3669. Certain taxes must be paid to state treasurer. Each corporation, person, or association assessed by the state board of equalization must pay to the state treasurer, upon the order of the controller, as other moneys are required to be paid into the treasury, the state and county and city and county taxes each year levied upon the property so assessed to it or him by said board. Any corporation, person, or association dissatisfied with the assessment made by the board, upon the payment of the taxes due upon the assessment complained of, and the percentage added, if to be added, on or before the first Monday in June, and the filing of notice with the controller of an intention to begin an action, may, not later than the first Monday in June, bring an action against the state treasurer for the recovery of the amount of taxes and percentage so paid to the treasurer, or any part thereof, and in the complaint may allege any fact tending to show the illegality of the tax, or of the assessment upon which the taxes are levied, in whole or in part. A copy of the complaint and of the summons must be served upon the treas. urer within ten days after the complaint has been filed, and the treasurer has thirty days within which to demur or answer. At the time the treasurer demurs or answers, he may demand that the action be tried in the superior court of the county of Sacramento. The attorney-general must defend the action. The provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure relating to pleadings, proofs, trials, and appeals are applicable to the proceedings herein provided for. If the final judgment be against the treasurer, upon presen. tation of a certified copy of such judgment to the controller he shall draw his warrant upon the state treasurer, who must pay to the plaintiff the amount of the taxes so declared to have been illegally collected; and the cost of such action, audited by the board of examiners, must be paid out of any money in the general fund of the treasury, which is hereby appropriated, and the controller may demand and receive from the county or city and county interested the proportion of such costs, or may deduct such proportion from any money then or to become due to said county or city and county. Such action must be begun on or before the first Monday in June of the year succeeding the year in which the taxes were levied, and a failure to begin such action is deemed a waiver of the rights of action. [Amendment approved March 31, 1891; Stats. 1891, p. 442; in effect first Monday in July, 1892.] 3670. Controller to sue for delinquent taxes. After the first Monday of June of each year, the controller must begin an action in the proper court, in the name of the people of the state of California, to collect the delinquent taxes upon the property assessed by the state board of equalization; such suit must be for the taxes due the state, and all the counties and cities and counties, upon property assessed by the board of equalization, and appearing delinquent upon the "Duplicate Record of Apportionment of Railway Assessments." The demands for state and county and city and county taxes may be united in one action. In such action a complaint in the following form is sufficient: (Naming the defendant). Plaintiff avers that on the day of in the year (naming the year), the state board of equalization assessed the franchise, roadway, road-bed, rails, and rolling stock of the defendant at the sum of (naming it) dollars; that the board apportioned the said assessment as follows: To the county of (naming it) the sum of (naming it) dollars (and so on, naming each county). That the defendant is indebted to plaintiff for state and county taxes for the year cighteen, in the following sums: For state taxes, in the sum of (naming it) dollars; for county taxes of the county of (naming it), in the sum of (naming it) dollars, etc., with five (or ten) per cent added for non-payment of taxes. Plaintiff demands payment for said several sums, and prays that an attachment may issue, in form as prescribed in section five hundred and forty of the Code of Civil Procedure. (Signed by the controller or his attorney.) On the filing of such complaint, the clerk must issue the writ of attachment prayed for, and such proceedings shall be had as under writs of attachments issued in civil actions; no bond nor affidavit previous to the issuing of the attachment is required. If in such action the plaintiff recover judgment, there shall be included in the judgment a; counsel fees, and in case of judgment of taxes after suit brought but before judgment the defendant must pay as counsel fees, such sum as the court may determine to be reasonable and just. Payment of the taxes or the amount of the judgment in the case must be made to the state treasurer. In such actions the "Duplicate Record of Assessments of Railways" and the "Duplicate Record of Apportionment of Railway Assessments," or a copy of them, certified by the controller, showing unpaid taxes against any corporation, person, or association, for property assessed by the state board of equalization, is prima facie evidence of the assessment, the property assessed, the delinquency, the amount of the taxes due and unpaid to the state, and counties or cities and counties therein named, and that the corporation, person, or association is indebted to the people of the state of California in the amount of taxes, state and county and city and county, therein appearing unpaid, and that all the forms of law in relation to the assessment and levy of such taxes have been complied with. [Amendment approved March 31, 1891; Stats. 