taxes and place the same in the hands of the collectors of the tax for such county or city. Id. s. 26. governor not 26. In appointing such boards, the governor shall not be re- In appointing, stricted to any particular county, but may take them from any part restricted to of the State. particular county. nish boards with 27. The clerk of the county commissioners, or of the Appeal Tax Id. s. 27. Court, or register of the city of Baltimore, shall lay before the said Clerks to furboards the returns of the said assessors, with all corrections made assessments. thereto; and if any clerk or register shall fail to comply with the provisions of this or the preceding section, he shall be liable to Penalty for neglect. indictment therefor, and upon conviction shall be fined not exceeding one thousand dollars. board. 28. The members of said board shall each receive the sum of Id. s. 28. Compensation three dollars for each day they may be engaged in the discharge of of members of their duties, not exceeding twenty days, to be levied by them on the county or city for which they may be appointed, and collected for their use by the collector of State taxes thereof. Clerks to send comptroller of 29. The clerks of the county commissioners and the register of Id. s. 29. the, city of Baltimore shall, immediately after the imposition of a certificates to tax for the use of the State, transmit, by mail, to the comptroller, levy of tax. a certificate stating that such tax was imposed, and the date of the imposition thereof, the amount of the assessable property liable thereto, and the name or names of the collector or collectors thereof, with a copy of his or their bond or bonds, together with their post-office address. Appointment of collectors. 30. The county commissioners in the several counties, and the Id. s. 30. mayor and city council of Baltimore, shall, on or before the third 176,872 Tuesday in April in each year, or as soon thereafter as may be, appoint a collector or collectors of their respective counties, and one collector for Baltimore city, for the collection of all State taxes levied, or to be levied for the current year; and it shall not be lawful for the local authorities of the said counties to provide any fixed, annual, or other stated compensation, for the collection of the State taxes; nor shall the county commissioners provide a salary of any kind, or any other compensation, to the said collectors, for Compensation. their services in collecting the State and county taxes, otherwise than by a per centum on the amount of their collections as contemplated in this article. This section shall not apply to Harford county. tors of county 39 Md. 188. 31. Every collector of county taxes, before he acts as such, shall Id. s. 31. give bond to the State of Maryland in penalty of double the amount Bond of collecof such taxes to be collected by him, with good and sufficient securi- taxes. ties, to be approved by the county commissioners; and the collector of city taxes in the city of Baltimore, before he acts as such, shall give bond in such penalty as may be prescribed by the ordinances of the mayor and city council, to be approved by the mayor and presidents of both branches of the city council, or any two of them, the mayor being one, with the condition that if the above bound Id. s. 32. Bond of collector in city of Baltimore. shall well and faithfully execute his office, and shall account for and pay to the county commissioners, or to the mayor and city council of the city of Baltimore, if in said city, or their order, the several sums of money which he shall receive for the county or city, as the case may be, or be answerable for by law, at such time as the law shall direct; then the said obligation to be void, otherwise to be and remain in full force and virtue in law; and every collector of State taxes appointed by the county commissioners, shall also give a separate bond to the State of Maryland in a penalty double the amount of the tax to be collected by him, with good and sufficient securities, to be approved by the governor, with the condition that if the above bound shall well and faithfully execute his office, and shall account for to the comptroller, and pay to the treasurer of the State the several sums of money which he shall receive for the State, or be answerable for by law, at such times as the law shall direct, then the said obligation to be void, otherwise to remain in full force and effect. shall well 32. Every collector of State taxes in the city of Baltimore, before he acts as such, shall give a bond to the State of Maryland in a penalty of seventy-five thousand dollars, to be approved by the governor, with the condition that if the above bound and faithfully execute his office, and shall account with the comptroller for, and pay to the treasurer of the State, the several sums of money which he shall receive for the State, or be answerable for by law at such times as the law shall direct; then such obligation to be void, otherwise to remain in full force and virtue in law; the said collector's bonds, when approved by the county commissioners, shall be recorded in the office of the clerk of the Circuit Court of the respective counties; when approved by the proper authorities in the city of Baltimore, shall be recorded in the office of the clerk of the Superior Court of Baltimore City, and when approved by the governor, shall be filed in the office of the comptroller of the treasury. 