Year: 1876

TEE Levy COURT.


MR. CRAPS ANSWER TO CERTAIN QUEs-


TIONs-AN INTERESTING DOCUMENT.


The Levy Court met yesterday, and after
the reading Of the minutes, the County Solic-
itor, A. G. Gray, delivered his opinion upon
the following questions


I. Has the Levy Court any power to
strike out name from the assessment list
after the assessment list has been returned
to the clerk of said court?


Q. Has the Levy Court the power to alter
the spelling of any name on assessment list
as returned by the Assessor


8. Has the Assessor any power to alter
any ename ion assessment list after the
same has been handed to clerk Of the Levy
Court


4. Has the Assessor any power to strike
off any name from the Assessment list after
lie has returned said list to the Clerk of the
Levy Court?


s. If the name of any person was returned
delinquent by the collector Of any hundred
stricken from assessment list, and has now
VCCu pAhCCA Ou OuO AloI VI duy hNpCboOA VI
any hundred and returned to the Levy
Court, has the Levy Court any power to
prevent this illegal assessment


Mr.. Gray took up each question separately
and gave an affirmative answer to each.
to me by the Levy Court.


"If the name Of any one was returned by
the collector of any Hundred, In March
1875, and was under the statute stricken
from the assessment list, and should now be
placed in the list Of the assessor of any
Hundred, and returned to the Levy Court |!
Has the Levy Court any power to prevent
such illegal assessment


By an act passed April Q, 1878, the
Legislature has undertaken to further regu-
late and prescribe the duties of assessors,
and to protect the assessment lists frem i'm
proper interference. The act commences
by declaiming 1t unlawful for any assessor,
either in the general assessment, or in any
annual assessment, to place the name Of
any person in the assessment for poll-tax
merely, of whom the assessor is not salts
fed from personal knowledge that he is
bona .fids resident of the Hundred or assess
ment district, except as hereinafter pro-
vided. This after provision is, that the
assessor shall attend at the place of
holding the general election in the Hun
dred, on certain days Of which he shall give
netice, for the purpose of assessing any
person who may have been omitted and Of
correcting his assessment, and that any
person who may have been omitted, and
who shall appear before the assessor at
such time and prove his right to be assessed
by the affidavit of some respectable free
holder, shall be placed in this assessment by
the assessor. And that any assessor refus-
to place on the assessment the name OF any
person and fearing his right therto, shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor, &c.


Section 6 of the act then declares that
Kit shall not be lawful for the Levy Court
or any member thereof to take
from the assessment returned to the said
Levy Court by any assessor or the name of
any person appearing therein; nor
to add to any assessment returned
as aforesaid the name of any
person unless upon the personal applica-
ton of such person, and upon proof of his
right to be assessed as required to be fur.
nislled to an assessor by section 2 of the
act.


Section o of the same act provides, that
1t shall not be lawful for any assessor or
any Levy Court upon the personal applica-
tion of any one, or otherwise, to place
upon the assessment list of any Hundred
the name of any person, who having failed
to pay the county tax assessed against him
or her for the preceding year, was returned
and allowed as delinquent until after the
expiration of the twelve months from the
time such allowance as delinquent was
made by the Levy Court.


So much for the act of April 3, 1873. On
April 10, 1878, the Legislature passed ''an
act In relation to the collection
of taxes in this State," in
which it is provided, that, if collector
shall make an affidavit that he attended at
the times and places prescribed by said act
for the collection of taxes, and mall things
conformed to its requirements, it shall be
the duty of the Levy Court "to allow said
collector as delinquencies the taxes
uncollected by him, and the
name of such delinquents dropped
from the assessment list by the
Levy Court and shall not be placed thereon
again for period Of twelve months from
| and after the date of such allowance, pro-
| yided that the provisions of this section
shall apply to persons assessessed and lia'
BILE to pay poll tax.


The object of all this legislation is ap-
parent. It is to prevent the fraudulent as
sessment of persons who should not be as
sessed and to insure the assessment Of those
who should rightfully be assessed. And as
one means of accomplishing this object It
strikes from the list, for the space of twelve
! months, the names of all delinquents re-
turned under the provisions of this act, on