The north Mississippi herald. (Water Valley, Yalobusha Co., Miss.) 1888-1929, 1919-11-07
:, MISSISSIPPI FRIDAY NOVEMBER 2, 1919.
MUST PAY DAMAGES
AFTER JANUARY |
Attorney General Sends Inter.
esting Opinion to Forest
County Sheriff.

In the past Mississippi people have
generally paid their taxes any time
before February /, without the ten
per cent for damages that Sheriff s
could have collected but which they
did not.
But next year it will be different,
under the salary laws sheriffs will col
lect the damages after January l.,
and turn the amount into the State.
For the benefit of the public the
following opinion from the Attorney
General mailed recently to the
sheriff and tax collector of Forrest
county is published
have your inquiry of Sept. goth,
which is as follows:
"As sheriff and tax collector of
Forrest county, will mail the tax
payers of this county statement Of
the amount due for the year 1919
and state that after Dec. 18th of this
year, ten per cent damages will be
added on all unpaid tax. Now, will
the next sheriff be able to say to the
tax payers that he will not collect the
damage after he takes Office or will
he be forced to collect this damage
and turn same into the county
treasury"
"Section 1914 of the Code of 1906
provides that it is the duty of every
person assessed to pay his taxes to
the collector on or before the 18th
day of December shall Immediately
be collected by distress or otherwise,
and under Section 2197 the collector
is allowed ten percentum on all taxes
collected after the 18th day of De-
cember whether collected by distress
or otherwise. But, in constituting this
section our court has held that the
tax collector shall not be entitled to
such compensation even after the
18th day of December unless re-
sort was made by him to distress or
some of the other statutory modes
of enforcing payment of delinquent
taxes. The tax collectors of the va
rious counties, however, have uni
formly elected not to do those things
necessary to collect the ten per cen
rtam commission allowed them and
the public has, therefore, fallen into
the general belief that if taxes were
penalty or commission could be
charged against them the first day of
February is the last day on which a
person may pay his taxes without
being disqualified to vote, and the
public has lost sight of the fact that
1T is their duty to pay all taxes on or
before the 18th day of December.
"The situation beginning January
5, 1920, will be entirely different for
the new salary law. being CHI eter
102 Laws of 1916, will go into effect
on that date and Section of this
act provides that all fees and COM
missions and other emoluments,
which the law now provides, may be
demanded, received and taken by the
sheriff and tax collector, chancery
clerk, and circuit clerk and the tax
assessor shall hereafter be collected
by each respectively, but all of said
commissions, fees and emoluments
shall hereafter be paid by said officer
respectively into the county treasury.
1t is therefore, the duty of the in
coming tax collector to collect by
distress or otherwise this ten per
centum commission from all persons
paying taxes after the 18th day of
December thereafterwards.
There is no obligation in this new
salary law requiring you and the 9th
er tax collectors, whose terms expire
on January 4, 1920, to collect this
ten per centum commission, and 1
suggest that you do not begin pro-
ceedings by distress or otherwise to
do so, but conform to the previous
practice of tax collectors, at the
same time giving publicity to the
provisions of the new salary laws
that the public may not be required
to pay ten per centum additional to
their already high taxes"