33. Every collector of State taxes in the city of Baltimore, shall deposit in banks make daily deposits of such sums of money as he shall receive for State taxes, collected by him, less the amount of commission allowed him for the collection of the same, to the credit of the treasurer of the State of Maryland, in some bank in said city, which pays to the State the bonus or school tax as provided by law, to be designated by the said treasurer, and shall send to the treasurer a statement of the amount so deposited, within the first ten days of each month, with a certificate of the bank that the same is so deposited, and on failure to make such daily deposits, and to send such certificate, he shall, on proof thereof to the satisfaction of the governor, be liable to removal from office by the governor, and the comptroller shall immediately enter suit upon his bond. Id. s. 33. Collectors to designated by treasurer. To send statement and certificate of deposit to treasurer. Penalty on failure. Id. s. 34. Treasurer to 34. The treasurer of the State may make weekly examination make examina- of the books of the collector of State taxes in Baltimore city, whose books shall always be open to such inspection. tion of books of collector in Baltimore city. Oath of 35. Every collector, before he acts as such, shall take the follow- Id. s. 35. ing oath: I, -, collector of do swear that I will well and collector. truly execute the duties imposed upon me by law, and that I will justly and impartially value all property which I shall be authorized to value according to the best of my skill and judgment, and that I will not either directly or indirectly make any profit of the money collected by me by the use thereof in any manner whatever, which oath may be administered by the clerk of the Circuit Court for the county, or the clerk of the Superior Court of said city, and a certificate thereof under seal, shall be filed with the county commissioners, or register of the city of Baltimore, as the case may be. 36. If any collector shall fail to give bond as herein required, Id. s. 36. within twenty days after his appointment, the county commissioners Collectors failor mayor and city council of Baltimore, as the case may be, shall others to be immediately appoint another in his place, and shall continue after twenty days to make such appointment until a collector shall give bond as directed. ing to give bond appointed. governor if col appointed, etc. 37. The clerks of the county commissioners and the register of Id. s. 37. the city of Baltimore shall annually, on or before the first day of Clerks to inform May, inform the governor whether there is in their several counties lectors are being and the said city a collector or collectors of the State taxes duly appointed in conformity with the provisions of this article, and shall state whether a per centum of the said collections has been allowed said collectors for their services as therein provided, and if so, to what extent. When governor shall appoint. 38. If there be no collector of State taxes qualified and compen- Id. s. 38. sated in conformity with the foregoing provisions in any of the counties or in said city by the fifteenth day of May in any year, the governor shall appoint from any part of the State a collector or collectors for the said county or the said city, who shall give bond with sureties to be approved by the governor, and be in all respects on a footing with other State collectors' bonds as provided in this article, and the said collector shall have all the powers of other collectors. 39. If any collector, appointed under the last preceding section, shall fail to give bond within thirty days, the governor shall appoint another in his place, and so on after every interval of thirty days, until a collector shall qualify. 40. A separate collector may be appointed to collect the State taxes in any of the counties or the city of Baltimore, and if so appointed, shall give bond as herein before required. Id. s. 39. Failure to give bond by appoin tees of governor. Id. s. 40. tors may be appointed to collect State taxes. Separate collec Id. s. 41. collector. 41. The clerk of the county commissioners in each county, and of the Appeal Tax Court in the city of Baltimore, shall keep an accurate account of the assessment or rate of taxes assessed upon the assessment to taxable property of his county or city, and how such assessment is disposed of, in a book to be kept for that purpose alone, and said clerk shall, within ten days after such assessment, deliver a fair copy thereof to the collector or collectors of his county or city, or a copy of so much thereof as it shall be his duty to collect. Id. s. 42. time collectors pay over taxes. to collect and Penalty for failure. Id. s. 43. Failure of copies of levy lists to collec tors. Penalty. 42. Every collector receiving a copy of such assessment or rate, shall, within thirty days thereafter, proceed to collect the same, and shall pay the county and city taxes to the county commissioners, or to the mayor and city council, as the case may be, or their order, within six months after receiving the copy aforesaid; and all moneys levied for educational purposes by the county commissioners of the several counties shall be levied separately and distinctly from the other items of taxation, and a list thereof furnished to the 'school commissioners of the said counties; and the collector shall make return of all said tax collected upon the days required by law for the return of the State school taxes; if any such collector shall fail to perform his duties as directed in this section, said collector shall be liable to prosecution, and on conviction, shall be fined not less than one hundred nor more than five hundred dollars, in the discretion of the court. 