CHAPTER XVI.

OF ASSESSMENT ROLLS AND LEVYING AND COLLECTION OF TAXES.

§ 531. Supervisor's duty in relation to assessment rolls. $532. Comptroller's instructions in relation thereto.

§ 533. Jurisdiction of Board of Supervisors over assessment rolls. § 534. Cases in which the Board may review assessments. 1. Failure of Assessors to meet on "review day.

2. Rents reserved in leases in fee.

3. As to non-resident lands.

DUTIES OF SUPERVISORS IN RELATION TO OMITTED LANDS,

$535. Omitted lands of preceding year.

§ 536. Omitted lands in current year. Form.

§ 537. Amount to be deducted from other tax es.

§ 538. Correction of clerical errors in assessment rolls.

$539. Powers of Board under last section.

$540. Correction of manifest clerical and other errors. $541. Errors that may or may not be corrected.

$542. Powers of Supervisors in relation to errors.

§ 543. Manifest clerical errors in Kings County.

544. Manifest clerical errors in Albany County.

$545. Errors, by whom corrected-committee on assessments. 546. Committee on erroneous taxation.

547. Extending the tax.

548. Amount of tax to be placed in fifth column.

§ 549. Extension must be under supervision of Board.

$550. Establishing and proving ratio.

$551. Extension of tax to be confirmed.

$552. Collector's fees must not be included in tax list.
§ 553. State tax, county's proportion, how determined.
554. Amount as fixed by Comptroller, to be assessed.
§ 555. Taxes, how paid on non-resident lands-over-charges.
$556. Over-charges to be re-charged to county.

$557. Town to be liable therefor.

$558. Supervisors to refund taxes illegally, etc., assessed. $559. Refunding taxes on lands divided by county lines. $560. Assessment to refund such taxes.

$561. No claim on state in such cases.

562. Form of assessment roll-tax extended.

§ 563. Completed roll to be delivered to Collector. 564. Warrant to be annexed to roll-its contents.

§ 565. Directions in warrant as to payment of taxes.

§ 566. Taxes, to whom paid in cities.

§ 567. Account to be transmitted to County Treasurer. $568. Form of Collector's warrant.

$569. When Collector does not qualify-Sheriff to act.

§ 570. Collector to be appointed, when.

571. Warrant to be delivered to appointee.

572. Extension of time for collection of taxes-power of Supervisors in relation thereto.

$573. Extension by County Treasurer.

$574. Proceedings where Collector neglects to pay over.

575. Duty of Sheriff on warrant against Collector

576. Sheriff's return and notice to Supervisor.

577. Supervisor shall sue Collector's bond.

$578. School taxes-proceedings when not collected.

$579. Assessment for uncommuted highway labor and non-resident

tax.

$580. Form of such return.

581. Supervisor to lay such lists before the Board.

$582. Such arrearages how collected.

583. Losses by defaults of Treasurers and Collectors.

584. County Treasurer's neglect to pay state tax

thereon.

proceedings.

$585. Comptroller to furnish Supervisors with statement of arrearages. $586. Comptroller's statement of rejected taxes.

§ 587. Comptroller to cancel taxes on imperfectly described lands. 588. Transcript of such taxes to be delivered to Supervisors.

589. Description of lands to be made.

590. If not made, tax to be assessed upon town.

591. How assessed in case of division of town. 592. Comptroller to cancel taxes previously paid. $593. Account to be transmitted to Supervisors. $594. Comptroller may require correct returns.

§ 595. Duty of Supervisors thereon.

596. Maps to be furnished Comptroller by Supervisors. $597. When sales invalid, money to be returned.

598. Error to be charged to the county.

$599. After conveyance, sale may be cancelled, etc. $600. When Comptroller to bid in lands at tax sale.

601. Lands to be deeded to Board of Supervisors unless redeemed. 602. Purchase of scrapers, etc., to be paid for by tax. 603. Purchase of stone crusher to be paid for by tax. 604. To raise money for stone to operate stone crusher.

§ 531. Supervisor's duties in relation to assessment roll. It is the duty of a Supervisor to whom an assessment roll is delivered by the Assessor to examine it carefully and to see if it complies with the requirements of the law.

