Sealer of

weights and

two dollars; but no member shall receive pay for more than eight days' service in one year.

SEC. 21. [22.] The city sealer of weights and measures, shall measures, how be appointed by the common council, and shall be under the direction of the common council.

appointed.

Officers appointed, to receive a commission.

Of salary of officers.

Council shall audit and allow accounts.

All lands &c., liable to taxation.

Definition of term "land."

SEC. 22. [23.] Every officer appointed by the common council, shall receive a warrant or commission, under the city seal, signed by the mayor and city clerk.

SEC. 23. [24.] The common council shall, within three months previous to the general election, fix the annual salaries of the city officers, to be elected at the next general election thereafter, under the provisions of this Act, and the salaries so fixed, shall not be increased or diminished during the term of any office.

TITLE V.

Of the Assessment and Collection of Taxes, and of the Funds and Expenditures of the City.

SEC. 1. The common council shall audit and allow all accounts chargable against the city; but no unliquidated account or claim, or contract, shall be received for audit or allowance, unless it be accompanied with an affidavit of the person rendering it, to the effect that he verily believes, that the services or property therein charged, have been actually performed or delivered for the city; that the sums charged therefor are reasonable and just, and that, to the best of his knowledge and belief, no set-off exists, nor payment has been made, on account thereof, except such as are included or referred to, in such account or claim. It shall be a sufficient bar and answer, to any action or proceeding, in any court, for the collection of any demand or claim, that it has never been presented to the council, for audit or allowance, or if a contract, that it was presented without said afhdavit, and rejected for that reason, or, that the action or proceeding, was brought before the council had a reasonable time to investigate and pass upon it.

SEC. 2. All lands, and all personal estate, within this city, whether owned by individuals or by corporations, shall be liable to taxation, subject to the exemptions hereinafter specified.

SEC. 3. The term land as used in this Act, shall be construed to include the land itself, including one-half of the value of buildings, and other improvements thereon, and shall include all minerals, quarries, and every thing else belonging to the land, in a state of nature; and the term "real estate" and "real prop

erty," wherever they occur in this Act, shall be construed as having the same meaning as the term "land" thus defined.

tate and per

SEC. 4. The term personal estate and personal property, of personal eswherever they occur in this Act, shall be construed to include all sonal property. household furniture, moneys, goods, chattels, debts due from solvent debtors, whether on account, contracts, note, bond or mortgage, public stocks, and stocks in moneyed corporations. They shall also be construed to include such portion of the capital of incorporated companies, liable to location on their capital, and shall not be invested in real estate.

taxation.

SEC. 5. The following property shall be exempt from taxa- Exempt from tion: 1. Every poor-house, alms-house, house of industry, and every house belonging to a company incorporated for the reformation of offenders, and the real and personal property belonging, or connected with the same. 2. The real and personal property of every public or incorporated library, or library association. 3. All real and personal property belonging to the city, used by the city for city purposes, shall be exempt from municipal taxation.

assessed where

SEC. 6. Every person shall be assessed in the ward or district Persons to be where he resides, where the assessment is made for all lands they reside. owned by him in such ward or district.

to either the

pant.

lands.

roll, how pre

SEC. 7. Land occupied by persons other than the owner, may Lands assessed be assessed to the owner or occupant, or as non-resident lands. owner or occuSEC. 8. Unoccupied lands not owned by any person, residing of unoccupied within the city, shall be denominated as lands of non-residents. SEC. 9. The assessors shall, within a time to be specified by Assessment the common council, by ordinance, prepare an assessment roll, pared &c. in which they shall set down five separate columns, according to the best of their [the] information in their power, 1. In the first column, the names of all the taxable inhabitants in the city, near or distant as the case may be. 2. In the second column, the quantity of land to be taxed to each person. 3. In the third column, the full value of such land according to the definition of the term land as given in this title. 4. In the fourth column, the full value of the taxable personal property owned by such person, other than merchandize. 5. In the fifth column, the mercantile capital which shall be estimated for taxation, as follows, to wit: That at the time of the assessment of any merchant's stock, the value of the stock of goods on hand, and also all moneys on hand, and credits due from solvent debtors, shall be appraised, and from the total amount thereof shall be deducted

Guardians, administrators

ed.

Tat

the indebtedness of such merchant on his stock of goods, and he balance shall be the amount to be entered for taxation. the term merchandize or any of its synonyms, wherever used in this Act, of [shall apply to] goods kept for sale [or] for pro it. SEC. 19. Where a person is possessed, or trusted guardian or &c., how assess- administrator of property, he shall be assessed as such, with he addition to his name of his representative character; and s ch assessment shall be carried out in a separate line from his in lividual assessment. He shall be assessed for the value of the al estate held by him, in such representative character, at the ill value thereof, and for the personal property held by him in such representative character, in the same manner as provided fo in this title.

Of land of nonresidents.

Same.

Duties of assessor.

Comptroller may require estimates of expenses &c,,

SEO. 11. The land of non-residents shall be designated in he same assessment roll, but in a part thereof separate from the other assessments, and made in the same manner.

SEC. 12. All non-resident or unimproved lands, shall be ta ed the same as those of residents.