43. If the county commissioners or Appeal Tax Court, or their Clerks to deliver clerks, shall fail or refuse to deliver to the collectors copies of the said levy lists, or if they shall in any other way impede, hinder, or delay the said collectors in the discharge of their duties, they shall individually be liable to indictment in the Circuit Court for the county, or the Criminal Court of Baltimore, and upon conviction thereof, forfeit and pay the sum of one thousand dollars, for the use of the State, or the said sum may be recovered by action of debt in the name of the State, instituted against the parties in default, jointly and severally, by the State's attorney, upon the requisition of the governor. Id. s. 44. taxes. Id. s. 45. Deductions on prompt payment of State taxes. Not to extend to taxes on public debts of Maryland, etc. Id. s. 46. Taxes to be liens on real estate indebted. Id. s. 47. Deductions in favor of collectors. 44. Every collector of State taxes shall account for and pay to the treasurer two-thirds thereof by the first day of January succeeding the date of levy of the said taxes, and the remaining third by the first day of April thereafter. 45. All persons and incorporated institutions that shall pay their State taxes on or before the first day of September of the year for which they were levied, shall be entitled to a deduction of five per centum on the amount of said taxes; all that shall pay the same on or before the first day of October of the said year, shall be entitled to a deduction of four per centum; and all that shall pay the same on or before the first day of November of the said year, shall be entitled to a deduction of three per centum; and at the time of receiving said taxes the proper officers shall make the deductions aforesaid and note the same upon the receipts given to the persons or incorporated institutions so paying; but nothing herein contained shall extend to the taxes payable on the public debt of Maryland or the stock loans of the city of Baltimore. 46. All State and county or municipal taxes shall be liens on the real estate of the party indebted from the time the same are levied. 47. Every collector shall, on all sums paid by him to the treasurer on or before the fifteenth day of September, of the year for which the taxes were levied, be allowed a deduction of five per cent.; on all sums paid by him on or before the fifteenth day of October of the said year, a deduction of four per cent.; and on all sums paid by him on or before the fifteenth day of November of the said year, a deduction of three per cent.; which deduction shall, in each case, be noted by the treasurer upon the receipt given to said collector. And it is the meaning of this section that the said deductions shall be made from the gross amount of the State taxes placed for collection in the hands of said collector, and shall not be in addition to those made in favor of the taxpayers. Id. s. 48. How collectors payment of 39 Md. 465. 48. Whenever a collector shall find it necessary to proceed by way of distress or execution to collect State, or any other taxes, he shall first leave with the party by whom the taxes are to be paid, or with one of them if more than one, or at his or their usual place of abode, or at the usual place of abode of one of them, if said parties or any of them reside in said county or city, or, if none of the said parties live in the said county or city, set up the same on the land or premises where land or other real estate is to be distrained or sold, or deliver to any person in possession thereof a statement showing the aggregate amount of property of every description with which the person is assessed, and the amount of the taxes due thereon, with a notice annexed thereto that unless the taxes so due are paid within thirty days thereafter, he will proceed to collect the same by way of distress or execution, to be levied on said real or personal property. 49. After the proceedings required by the preceding section shall ra. s. 49. have been had, if the said taxes are not then paid, the collector shall proceedings. levy upon any property of the delinquent; and after giving twenty 36 Md. 207. days' notice of the time and place of sale by advertisement in at 25 Md. 153. least one newspaper in the county or city where a newspaper is published, and also, by notice stuck up at the court-house door; and if no newspaper is printed in the county, then in addition to the notice at the court-house door, at two other public places in the neighborhood, shall, agreeably to said notice, either on the premises, or at the court-house door of the county or city, proceed to sell by public auction the property so levied on for cash to the highest bidder; retaining out of the proceeds of such sales the amount of the taxes due from such delinquent, with interest thereon, together with all the costs incurred in making the sale, and paying the surplus, if there be any, to the owner thereof. 50. The real estate of a delinquent taxpayer may be sold to pay State, county, or city taxes, whether there be personal property or not, the collector complying with the provisions of the two preceding sections. 51. In all cases where lands held in fee simple or by lease have been sold, or shall be sold, for payment of taxes in arrears, according to the provisions of existing laws, it shall be the duty of the collector of taxes to report the said sale, together with all the proceedings had in relation thereto, to the Circuit Court of the county where said lands are situate, or, when said lands are situate in the city of Further 39 Md. 465. Id. s. 50. delinquent may be sold to pay taxes, whether there be per sonal property Jd. s. 51. Sales of land lease for pay held in fee or by to be reported to court for ment of taxes, ratification. |