If he discovers mere formal defects he has a right to call upon the Assessors to correct them. If their oath to the roll is not in the form prescribed by the statute, to require them to take a new and proper oath. If the columns are not footed he should require the Assessors to foot them up; or he may do it himself, as such mere footing is not an alteration of the roll. It is merely putting it in shape for use before the Board of Supervisors. In some counties they have "committees on form of assessment rolls" and "committees on footing assessment rolls." The duties to be performed by such committees should be performed by the Supervisor before the roll is presented to the Board.

It must be borne in mind that the Supervisor has no right to make any alteration or correction in the assessment roll in a matter of substance. What he may do and in relation to what part of the roll, has been distinctly pointed out by the Comptroller in instructions to Supervisors. Such instructions are here given in the exact language of the Comptroller and should be carefully studied by every Supervisor.

§ 532. Comptroller's instructions to Supervisors.

STATE OF NEW YORK,
Comptroller's office,
Albany,

To the Supervisor of the Town of

N. Y.

1887.

County of

Sir: Herewith you will receive from the Treasurer of your county, the statement of unpaid taxes of the year 1886, on lands of non-residents in your town, which have been rejected by me in accordance with the requirements of law. The examination has been full and complete, and, on the statement of rejections, I have endeavored to fully and clearly point out the causes of rejection, and to state the requirements necessary to secure the admission of such of said taxes as can possibly be admitted.

Your attention is called to the requirements of law, which are:

That you are to add to the assessment roll of your town

for the year 1887, accurate descriptions of the lands on which non-resident taxes of 1886 and resident and omitted taxes of 1885, have been rejected, and the correct amount of taxes thereon. Where you reduce the number of acres, the valuation thereof and taxes thereon must be reduced in the same proportion; but where the acres are increased, the valuation and taxes must remain as they

were.

That no interest is to be added to such relevied taxes. That you are to furnish the Comptroller with all maps and surveys required by him.

That unless you fully comply with the above requirements, the Comptroller cannot admit any such rejected taxes relevied on the roll for 1887, but that such taxes must then be charged on your town; and

That all taxes assessed as resident, or omitted, for years prior to 1885, and all assessed as non-resident for years prior to 1886, must be charged on your town. They cannot be hereafter admitted, nor legally collected, under any circumstances.

Before extending the taxes on the assessment roll of your town for the year 1887, you will please examine said roll and see:

That the Assessor's oath, worded strictly as required by law, signed by the Assessors and certified by an "officer of their county, authorized by law to administer oaths,” is written or printed thereon.

That the Assessors of your town, after the 3d Tuesday of August, 1887, severally appeared before such officer, and made and subscribed said oath; and

That the following provisions of law are fully complied with, viz.:

Sec. 31. The Board of Supervisors shall also make such alterations in the descriptions of the lands of nonresidents, as may be necessary to render such descriptions conformable to the provisions of this chapter, and if such alterations cannot be made, they shall expunge the descriptions of such lands, and the assessments thereon, from the assessment rolls." See Revised Statutes (6th edition), vol. 1, page 942.

The provisions referred to in said section, are substantially as follows, viz.:

1st. Unoccupied lands, not owned by a person residing in the town or ward where the same are situated, must be assessed in a part of the assessment roll separate from the other assessments, under the heading, "LANDS OF NONRESIDENTS."

2d. If such lands be a part of a village, patent, purchase, reserve, township, or other large tract, the name (and number thereof, if numbered) must be set down on the roll, above the list of lots therein; the name of the larger division first, followed by the smaller divisions thereof in their proper order.

3d. If such village, patent, purchase, reserve, township, or other large tract, or any smaller division thereof, is subdivided into numbered lots, sections or sub's, the land in each of the smallest subdivisions thereof which are numbered, must be separately assessed (unless buildings are so located thereon that it is not divisible, in which case the fact should be stated), and the lot numbers must be set down in the proper column, in numerical order, without the name of the owner. Where whole sub's or lots are assessed, all descriptions and boundaries thereof should be omitted.

4th. Where the land assessed is not the whole of a named tract, or of a numbered sub. or lot, the part assessed must be described by giving the exact location and dimensions, a survey, or the complete boundaries thereof. Where boundaries are given, and the land joins the tract, sub. or lot line, it must be bounded thereby; in other cases, by giving the name of the owner or occupant of the adjoining property, or by other definite lines. Where a survey is given, the boundary and point of termination of each line must be stated. The description should commence on a line with and following the sub. or lot number, and should terminate on the line with and preceding the number of acres.

5th. Where the land assessed is "not on any map, nor in any village or named tract," or the "name of tract is