posed and apportioned by Quarter Sessions. in his, her, or their possession within the said Parish, Township, or place, specifying the number of the Lot or Lots, and the Concession or Conces sions, in which the same is or are situated, or otherwise particularly describing the same, and also the number of acres cultivated or uncultivated in each lot or parcel of land, which list shall be taken annually during the continuance of this Act, between the first Monday in February, and the sitting of the Quarter Sessions of the Peace, then next ensuing, and the said Assessor shall make a return of all the ratable inhabitants, with a true list of all their ratable property, specifying the particulars above mentioned, and shall in like manner, insert their own ratable property therein, at the foot of which they shall subscribe their names, and after putting a copy thereof in some public and conspicuous place in the Township in which the same shall be made, shall return the same to the Clerk of the Peace to be laid before the Court of Quarter Sessions. IV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all lands shall be considered as ratable property, which are holden in fee simple, or promise of a fee simple by Land Board certificate, Order of Council or certificate of any Governor of Canada, or by Lease. V. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That each lot, piece, or parcel of land in any of the before recited Towns, other or less than a Town lot on the original plan of such Town, held by Lease or otherwise, on which a building shall be erected, shall be likewise taken and considered to be a Town lot. VI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful for such Assessors, yearly and every year, during the continuance of this Act, to demand and receive of and from the Treasurer of the District, a sum of money, not exceeding four pounds for every hundred pounds, contributed and raised in and by their respective Townships, reputed Townships or places for the year they shall serve that office, and so in proportion for any greater or less sun and sums, and the Treasurer of each and every District, is hereby authorised and required to pay such Assessor as aforesaid. VII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the several Courts of Quarter Sessions, are hereby authorised, empowered and required, Assessments to be im after having ascertained the sum of money required to be raised for defraying the public expences of the District, to divide and apportion the same upon each and every person in the said Rate Rolls named, and liable to pay Rates as aforesaid, so that every person shall be Assessed in just proportion to the list of his, her, or their ratable property, real and personal, according to the Rates herein before specified, and having ascertained the quota, dividend, or sum of money for which each and every person shall be so Assessed for the current year, they shall direct the Clerk of the Peace to transmit forthwith a certified copy of such Assessment Roll, so rated and ascertained as aforesaid, to each and every Collector within the District, and the said Clerk of the Peace, shall be entitled to ask, and the Treasurer is hereby required to pay him the sum of thirty shillings on each Assessment Roll, so by the said Clerk, Assessment rolls. Clerk of the Peace. Clerk apportioned and transmitted as aforesaid, and such copy certified by Limitation of assess meat to one penny in in certain cases. VIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no new As- Restrictions preventing sessment shall be made until it shall appear to the Justices at their respec- new assessment except tive General Quarter Sessions, or the greater part of them, then and there assembled, by the accounts of their Treasurer, or otherwise, that one half of the money collected by virtue of the preceeding rate together with the whole of the monies collected under and by virtue of any Act or Acts now or hereafter to be in force in this Province, shall have been expended for the public uses of the District. Punishment of off cers neglecting or reties imposed on them by this Act, fusing to perform du and on persons not Assessors. Fine. IX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any person appointed or to be appointed a Parish or Town Officer, under the authority of any of the Acts of the Parliament of this Province, in force for that purpose, shall neglect or refuse to perform the duty imposed upon them and each of them, by the provisions herein contained, in manner and form as herein specified and declared, or if any person or persons liable to the payment of the Rates by this Act imposed, shall neglect or refuse to deliver in a delivering true lists to true list of his or her ratable property, real and personal, to the Assessors, in manner and form herein specified, or shall wilfully misstate such ratable property, every such person or persons shall forfeit and pay a sum of money, not less than two pounds, nor more than five pounds, for the first neglect or refusal, and ten pounds for the second, to be levied by distress and sale of the offender's goods and chattels, and upon complaint of such neglect, before two or more of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace, for the division where the offence is charged, they shall hear and determine the same, and upon sufficient proof being made of such wilful neglect, refusal or misstatement, shall issue such warrant as aforesaid, unless such fine shall be immediately satisfied, and such sum of money when collected, shall be paid into the hands of His Majesty's Receiver General, to and for the use of His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, and towards the support of the Civil Government of this Province, to be accounted for to His Majesty, through the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, for the time being, in such manner and form as it shall please His Majesty to direct, and the Justices before whom such conviction shall or may have taken place, shall certify the same to the Clerk of the Peace for the District or County where the offence was committed, who shall and he is hereby required to insert the ratable property so withheld or misstated, on the Assessment list of the Township wherein the offender was resident at the time. How levied. Accounted for In case of refusal to be levied by distress. X. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any person shall refuse to pay the sum or rate for which he or she stands rated in man- pay rate, the same to ner aforesaid, for the space of fourteen days after demand duly made of the same by the said Collector, the said Collector shall and is hereby required to Overplus. Compensation to Col. lectors. to levy the same by distress and sale of the goods and chattels of the person so neglecting or refusing to pay, after having obtained a warrant for that purpose from some one of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace, and to render the overplus, if any there shall be, over and above the said rate, to the owner thereof, after deducting the legal charges of the distress and sale, XI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the Collector may deduct at the rate of five pounds for every hundred pounds, and no more, as a full compensation for his service in collecting, any law to the contrary Money received by notwithstanding, and that the Treasurer shall give a receipt for all money paid to him by any Collector, which receipt shall be to such Collector a sufficient acquittance. them to be paid to the Treasurer. Schedules of granted and leased lands to be General. XII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That His Mafurnished by Surveyor jesty's Surveyor General of this Province, for the time being, shall on or before the first day of July, which will be in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty, furnish the Treasurer of each and every District thereof, with a list or schedule of the Lots in every Town, Township or reputed Township of his respective District, as the same are designated by numbers and concessions, or otherwise, upon the original plan thereof, in which list it shall be specified, in columns opposite to each lot respectively, to whom the said lot, or any and what part thereof, has been described as granted by His Majesty, and whether the same, or any and what part thereof, be yet ungranted, and also what lots are reserved as Crown or Clergy Reserves, or for other public purposes, and to whom such Reserves, or any and what part thereof have been leased by His Majesty, and shall on or before the first day of July in every year thereafter, transmit to the Treasurer of such District respectively, a schedule of all such lots or parcels of Land, specifying the number of acres or other less quantity of Land in each, as have been granted or set to lease by His Majesty, since the last schedule by him furnished, as before directed. All lands included in such schedules as grant liable to assessments whether occupied or ed or leased, shall be not. XIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all lands described in the said schedule as having been granted or let to lease by His Majesty, shall from the time they are returned in the said schedule, be assessed and charged to the payment of the rates or taxes imposed by this Act, in the respective Districts in which they are situated, and not elsewhere, whether the same be occupied at the time of Assessment or not, and the Treasurer of each and every District of this Province, is hereby authorised and empowered to receive from any person or persons paying How rates to be col- the same, the rates or taxes for and in respect of all such lands as are lected in respect of not returned on the Assessment Roll of any Township or place, and that in case any lands charged to the said rates or taxes, shall be unoccupied and no distress can be found on the same at the time such rates or taxes shall be payable, it shall and may be lawful for the Collector for the time being of the Township or place in which such lands are situated, at any time thereafter, to enter upon the said lands, when there shall be any distress thereupon to be found, and having obtained a warrant for that purpose from any of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace, to levy from the Lands not returned on Assessment Lists. Distress. occupier occupier of such tract or parcel of land, the amount of all rates and taxes in arrear, by distress and sale, as they might have done upon the same lands if in the occupation of such persons, at the time the rates and taxes became due, and after deducting the legal charges of distress and sale, as well as the amount of such taxes in arrear, such Collector shall pay the overplus, if any there be, to the person or persons occupying the premises on which such distress was made. Treasurer of cach District to keep an ac count against the Lands his District, charging the Rates herety im posed. XIV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the Treasurer of each and every District of this Province, shall keep an account for every Parish, Town, Township, reputed Township or place within his District, according to the list or schedule furnished by the Surveyor General, as before mentioned, in which account he shall particularly enumerate every lot or parcel of land in the said Parish, Township or place, describing the same as in the said schedule, and shall charge the same with, or credit it for the amount of the taxes and rates payable or paid in respect thereof, for each and every year, and that the said books or accounts shall be produced by the said Treasurer, for the inspection