Arizona republican., 1909-03-25
ASSESSMENTS DUE
 WATER USERS ASSN
Unpaid Acreage Will Become Oelin. quent on April 1st-Explanation tc New Settlers.

l NC" SGtttcFS.
 It will be timely to again recite
 the details of the annual assessment
 made by the Salt River Valley Water
 Users association upon its membership
 for the reason that the latest assess
 ment is now due and there is but little
 grace left, while some people among
 the latter corners may not even be
 aware of the fact that they are mem
 bers or in any event may never have
 thoroughly understood the facts.
 The association is composed of the l owners of all lands signed to the asso-
 citation, with the expectation of ulti- 1 mately securing reservoir water. It is
 through the association that the gov
 ernment deals with the people and
 through it the pople will eventually pay for the cost of the project. One
 signed acre represents one share of
 stock, wherefore if A sells his acre to ! B. B becomes a member of the asso-
 citation and A drops out. unless he has
 other acres signed up. In this way a
 newcomer buying piece of land might
 become a member of the association and not know it unless these things l were eApldiIltu lo illiil III IL
 is true of course that all prospective
 buyers should also inquire as to the
 standing of the land in the association | in respect of assessments, before mak- | ing their investments. That is be- | cause the levies are made not on the | ownership, but upon the acreage. If | A sells a piece of land on which an
 assessment has not been paid and B | buys it, B will be held for the assess | ment unless he can induce A to pay | it. The matter of association levies | therefore should be considered in all ! land transactions just as the matter | of taxes is considered. by an agree | ment between buyer and seller as to
 who shall pay them.
 | Ordinarily the real estate agent or party conducting the business looks ! after these things and should do so. | but sometimes 1t is neglected and sometimes individuals deal between themselves without the help of an agent. and forget all about this detail. ! In such cases. and they have been | quite numerous. as soon as the trans | fers are noted by the association the new owner is notified. if his land is in ana SoIiitAlIIltS NlAt ilbAlAlNoNi'AA is not delivered by reason of imperfect address, no address having been fur nished the association. It may easily be seen therefore, how a careless pur- chaser, or one not fully informed. might some day see his land advertis- ed as delinquent before he aware that he owed anything. All this is the exception to the rule and is mentioned merely for the protection of new com CTS in the country who should be ap- prised of the facts.
 Another general fact that should be borne in mind Is that the land signed to the association, to receive its bene- fits, is obligated just as strongly to pay the assessments made as it IS to pay the county taxes and any failure to pay makes the land delinquent and amenable to the laws covering the case in a manner parallel to that of the tax laws. and continued failure to pay, clouds the title as would a tax deed
 Thus far the. association has had only incidental expenses and the an nual lexy has only been five cents per acre per year. The levy is made in the early summer and notices sent out.
 I
 sible on the land owners it is provided that one half shall fall due September lst and the other half March 1st. but If the member so elect he may pay it all at once, as a large part of the members who only have a small acre age prefer to do and have it off their minds, the total amount not being large. But also on account of the amount being trivial on a small acre
 age, some are neglectful and do not pay the first half when they should, so when the second half comes with a notice of five cents an acre due they are surprised and imagine they are be- ing assessed ten cents per acre. At least the impression prevails in some quarters that the assessment was ten cents this year and it can be account ed for no other way for the assessment is the same as it has been every year.
 Getting down to the present situ- ation, the second half of the assess ment came due and payable March 1st and any who did not pay the first half or all of it before. must pay all of it now and promptly if they would avoid the penalties. They still have until April first to do so. but on that date all unpaid lands will become delin- quent and all land owners who can be reached will be, notified. There will then be given forty days in which the delinquents may pay up. at the end of which time. about May 10 all remain ing delinquent lands vii be adver- tised for sale as in the case of county taxes, the sale to be a month later.
 After the advertising however, the owner may still pay up any time be- fore the sale of the property but in addition to his assessment he will have to pay 25 cents for each tract he owns | and also the cost of the advertising Then comes the sale of the property after which the land owner who has been careless, negligent and short sighted. and sinned away his day of grace. like the delinquent tax payer. gets stung properly. He has a year in l which to redeem his property by pay ing all the accrued costs above enum- erated, which have been paid for him by the buyer. and four per cent per month to the buyer. on whatever sum he has advanced, from the date of the