1891, p. 442; in effect first Monday in July, 1891.] Action for assessment.-Jurisdiction: 95 Cal. 378; pleadings: 83 Cal. 393; 73 Cal. 621; evidence: 93 Cal. 465; 96 Cal, 623; 75 Cal, 172; 66 Cal. 17; findings: 93 Cal. 465; joinder of actions: 83 Cal. 393; premature: 65 Cal. 282; judgment; 66 Cal. 17; 68 Cal. 14. Lien of tax, duration of: 92 Cal. 625; 73 Cal. 610. 3672. Board of equalization for counties. The board or supervisors of each county must meet on the first Monday of July in each year to examine the assessment-book and equalize the assessment of property in the county. It must continue in session for that purpose, from time to time, until the business of equalization is disposed of, but not later than the third Monday in July. [Amendment approved March 31, 1891; Stats. 1891, p. 442; in effect first Monday in July, 1891.] 3673. Equalization — Notice: 82 Cal. 214, 3674. Reduction - Failure to return statement: 75 Cal. 172. 3692. Powers and duties of state board of equalization. The powers and duties of the state board of equalization are as follows: 1. To prescribe rules for its own government and for the transaction of its business. 2. To prescribe rules and regulations, not in conflict with the constitution and laws of the state, to govern supervisors when equalizing and assessors when assessing. 3. To make out, prepare, and enforce the use of forms in relation to the assessment of property. 4. To hold regular meetings at the state capitol, on the second Monday in each month, and such special meetings as the chairman may direct. 5. To annually assess the franchise, roadway, road-bed, rails, and rolling stock of all railroads operated in more than one county in this state, at their actual value on the first Monday in March, at twelve o'clock, M., and to apportion such assessment to the counties and cities and counties in which such roads are located, in proportion to the number of miles of railway laid in such counties and cities and counties, in the manner provided for in section three thousand six hundred and sixty-four of said code. 6. To equalize the assessment of each mortgage, deed of trust, contract, or other obligation by which a debt is secured, and which affects property situate in two or more counties, and to apportion the assessment thereof to each of said counties. 7. To transmit to the assessor of each county or city and county its apportionment of the assessments made by said board upon the franchises, roadways, road beds, rails, and rolling stock of railroads, and also its appor tionment of the assessments made by such board upon mortgages, deeds of trust, contracts, and other obligations by which debts are secured, in the manner provided for in section three thousand six hundred and sixty-four of said code. 8. To meet at the state capitol on the first Monday in August, and remain in session, from day to day (Sundays excepted), until the first Monday in September. 9. At such meeting, to equalize the valuation of the taxable property of the several counties in this state for the purpose of taxation; and to that end, under such rules of notice to the clerk of the board of supervisors of the county affected thereby as it may prescribe, to increase or lower the entire assessment roll, or any assessment contained therein, so as to equalize the assessment of the property contained in said roll, and make the assessment conform to the true value in money of the property assessed, and to fix the rate of state taxation, and to do the things provided in section three thousand six hundred and ninety-three of said code. 10. To visit as a board, or by the individual members thereof, whenever deemed necessary, the several counties of the state, for the purpose of inspecting the property and learning the value thereof. 11. To call before it, or any member thereof, on such visit, any officers of the county, and to require them to produce any public records in their custody. 12. To issue subpoenas for the attendance of witnesses, or the production of books before the board, or any member thereof; which subpoenas must be signed by a member of the board, and may be served by any person. 13. To appoint a clerk, prescribe and enforce his du ties. The clerk shall hold his office during the pleasure of the board. 14. To report to the governor, annually, a statement showing, First. The acreage of each county in the state that is assessed. Second. The amount assessed per acre. Fourth. state. Fifth. The kinds of personal property in each county, and the value of each kind. Sixth. The aggregate value of all personal property in the state. Seventh. Any information relative to the assessment of property and the collection of revenue. Eighth. Such further suggestions as it shall deem proper. |