vote of the said inhabitants; but the payment or collection of the last instalment shall not be extended beyond five years from the time such vote was taken; and no vote to levy any such tax shall be reconsidered except at an adjourned general or special meeting to be held within thirty days thereafter, and the same majority shall be required for reconsideration as is required to levy such tax. No. 94-[§ 72.] In every case where a district embraces a part of more than one town, the town superintendents of the towns so in part embraced, upon application of the trustees of such districts, or of those persons liable to pay taxes upon real property therein, shall proceed to enquire and determine whether the valuation of real property upon the several assessment rolls of said towns are substantially just as compared with each other, so far as such district is concerned, and if determined not to be so, they shall determine the relative proportion of taxes that ought to be assessed upon the real property of the parts of such districts so lying in different towns, and the trustees of such district shall thereupon assess the proportion of any tax thereafter to be raised according to the determination of said superintendents until the same shall be altered by said superintendents upon like application, using the assessment rolls of the several towns to distribute the said proportion among the persons liable to be assessed for the same. In cases where two superintendents shall be unable to agree, they shall summon a superintendent from some adjoining town, who shall unite in such inquiry and determination.

No. 95-[§ 73.] Whenever a school house shall have been built or purchased for a district, the site of such school house shall not be changed, nor the building thereon be removed, as long ast the district shall remain unaltered, unless by the consent, in writing, of the town superintendents of common schools, of the town or towns within which such districts shall be situated, stating that in their opinion such removal is necessary; nor then, unless a majority of all the taxable inhabitants of said district to be ascertained by taking and recording the ayes and noes, at a special meeting, called for that purpose, shall be in favor of such new site.

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No. 96-[$ 74.] Whenever the site of a school house shall have been changed as herein provided, the inhabitants of the district entitled to vote, lawfully assembled at any district meeting, shall have power by a majority of the votes of those present, to direct the sale of the former site or lot, and the buildings thereon, and appurtenances, or any part thereof, at such price, and upon such terms as they shall deem most advantageous to the district; and any deed duly executed by the trustees of such district, or a majority of them, in pursuance of such direction, shall be valid and effectual to pass all the estate or interest of such school district in the premises intended to be conveyed thereby, to the grantee named in such deed; and when a credit shall be directed to be given upon such sale, for the consideration money, or any part thereof, the trustees are hereby authorized to take in their corpo

rate name, such security by bond and mortgage, or otherwise, for the payment thereof, as they shall deem best, and shall hold the same as a corporation, and account therefor to their successors in office and to the district, in the manner they are now required by law to account for moneys received by them; and the trustees of any such district for the time being, may in their name of office, sue for and recover the moneys due and unpaid upon any security so taken by them, or their predecessors in office, with interest and cost.

No. 97-[§ 75.] All moneys arising from any sale made in pursuance of the last preceding section, shall be appropriated to the payment of the expenses incurred in procuring a new site, and in removing or erecting a school house, or either of them, so far as such application thereof shall be deemed necessary.

No. 98-[§ 77.] In case the office of trustee shall be vacated by the death, refusal to serve, removal out of the district, or incapacity of any such officer, and the vacancy shall not be supplied by a district meeting within one month thereafter, the town superintendent of the town may appoint any person residing in such district to supply such vacancy.

No. 99-[§ 78.] In case of a vacancy in the office of school district clerk, collector or librarian, for any of the causes mentioned in the next preceding section, such vacancy may be supplied by appointment under the hands of the trustees of the district or a majority of them, and the persons so appointed shall hold their respective offices until the next annual meeting of the district, and until others are elected in their places.

No. 100-[§ 79.] Every person duly chosen or appointed to any such office, who, without sufficient cause, shall refuse to serve therein, shall forfeit the sum of five dollars; and every person so chosen or appointed, and not having refused to accept, who shall neglect to perform the duties of his office, shall forfeit the sum of ten dollars.

No. 101-[§ 80.] Any person chosen or appointed to any such office, may resign the same by presenting his resignation to the town superintendent of the town where such officer shall reside, who is authorised for sufficient cause shown to him, to accept the same, and the acceptance of such resignation shall be a bar to the recovery of either of the penalties mentioned in the preceding section. The town superintendent accepting the resignation shall give notice thereof to the clerk, or to one of the trustees of the school district, to which the officer resigning shall belong.

No. 102-[§ 81.] It shall be the duty of the clerk of each school district,

1. To record the proceedings of his district in a book to be provided for that purpose by the district, and to enter therein true copies of all reports made by the trustees of his district, to the town superintendent.

2. To give notice of the time and place for special district meetngs, when the same shall be called by the trustees of the district, to each inhabitant of such district liable to pay taxes, at least five days before such meeting shall be held, in the manner prescribed in the fifty-fifth section of this act:

3. To affix a notice in writing of the time and place for any adjourned district meeting, when the same shall be adjourned for a longer time than one month, in at least four of the most public places of such district, at least five days before the time appointed for such adjourned meeting:

4. To give the like notice of every annual district meeting: 5. To keep and preserve all records, books and papers, belonging to his office, and to deliver the same to his successor in office; and in case of his neglect or refusal so to do, he shall be subject to a fine of not exceeding fifty dollars.

Of the duty of trustees of school districts.

