business Houses Are Not Exempted Under City Charter Unless Legislative
 Amends New Revenue Code.

SeoAAOSc cPShhCu tnt ScCabu Ok tuc new revenue code regulating county ncen- ses will. after the present year have to pay cpunty license of 50 per cent of what they have paid to the State. in addition to the city and State licenses. unless the | new revenue law is amended by the legis- lature or declared unconstitutional by the courts.
 This was decided at meeting of the Board of Revenue of Montgomery County yesterday.
 After the action of the Board the im- precision prevailed on the streets of Mont | gomery that parties engaged in business l affected by the new revenue law would | be compelled to pay the county license in addition to the regular city and State Of January last
 M. B. Houghton. president of the Board said last night that this impression was entirely erroneous as the Board contem- plated collecting no county licenses for the present year.
 For the past ten years Montgomerians affected by the new code have, under the law of the State, been compelled to pay only city and State licenses. the charter of the city of Montgomery providing that the payment of the city license exempts them from county licenses. This law, State Auditor Thomas l.. Sowell has held was revoked by the new revenue code adopted by the recently recessed legisla. ture.
 The new revenue code makes county licenses collectable from all business men toned in the code subject to State licenses. It affects abstract companies auctioneers. baseball parks. bottlers, bill Hard parlors, bowling alleys. bill posters. brokers, book agents. cigarette dealers. cigar stands, cold storage companies, mercantile agencies. construction com panies. cotton buyers. corporations, coal dealers, distillers, electric railways, horse dealers oil uiaa tngnra pl- panies, ice factories, lightning rod agents, liquor dealers, money lenders. news com panies, oils, pawnbrokers, peddlers. pho- tographers. pistol dealers. plumbers. real estate agents. sewing machine agents,
 theatres. telephone companies. junk deal CTS. warehouses. water works, witness certificate buyers, and other lines of busi- ness.
 was brought to the attention of the Board by County Back Tax Commissi oner W. M. Blakey and County Attorney John G. | Finley. Thomas H. Watts. appeared be- fore the Board in opposition to making the assessment
 | Mir. Blakey read to the Board the sec | tion of the Revenue Code which provides for the assessment of 50 per cent ad- | ditional license for the use of the county | in addition to the amount paid to the | State. He laid special emphasis on the last paragraph of the section, which re- vokes all general or special laws in con tradiction to the new code. He said that
 this paragraph annulled the section in the charter of the city of Montgomery, ex- empting payers of city licenses from county licenses.
 County Attorney Finley agreed with Mir. Blakey.
 MT. Watts asked permission of the Board to be heard for a few minutes. He said he came before the Board in opposi- tion to assessing the County tax on Montgomery merchants who have already paid the city license. MT. Watts said he has grave doubts as to the constitution
 ality of the new revenue law but con eeded that point for the time being. He then took up Section 4122 of the revenue code. which provides for levying County
 hcenses. He said that the section pro- special laws in contradiction to the sec- ton. Mir. Watts defined general and special laws. saying that one applied to the state in general and the other ap- porations. Neither of these. he ex- plained,, apply to the charter of the city Of Montgomery, which is a local law as cenned Tn the new constitution along with that in case the Board did levy this li- cense legal action was liable to follow.
 pr. Thomas Duncan, a member of the Board. introduced the following:
 It is ordered by the Board of Revenue of Montgomery County, at a regular term thereof. that all persons engaged in car- rying on any business or doing any act provided for in Section APP of the revenue code of the State of Alabama. published bv the Auditor of the State of Alabama for the year lss and in an act TO better provide for the revenue of the State ap- proved March 1, 1903, shall in addition to the amounts paid for the use of the State pay 50 per cent of such taxes for the use of the County of Montgomery except in eases otherwise provided for in said sec tion,R
 pr. Duncan moved the adoption of the order. It was seconded by H. H. Barnes and the order prevailed by a unanimous vote.
 M B. Houghton. President of the Board of Revenue. said last night that no per- son. firm or corporation who has paid city and State liceenses fop the year 1903 will be compelled to pay the additional County license until January l. 1904, He said that an erroneous impression had prevailed in Montgomery that those in businesses specified in the lew revenue law would have to pay the County license for 1903 in addition to the city and State licerses. He was anxious to have the error corrected.
 A petition was read to the Board from citizens of the south end of Perry Street protesting against the condition in which that street Is now on account of the building of the Traction Company line on that thoroughfare.
 A committee composed of President
 
 and County Engineer J. M. Garrett was appointed to investigate the matter in reference to any failure of the Traction Company to meet the requirements un- der which the franchise was given.
 M. C. Scott, appeared before the Board to complain of the Western Railway crossings near Riverside Park on the Scott road. MT. Scott said that the cross ings were kept in bad condition and that switching of box cars and engines was continually going on over the eleven rail way i4racks at the crossing. He said it was a great inconvenience to travel and a menace to the safety of those who are compelled to cross the road. He averred that no provisions for the safety of trav-
 elers over the thoroughfare are main tained by the railroad company.
 County Attorney John c. Finley was
 instructed to investigate the condition of the crossing and to see the railway off, cials in reference to 1t.
 County Engineer J. NJ. Garrett was in- structed to order a car load of sewer pipe for use on public roads.
 8. T. Westcott, Clerk of the Board, was
 appointed hard labor agent of the County
 with corporations bidding on County con-
 victs.
 The Board adjourned until Monday af-
 ter passing on accounts.