SEC. 13. The assessors shall complete their assessment roll, within the time specified for that purpose, by the common concil, and shall make out a fair copy thereof, to be left with ne of their number, and another to be deposited with the city ciek. They shall also forthwith cause at least ten notices thereof ut up in ten conspicuous places, in the city, ward or district, as he case may be, for which they are chosen. Such notice shall set forth, that the assessors have completed their assessment rll, and that a copy thereof is left with one of their number, a a place to be specified therein, where the same may be seen examined, by any person interested, for two weeks. After revising their rolls, the assessors shall submit them to the com. on council, who shall have full power to equalize them, and also to correct any inequalities in the valuation of particular premises, or errors in description. The assessors shall prepare two copies of each roll, as equalized by the common council, and certify ad. deliver one of them to the comptroller, and the other to be kept by one of their number, at their proper office of business.

nd

SEC. 14. The comptroller may, at any time, require from the various officers and heads of departments, and it shall be their from officers. duty to furnish him, in such form as he shall require, full and particular estimates, of the expenses of their offices and departments, for the current year. He shall prepare, and. on or be ore the first day of March, present to the common council, a state

He shall prepare statement

ed.

ment in detail, of the several sums which will be required to meet of sums requirthe expenses of the year, for all proper city purposes, and of the condition of the funds and revenues of the city, and showing what balances will, in his opinion, be necessary to be raised for specific purposes. The common council may alter or amend such statement, in their discretion, but not so that the aggregate amount to be raised shall exceed that recommended by the comptroller, unless such increase be made by a vote of three-fourths of the members elected.

sums necessary

poses.

SEC. 15. In such amount shall be included all sums necessary To include for school purposes, for the city, for twelve months, both for for school pur building and otherwise; an amount necessary to be raised for a city hall. The amount determined upon shall be raised, as on gross tax, on one assessment.

not authorize

ceeding the

SEC. 16. The council shall not authorize drafts or warrants Council shall upon the treasury, for contingent expenses of the city, for the drafts, &c,, excurrent year, to an amount in all exceeding the amount limited amount limited for that purpose, by the statement so adopted by them, including the balance of that fund in hand, as signified by the statement, and the additions to the fund from licenses and other sources of ordinary revenue, unless extraordinary expenditures shall be rendered necessary by some great public calamity; and in such case, the council may borrow a sum from the contingent fund, equal to emergency, for a time not exceeding eighteen months, and shall provide for the repayment thereof, with interest, in and by the next general tax. But no such expenditures_shall be authorized unless three-fourths of all the members elected to the council shall vote therefor.

the

not create a

liability greatbeen provided

er than had

for.

SEC. 17. The common council shall not, by drafts or warrants Council shall on the treasury, or by any other form of contract, create a liability for the city to pay a greater amount, in any one department of city expenditures than shall have been specified and provided for in the previous annual statement of the comptroller, as adopted by the common council; and any drafts, warrants or contracts that shall be issued or made after such specified amounts shall have been reached or exhausted by previous drafts, warrants or contracts, shall be void as claims against the city, but may be enforced as personal liabilities, jointly and severally against the members of the common council voting in favor thereof.

shall give no

SEC. 18. The comptroller, on the receipt of the assessment Comptroller rolls, shall give notice in two consecutive numbers of the city tice when the

tax roll is deposited with

taxes may be paid to him.

paper, and by posting notices in at least ten conspicuous places, him, and that that the general tax rolls have been deposited with him, and that payment of the taxes, therein specified, may be made to him at any time within thirty days; that at the expiration of said thirty days, an addition of one per cent. will be made thereto on that day, and a like addition of one per cent. every fifth day thereafter, until such additions shall amount to ten per cent.

Taxes to be added to unpaid taxes.

Unpaid tax shall be a lien on the land.

Transcript of unpaid taxes to be made.

Sale of land

for taxes.

Comptroller shall prepare a list, &c.

Printer's fees, for advertising land.

Comptroller's fee.

SEC. 19. At the expiration of the thirty days mentioned in the last section, and on every fifth day thereafter, there shall be added to every unpaid tax one per cent. thereof, until the amount added be ten per cent. thereof; and then the amount of such tax and such addition shall be the unpaid tax, and shall bear interest from that day, at the rate of twenty-five per cent. per annum until paid; and thereupon a roll of such unpaid taxes and addition shall be made up by the comptroller.

SEC. 20. Every unpaid tax and assessment, with the addition thereunto authorized of one per cent. and the interest, at twentyfive per cent. per annum on the aggregate amount, shall be a lien upon the land upon which it is assessed or charged.

SEC. 21. The comptroller shall prepare a transcript of the unpaid taxes, including the names of the owners, if any be given, the description of the parcels of land, and the amount of the taxes due thereon respectively, and enter the same in a book to be kept for that purpose; and he shall publish the same, and give notice in the city paper, once a week for two successive weeks, of the time and place of a sale at auction of such lands, to be had by him for the satisfaction of such taxes. The first publication of such notice shall be at least fifteen days before such sale.

SEC. 22. The comptroller shall, in like manner, prepare a list and keep a record of assessment on lands for any local improvement, or for city purposes herein authorized, which shall, by the rolls thereof, appear to be unpaid, and shall give the like notice of sale of all lands specified in the rolls of unpaid taxes, in his office, for the assessments unpaid thereon, as is prescribed in [the] last section.

SEC. 23. The printer's fee, for publication of any such notice of sale, and furnishing proof thereof to the comptroller, shall be twenty cenis, for each and every parcel of land therein separately advertised for sale, whether the same be sold or not. Each parcel of land advertised for sale shall be subject to a further fee, to be called the comptroller's fee, but to belong to the city, of twen