of the Justices at the Court of General Quarter Sessions held in his District respectively, in each counts. and every year, and shall be kept open for the inspection of all persons desiring to see the same, between the hours of ten and three, on every first and third Monday in each month, and the Treasurer is hereby authorised to demand for every such search and inspection, one shilling and three pence, and no more. XV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That when the Rates and Assessments upon any lot, piece or parcel of land, shall be suffered to remain in arrear and unpaid for the space of three years, the Rates and Assessments so in arrear, shall be increased in the proportion of one third, and if suffered to remain five years in arrear, the whole shall be increased in the proportion of one half, and if suffered to remain eight years in arrear, the amount of such arrear shall be doubled, and the said Rates and Assessments shall be charged thenceforward in double the amount that would grow due according to the existing Rate or Assessment, and such Rates so increased respectively, shall be charged against the lands in the accounts of the Treasurer herein directed to be kept, and shall be levied in the manner herein before provided. Inspection of acs Fee for search. Rates to accumulate by an increased pro portion, if suffered to remain in arrear be yond certain periods.. Townships not au Meetings. XVI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That persons residing in Townships or places not authorised to hold Town meetings, thorised to hold Town shall be considered for the purposes of this Act, as inhabitants of the Township adjacent thereto which shall contain the smallest number of inhabitants, and shall be assessed accordingly. Aggregate account Lieutenant Governor XVII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the Clerk of the Peace in each and every District in this Province, shall and is here- to be transmitted to the by required to transmit before the end of the month of January in each and by the Clerks of the every year, to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Person administering the Government, an aggregate account of the said Assessment, in order Peace. that the same may be laid before the Legislative Council and House of Assembly, which shall contain a true and full statement of every species of property in respect of which such Assessment was made, and the Clerks of Remuneration to the the Peace respectively, are hereby authorised to demand, and the Treasurer of each District is hereby respectively required to pay each of the said Clerks of the Peace, for their trouble in making up such aggregate account, the sum of thirty shillings. Clerks of the Peace. Treasurer how to be appointed. Security. Duty, Remuneration. Treasurer's accounts. XVIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful for the said Justices at their respective General Quarter Sessions assembled, or the greater part of them then and there assembled, to nominate and appoint a proper person, being resident within the District, to be Treasurer of the said District, which Treasurer shall give sufficient security in such sum as shall be approved of by the said Justices at their respective General Quarter Sessions then and there assembled, to be accountable for the several sums of money which shall be respectively paid to him in pursuance of this Act, and to pay such sum or sums of money as shall be ordered to be paid by the Justices in their General Quarter Sessions, and also for the true and faithful execution of the trust reposed in him, and all and every such sum or sums of money as shall be paid into his hands, by virtue of and in pursuance of this Act, shall be deemed and taken to be the public stock of the District, and the said Treasurer shall and is hereby required to pay so much of the money in his hands, to such person or persons as the said Justices at their respective General Quarter Sessions, or the greater part of them, then and there assembled, shall by their order direct and appoint, for the purposes therein recited, and for any other uses and purposes to which the public stock of the said District is or shall be applicable by Law, reserving at all and every time or times, to and for his own use, as a reward for his labour and expence, the sum of four pounds for every hundred pounds, that shall or may be paid into his hands, under the authority of this Act, for the purposes aforesaid. XIX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said Treasurer shall and is hereby required to keep books of entries of the several sums respectively received and paid by him, in pursuance of this or any other Act now or hereafter in force in this Province, and also to deliver in a true and exact account, upon oath, which oath any one of the Justices at their respective General Quarter Sessions, is hereby authorised to administer, of all and every sum or sums of money respectively received and paid by him, distinguishing the particular uses to which such sum or sums of money have been applied, to the Justices at every General Quarter Sessions to be holden for the District, and shall lay before the Justices of such Sessions the proper vouchers for the same, and also transmit once in each and every year, a Certified copy of the certified copy thereof, on oath, to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor or same to be transmitted Person administering the Government, in order that the same may be laid before the Legislative Council and House of Assembly, and the discharges of the said Justices of the Peace or the greater part of them, by their orders made at their General Quarter Sessions, to such Treasurer, shall be taken and allowed as a good and sufficient acquittance to the full amount thereof. to the Lieutenant Governor. |