of taken under the provisions of this Act to be filed with and acted upon by said Board shall be guilty of the crime of perjury and punished therefor as in other cases of perjury under existing law in this State. Evidence SEC. 9. Be it further enacted, That said Board shall carefully consider all the evidence before it and determine every question submitted to it upon record kept. its merits and shall enter or cause to be entered in a book prepared for the purpose a record of its action in the equalization of properties, showing corrections and changes in assessments, increases or decreases in the values of properties by percentage or otherwise, and either by classifications, wards, districts, or counties, and proper and necessary certificates of the same shall promptly be made out and certified to the clerks of the County Courts of the counties affected thereby, who shall make proper and correct entries of the same upon the tax books of their respective counties before same are delivered to County Trustees. of. SEC. 10. Be it further enacted, That said State State BoardBoard of Equalization shall have jurisdiction of, jurisdiction and it shall be its duty to equalize at said sessions, the assessments of all properties in this State, including merchants' taxes, except such as are now or may hereafter be required by law to be assessed in the first instance by the Railroad Commission. The Governor, Secretary of State and Treasurer shall continue to exercise the power of equalizing assessments upon properties originally assessed by the Railroad Commission, under existing law or under any future law conferring upon said Railroad Commission the power to make the initial assessment. The action of said Railroad Commission, acting as a State Board of Equalization, shall be final and conclusive as to all matters passed upon by said Board, as such, and taxes shall be collected upon the valuation found and fixed by said Board, except as to properties whose initial assessment is made by said Railroad Commission. peal. SEC. 11. Be it further enacted, That said State Board of Equalization shall also hear appeals upon matters of back assessments or reassessments made by Revenue Agents or others from County Trustees Right of ap- or County Court Clerks. The right of appeal from the decision of said Trustees or County Court Clerks in the matter of back assessments or reassessments is hereby given to the State, to the county, and to the party assessed or reassessed; provided, said appeal is prayed within ten days from the date of the decision by such Trustee or County Court Clerk upon the application to back assess or reassess. It shall be the duty of the Trustee or County Court Clerk to hear and promptly determine all complaints or attempts to back assess or reassess property coming within his jurisdiction, and his wilful failure to decide such issue and enter his decision in writing shall constitute ground for his removal from office, when such appeal is perfected said Trustee or County Court Clerk shall immediately certify his action to said State Board of Equalization, whose duty it shall be to hear the matter in controversy within ten days from the filing of the notice of appeal, or as soon thereafter as practicable. All testimony in such cases shall be taken or filed before the Trustee or County Court Clerk and shall be sent up with the record to said State Board of Equalization for final action thereon on the record as thus made up. The action of said State Board thereon shall be final and conclusive. SEC. 12. Be it further enacted, That when said Board shall have finished the equalization of properties as hereinbefore provided, it shall append to the record of its action an official certificate signed Equalization by its members, or majority thereof, that the values certificate of. of assessments equalized by it have been equalized, fixed, and computed in conformity with the standard prescribed by this Act. Final action must be taken and certified by the Board not later than October 1, for the current year, and taxes shall become due on December 1. It shall be the duty of said Board to prepare and transmit to the General Assembly on the first day of its biennial session a report of its work, together with such recommendations as it may deem best for the interest of the State. duty, report SEC. 13. Be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Chief Tax Statistician to certify in writing any violation of duty or failure or refusal on the part of any assessor or deputy assessor, member of the County Board of Equalization, Judge or Chairman of the County Court, Clerk of the County Violation, Court, or other official, to the State Comptroller, of. whose duty it shall be, in case such conduct is punishable with a penalty, to direct the District AttorneyGeneral or Revenue Agent to institute proceedings to recover any penalty prescribed by law, or to prosecute the offender for any violation of the criminal laws of the State, the District Attorney in such cases being authorized and directed to prosecute ex-officio. Said Chief Tax Statistician shall certify in writing to the Comptroller for the benefit of the proper Revenue Agents all evidence of any properties escaping taxation, with name of owner and location of property to be investigated and proceeded with as required by law. SEC. 14. Be it further enacted, That all necessary State Board and proper expenses incurred in the performance of expenses of. the duties imposed under this Act shall be paid out of the State Treasury upon the certificate of the Chairman of the State Board of Equalization, after approval by said Board. Such expense account shall be presented to the State Comptroller monthly, and when approved by him shall be payable upon his warrant. The salary of the Chief Tax Statistician and assistants employed under this Act shall be payable monthly. 1919-1920, SEC. 15. Be it further enacted, That the various County Courts of this State and those municipalities only which adopt the valuation of property fixed by the State, shall not fix the rates of taxation in Tax rate of their respective counties and municipalities for the how axed. years 1919 and 1920 until after the State Board of Equalization shall have finally certified its assessment upon the equalization of all property through out the State to the various County Court Clerks, in conformity to this Act for said years. It shall be their duty to convene as required by statute as soon as practicable after the State Board of Equalization shall have equalized the values of property as here inbefore directed, and certified the same to the Clerk of the County Court of their county. It is hereby made the imperative duty of each County Court and municipality of this State which adopts the said valuation as soon as practicable after the certification to the County Court Clerk by the State Board of Equalization of the assessments of the county, to convene and fix the rates of taxes for all county and municipal purposes, basing same upon the assessments certified to the County Court Clerk After the year 1920 and beginning with the year 1921 it shall be the duty of the various County Courts of this State, on the first Monday in July or as soon thereafter as practicable, to fix the tax rates on all properties within their respective jurisdic tions for all county purposes. SEC. 16. Be it further enacted, That it is hereby declared to be the legislative intent that this Act be liberally construed in favor of the jurisdiction and the powers conferred upon the Railroad Commission of the State of Tennessee as a State Board of Equalization and that it shall have and exercise all such incidental powers as may be necessary to carry out and effectuate the objects and purposes of this Act to equalize the assessments of all properties subject to taxation under the direct property tax laws of this State. SEC. 17. Be it further enacted, That all laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act be and the same are hereby repealed, and that all duties and powers hereby conferred upon the Railroad Commission of the State of Tennessee as a State Board of Equali zation shall be exclusive and not concurrent; and that this Act take effect from and after its passage, the public welfare requiring it. AN ACT to provide rates of taxation upon property in the how fixed. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the taxes on every One Hundred Dollars worth property shall be sixtyfive cents for the year 1919, and for every subsequent year thereafter, thirty-five cents of which shall be for State purposes, fifteen cents for school pur-Tax rateposes to remain in the county where collected, ten cents for State Highways, and five cents for the fund for the development and maintenance of the University of Tennessee, hereinafter called the University Fund; provided, however, that if the total assessment of all property in the State of Tennessee subject to a direct property tax, excluding merchants' capital, shall in any year be Nine Hundred Million Dollars and less than Ten Hundred Million Dollars, Nine hundred the tax rate for the State shall be thirty-one and onehalf cents; for school, thirteen and one-half cents, for highways, nine cents, and for University Fund four and one-half cents; if the total assessment shall Ten hundred be Ten Hundred Million Dollars and less than Eleven million. Hundred Million Dollars the tax rate for State purposes shall be twenty-eight cents, twelve cents for million. |