Sterling v. McMaster

Citations

• 82 Md. 164
• 33 A. 461
• 1895 Md. LEXIS 109

Syllabus

<p>Collection of Taxes — Local Statute.</p> <p>Under the Act of 1894, chap. 578, the Treasurer of Somerset County is required, as soon as practicable after January 1, to deliver to each delinquent tax-payer in that county an account of his assessment with a warning that if not paid within sixty days it will be collected by process of law. The Act also provides that all tax bills unpaid on April 1, after such notice, shall be placed by the treasurer in the hands of the sheriff for collection. The sheriff filed a petition stating that on April 1 a large number of tax bills were unpaid and that the treasurer had refused and neglected to place them in petitioner’s hands for collection. The petition asked for'a mandamus to compel the performance of this duty. Held,</p> <p>1st. That the statute contemplated a personal delivery of the notices to the delinquent tax-payers. If there should be delay in giving the notices so that the sixty days would not expire before April 1, the law would not on that account be defeated, but the taxes could be collected afterwards.</p> <p>2nd. That the sheriff could not demand the delivery of the tax bills without showing that the sixty days after the delivery of the notices had expired when the petition was filed.</p>