No. 103-[§ 82.] It shall be the duty of the trustees of every school district, and they shall have power,

1. To call special meetings of the inhabitants of such districts liable to pay taxes, whenever they shall deem it necessary and proper:

2. To give notice of special, annual and adjourned meetings in the manner prescribed in the last preceding section, if there be no clerk of the district, or he be absent or incapable of acting:

3. To make out a tax list of every district tax, voted by any such meeting, containing the names of all the taxable inhabitants residing in the district at the time of making out the list, and the amount of tax payable by each inhabitant, set opposite to his

name:

4. To annex to such tax list a warrant, directed to the collector of the district,for the collection of the sums in such list mentioned : 5. To purchase or lease a site for the district school house, as designated by a meeting of the district, and to build, hire or purchase, keep in repair, and furnish such school house with necessary fuel and appendages, out of the funds collected and paid to them for such purposes:

6. To have the custody and safe-keeping of the district schoolhouse:

7. To contract with and employ all teachers in the districts:

8. To pay the wages of such teachers when qualified, by giving them orders on the town superintendents for the public money belonging to their districts, so far as such moneys shall be sufficient for that purpose; and to collect the residue of such wages from all persons liable therefor:"

9. To divide the public moneys received by them, whenever authorized by a vote of their district, into not exceeding two portions for each year; to assign and apply one of such portions to each term during which a school shall be kept in such district, for

(1) Laws of 1849, chap. 382, § 12

the payment of teacher's wages during such term; and to collect the residue of such wages, not paid by the proportion of public money allotted for that purpose, from the persons liable therefor, as above provided:

10. To exempt from the payment of the wages of teachers, either in part or wholly, such indigent persons within the district as they shall think proper, in any one quarter or term, and the same shall be a charge upon such district:

11. To certify such exemptions and deliver the certificate thereof to the clerk of the district to be kept on file in his office :

12. To ascertain by examination of the school lists kept by such teachers, the number of days for which each person not so exempted, shall be liable to pay for instruction, and the amount payable by each person:

13. To make out a rate-bill containg the name of each person so liable, and the amount for which he is liable; and to annex thereto a warrant for the collection thereof:

14. To deliver such rate-bill, with the warrant annexed, after the same shall have been made out and signed by them, to the collector of the district, who shall execute the same in like manner with other warrants directed by such trustees to such collector for the collection of district taxes, except as hereinafter provided; and the collector to whom any such rate-bill and warrant shall be delivered for collection, shall possess the same power, be entitled to the same fees, and subject to the same restrictions and liabilities with their bail and sureties, except as hereinafter provided, as by this title is provided in proceedings to collect school district taxes. 1

No. 104-[89.] The trustees of any school district may expend in the repair of the school house a sum not exceeding ten dollars in any one year, and the same may be levied and collected by a separate tax, or added to any tax authorized to be levied and collected. 2

No. 105-[§ 84.] Where by reason of the inability to collect any tax or rate-bill, there shall be a deficiency in the amount raised, the inhabitants of the district in district meeting shall direct the raising of a sufficient sum to supply such deficiency by tax, or the same shall be collected by rate-bill, as the case may require.

No. 106-[§ 6.] Any balance required to be raised in any school district for the payment of teachers' wages, beyond the amount apportioned to such district by the previous provisions of this act, and other public moneys belonging to the district, applicable to the payment of teachers' wages, shall be raised by rate-bill to be made out by the trustees, against those sending to school, in proportion to the number of days and of children sent, to be ascertained by the teachers' list; and in making out such rate-bill, it shall be the duty of the trustees to exempt, either wholly or in part, as they may deem expedient, such indigent inhabitants as may, in

(1) Laws of 1849, chap. 382, §6, as amended by chap. 151 laws of 1851, §7. (2) Laws of 1849, chap. 382, §9

their judgment, be entitled to such exemption, and the amount of such exemption shall be added to the first tax list thereafter to be made out by the trustees for district purposes, or shall be separately levied by them as they shall deem most expedient. 1

No. 107-[§ 7.] The same property which is exempt by section twenty-two, of article two, title five, chapter six, part three, of the revised statutes, from levy and sale under execution, shall be exempt from levy and sale under any warrant to collect any ratebill for wages of teachers of common schools. 2

Of the Assessment and Collection of District Taxes.

No. 108-[§ 85.] In making out a tax list the trustees of school districts shall apportion the same on all the taxable inhabitants of the district, or corporations holding property therein, according to the valuation of the taxable property which shall be owned or possessed by them, at the time of making out such list within such district, or partly within such district and partly in an adjoining district, and upon all real estate lying within the boundaries of such district, the owners of which shall be non-residents, and which shall be liable to taxation for town or county purposes, and shall be situated within three miles of the site of the school-house in such district. But when it shall be ascertained that the proportion of any tax upon any lot, tract or parcel not occupied by any inhabitant would not amount to fifty cents, the trustees in their discretion may omit such lot, tract or parcel from the tax list.

No. 109-[§ 86.] Any person working land under a contract for a share of the produce of such land, shall be deemed the possessor, so far as to render him liable to taxation therefor, in the district where such land is situate.

No. 110-[887.] Every person owning or holding any real property within any school district, who shall improve and occupy the same by his agent or servant, shall, in respect to the liability of such property to taxation, be considered a taxable inhabitant of such district, in the same manner as if he actually resided therein.

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No. 111-[§ 88.] Where any district tax for the purpose of purchasing a site for a school-house, or for purchasing or building, keeping in repair, or furnishing such school-house with necessary fuel and appendages, shall be lawfully assessed and paid by any person, on account of any real property, whereof he is only tenant at will, or for three years, or for a less period of time, such tenant may charge the owner of such real estate with the amount of the tax so paid by him, unless some agreement to the contrary shall have been made by such tenant.

No. 112-[§ 89.] When any real estate within a district, so liable to taxation, shall not be occupied and improved by the owner, his servant or agent, and shall not be possessed by any tenant, the trustees of any district, at the time of making out any tax list by which any tax shall be imposed thereon, shall make and insert in

(1) Laws of 1851, chap. 151, §6-7. (2) Laws of 1751, chap. 151, §7.