Show THE TAX MATTER PERRY DISAGREES VITH THE ATTORNEY GENERAL H J Ord of Nephi Identifies Property Prop-erty Stolen From His Store Winslow Ferrin Injured Hews Notes The opinion of the attorney general as published in The Herald of yesterday was the subject of much comment amongst those having to do with I county and cCty finances In the treasurers treas-urers office the opinion was much discussed dis-cussed iecrally that portion of it which would give to the state all those moneys which had they been collected before beccning delinquent would have gone to the city schools etc The soundness of the opinion was questioned and inquiries made of the county attorney so pereastently that Mr Peery finally submitted his views as follows The Interpretation by the attorney general of section 149 of the revenue laws Drives the state the lions share of money received on redemptions a share in my opinion that it is not entitled en-titled to The decision declares that the I whole original tax including state county county school city city school sinking fund and Interest and special taxes and 20 per cent of the costs and Interest paid in redemptions must be divided between the state and the county in the same proportion that the state levy bears to the county for general gen-eral purposes only levy In other words the state Is entitled to in the case of Salt Lake county about one fifth of the original tax if the tax Is paid but if the property is sold when redeemed the state DEMANDS SOMETHING OVER HALF THE ORIGINAL TAX In consideration of these facts and this decision a few questions will be I nfirtinent i Is it not probable that the words state tax and county tax comprehend 1 all the taxes assessed and that instead in-stead of dividing the original tax and 20 per cent of the costs and Interest I paid In redemptions between the state I and county in the same proportion as the state levy for general purposes bears to the county levy for general purposes the law contemplates that the state tax embraces the state school levy and the county tax embraces the county levy city levy school levy etc Is it not equitable and just that the city city schools and county schools should be entitled to their share of tax whether paid before becoming delinquent delin-quent or paid when the property is redeemed re-deemed The law has been Iner preted to mean that the county shall collect and settle taxes for the state city schools etc and settle accordingly accord-ingly In view of this fact is it net just that the county Should at least get the full amount of its original taxIs tax-Is it not contemplated that the state shall receive its pro rata of but 20 percent per-cent of the costs and Interest and give the rest to the county In consideration of the county doing the required work Under this decision the state takes from the county city and schools about twofifths of the whole original tax Must the county city schools etc thus suffer simply because the ptdple are too poor to pay their Taxes and allow them to become delinquent A fair interpretation of the section and certainly a legal one would be as follows The law says The original tax and 20 per cent of the costs and interest paid in redemption must be apportioned between the state and county in the same proportion that the state tax bears to the county tax It does not say the money shall be divided di-vided between the state and county in the same proportion as the state levy for general purposes bears to the county levy for general purposes but says In the same proportion that the state tax bears to the county tax Therefore by county tax is meant not the county levy for general purposes but all taxes collected by the county collector So in my opinion the law means that In Salt Lake county the state wquld get fivetwentysixths of the original tax and fivetwentysixths of 20 per cent of the costs and interest inter-est paid in redemptions and the county coun-ty would get the rest Out of the countys share comes the various amounts due the city city schools county schools etc That would toe a fair and equitable division and such is the language and meaning of the law |