Oath, when to be taken. The oath cannot be taken until after the third Tuesday of August, and if taken before, it will be a nullity. Westfall v. Preston, 49 N. Y. 349.

Roll not completed till verified. The assessment roll is not fully completed until the Assessors have taken and subscribed the oath. People v. Suffern, 68 N. Y. 321.

Rules for Assessors to adhere to. While there are cases holding that a substantial compliance with the requirements of the statute is sufficient, Buffalo & State Line R. R. Co. v. Supervisors of Erie Co., 48 N. Y. 93, still there is but one safe rule for the Assessor to follow and that is to have the oath in the exact words of the statute. A slight inaccuracy may be of no consequence to the Assessor but it may invalidate the whole assessment roll and produce incalculable injury to others.

The Legislature has passed several laws to validate assessment rolls, but such enactments are ineffectual to interfere with vested rights of property or vested rights of action. See, for instance, Laws 1884, chap. 83.

When an officer's duty is plainly pointed out by statute and the exact form of the oath given there can be no excuse for a departure therefrom.

A mandamus will not lie to compel Assessors to make an oath to their assessment roll, the making of which would be the commission of a crime. People v. Fowler, 55 N. Y. 252.

Trustees of villages incorporated under the general act of 1870 (chap. 291), which provides that such Trustees shall act as Assessors, must, as such Assessors, take the oath in the same manner as the Assessors of towns. People v. Suffern, 68 N. Y. 321.

§ 437. Roll to be delivered to Supervisor.

The roll, thus certified, shall, on or before the first day of September in every year, be delivered by the Assessors of each ward in the City of New York, to the Clerk of

the City, and by the Assessors of every other town or ward, to the Supervisor thereof, who shall deliver the same to the Board of Supervisors at their next meeting. 2 R. S. (8th ed.) 1099, § 27.

After the roll had been completed by the Board of Supervisors and delivered to the Supervisor of the Town, the latter, after the Board had adjourned, took out the leaves upon which were entered the non-resident lands and taxes and inserted copies in their place, this was held not to vitiate the rolls. Colman v. Shattuck, 62 N. Y. 348.

In the various cities of the state the charter generally regulates the time of delivering assessment rolls, etc.

§ 438. Assessment rolls to be delivered to Clerk.

All assessment rolls when finally completed and verified by the Assessors, shall, in towns, on or before the first day of September, and in incorporated villages and cities at the time prescribed by their respective charters, or laws applicable to them, be delivered to the Town, Village or City Clerk, or other officer to whom such rolls are, or may be required by law, to be delivered, and there to remain with such Clerk or other officer for a period of fifteen days, for public inspection.

The Assessors or other officers who complete and verify the assessment roll, shall, after they have delivered the same to the said Town, Village or City Clerk or other officer, forthwith give publice notice by posting the same in at least three of the most public places in said town, village or city, or by publishing the same in one or more newspapers published therein, that such assessment roll has been finally completed, the officer to whom the same has been delivered and the place where the same will be open to public inspection.

The fifteen days from which to complete the time within which the application for the writ of certiorari can be made under this act shall be the time whem said public notice is first given. Laws 1880, chap. 269, § 9.

Time of delivery held directory. The provision of this

statute requiring the roll to be filled with the Town Clerk "on or before the first day of September" is directory merely, and when the roll is completed and verified, a delay in filing it does not vitiate the assessment. People v. Haupt, 104 N. Y. 377; People v. Jones, 43 Hun, 131; People v. Jones, 106 N. Y. 330.

The object of the requirement of this section that the Assessors shall give public notice of the completion of the roll is simply to set running the fifteen days within which parties aggrieved may sue out a writ of certiorari. Ibid. ·

The omission to give the notice prevents the running of the fifteen days, during which application may be made for awrit of certiorari to review an assessment, and leaves the writ to be sued out at any time. People v. Hicks, 105 N. Y. 199; People v. Haupt, 104 N. Y. 377.

$439. Duty of Assessors.

The Assessors in the execution of their duties, shall use the forms and pursue the instructions which shall from time to time be transmitted to them by the Comptroller. 2 R. S. (Sth ed.) 1099, § 28.

§ 440. Tracts of land to be separately assessed.

In assessing lands, whether owned by the same person or by several persons, every separate distinct piece or parcel of land, where the land has been subdivided, must be stated separately in the assessment roll.

And the assessment should be on each separate parcel and the tax will follow the assessment in the same way. It is very important that this rule of separately entering in the rolls each tract of land should be observed in relation to non-resident lands. No matter how large the tract, if it has not been subdivided it must be entered as one tract, and no matter how small the tract, if the tract has been subdivided, each separate parcel must be separately entered.

So, personal property must be entered separate and distinct from real estate.

It is the right of the party assessed to know the valua

tion placed upon each separate parcel of real estate, as he may be content with the assessment as to some parcels and may wish to appear on review day and ask to have the valuation on other parcels reduced. not be done unless the parcels are separately valued.

§ 441. Refusal or neglect of Assessors.

This could

If any Assessors shall wilfully refuse or neglect to perform any of the duties required of him, by this chapter, he shall forfeit to the people of this state, the sum of fifty dollars. 2 R. S. (8th ed.) 1099, § 29.

§ 442. Neglect of Assessor.

If any Assessor shall neglect, or from any cause omit to perform his duties, the other Assessors, or either of them of the town or ward, shall perform such duties, and shall certify to the Supervisor, stating therein the cause of such omission. lbid., § 30.

Where a roll was

Verification by two Assessors. verified by but two of the Assessors, and did not contain a certificate stating the name of the delinquent Assessor and the cause of the omission, it was held the certificate to that effect required by the statute, was not a portion of the official oath, but a separate and distinct statement, not required to be verified, and not forming a necessary part of the roll; that two Assessors had full power to act and their oath was all that was required to complete the roll, and that therefore its validity was not affected by the absence of or omission to make the certificate. Colman v. Shattuck, 62 N. Y. 348, affirming S. C. 2 Hun, 497; 5 T. & C. 34, and overruling the statement to the contrary by Reynolds, C., in Bellinger v. Gray, 51 N. Y. 610.

§ 443. Supervisor's duties as to assessment roll.

The statute prescribes no other duty for the Supervisor to perform in regard to the roll after it is delivered to him than to deliver the same to the Board of Supervisors at their next annual meeting. During the meantime and until the meeting of the Board, it is his duty to keep it safe

ly. He may, and should, examine it carefully and see if the footings are correct, and if incorrect he can have the Assessors correct them; but he has no right to make any change or alteration in the roll, of any kind. The Assessors can make no change or alteration in any material matter after the giving of notice and then only upon complaints. People v. Forrest, 96 N. Y. 544.

The Supervisor should acquaint himself thoroughly with the roll before the meeting of the Board of Supervisors, and it is customary for the Supervisor to aggregate the footings and insert such table in the back of the roll, which will be found a matter of great convenience, thus: TOWN OF LANCASTER.