CHAPTER 26.
OF THE LEVY COURT
AN ACT in relation to the Levy Court of New Castle County.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of The State of Delaware in General Assembly met:
SECTION I. That from and after the first Tuesday in January, A. D. 1893, the terms and powers of office of the Levy Court Commissioners, now composing the Levy Court of New Castle county, shall be and the same are hereby declared to be terminated and ended, and all trustees of the poor, constables, and all other officers and agents, except the county treasurer, and collectors of taxes, heretofore appointed or elected by the said Levy Court, whose terms of office have not yet expired, and those who may hereafter be officers to be appointed or elected prior to the said first Tuesday in January, A. D. 1893, shall continue to hold, exercise and enjoy their said offices until their terms shall respectively expire, as now provided by law.
SECTION 2. That the terms and powers of office of the powers of office of the county treasurer and collectors of taxes, who have been appointed or elected by the Levy Court of New Castle County since the first day of February, 1891, be and the same are hereby terminated and ended, and the said offices as now fixed by law, are hereby abolished. And from and after the passage of this al the said offices of county treasurer and collectors of taxes of New Castle County as now fixed by law, are hereby declared to be abolished.
SECTION 3. That the county of New Castle shall, for the County divided into purposes of this act, be and the same is hereby divided into five districts, to wit: One shall be composed of the hundreds of Brandywine, Christiana and Mill Creek, and shall be known as the First District; another shall be composed of all that portion of the city of Wilmington lying south of Sixth street, and shall be known as the Second District; another shall be composed of all that part of the city of Wilmington lying south of Sixth street, and shall be known as the Third District; another shall be composed of the hundreds of Red Lion, New Castle, Pencader and White Clay Creek, and shall be known as the Fourth District; the remaining district shall be composed of the hundreds of St. Georges, Appoquinimink and Blackbird, and shall be known as the Fifth District.
SECTION 4. That at the general election to be held in the year 1892, and at the general election to be held in fourth year thereafter, there shall be elected from among the resident freeholders of each of said districts, by the qualified voters thereof, one person to be a Levy Court Commissioner of New Castle county, to hold office for the term of four years, commencing on the first Tuesday in the month of
January next following such election.
The said Levy Court Commissioners, so to be elected shall thereafter constitute the Levy Court of New Castle County, and shall meet for organization on the first Tuesday in January after their election, after taking the oath now provided by law for Levy Court Commissioners to take, shall proceed to elect one of their number to be the presiding officer. Three of said Levy Court Commissioners shall be sufficient for the purpose of organization and shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The said Levy Court Commissioners shall have the power to make rules for their government not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of the State of Delaware, and after their said first meeting they shall meet at the times now prescribed by law for the meetings of the Levy Court of New Castle County.
In the case of death, resignation or removal from the district of any commissioner elected under this act, it shall be the duty of the Governor to appoint some suitable person to fill such unexpired term, having the qualifications hereinbefore required in that behalf. The Levy Court Commissioners to be elected under this act, shall have as full and complete jurisdiction over all and every the matters and things now vested by law in the Levy Court of New Castle County as at present constituted, and in the several members thereof, and shall exercise every power, privilege, right and duty which now belongs to the said Levy Court of New Castle county as fully and completely as the said Levy Court now by law is authorized to do, except as the same are or may be modified by the provisions of this act.
Should any two or more persons voted for as Levy Court Commissioners of any district receive an equal and the highest number of votes cast at such election, the board of canvass shall certify the fact to the Governor, who shall forthwith select one of said persons to be the Levy Court Commissioner from said district. The Levy Court Commissioners to be elected under this act, shall be paid as compensation for their services the yearly sum of eight hundred dollars, in quarterly installments of two hundred dollars each, by warrants duly drawn upon the County Treasurer.
SECTION 5. That it shall be the duty of the present Levy Court of New Castle County and of every commissioner thereof, and of every other person having possession or control of any records, books, papers or other property relating to the business of the Levy Court of the said county, on or before the first Tuesday in January, 1893, to surrender and deposit the same with the Clerk of the Peace of the said county, who shall keep the same subject to the control of the Levy Court Commissioners to be elected under this act. And in case the said Levy Court or any commissioner thereof, or any other person having possession as aforesaid, shall neglect or refuse on demand of the said Levy Court refusal to deliver up and surrender any of such records, books, papers, or other property each and every person so neglecting or refusing as aforesaid, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall forfeit and pay a fine of five hundred dollars and be imprisoned for the term of one year or until the said records, books, papers and other property shall be delivered into the custody of the said Levy Court Commissioners, to be elected under this act.
SECTION 6. That the Governor shall, within ten days after the passage of this act, appoint a competent person who shall be a resident freeholder in New Castle County to be Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer, which said office is hereby created. The person so appointed shall hold office from the date of his appointment until and including the Monday next preceding the first Tuesday in the month of January, A. D. 1893, or until his successor is duly qualified. That at the general election in the year A.D. 1892, and at the general election in each and every fourth year thereafter, there shall be voted for and elected by the voters of New Castle county qualified to vote for members of the General Assembly, a person, being a resident freeholder as aforesaid, to fill the said office of Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer. The person so elected, as aforesaid, shall hold office for the term of four years, commencing on the first Tuesday in January next succeeding his election, or until his successor shall be duly qualified. Any Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer appointed or elected under the provisions of this act shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, give bond to the State of Delaware with one or more sureties to be approved by the Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the State of Delaware, resident in New Castle county, in the sum of fifty thousand dollars, conditioned for the faithful performance of the duties of the said office, and said bond shall have attached thereto a warrant for the confession of judgment thereon. Said bond and warrant shall be forthwith transmitted by the said judge to the Clerk of the Peace of New Castle County, to be by him recorded and safely kept. It shall be the duty of Duty of the Clerk of the Peace, whenever in his judgment the public interest demands, or whenever the Comptroller or the Levy Court Commissioners, or a majority of them, shall so request, to cause judgment to be entered on said bond in the Superior Court in and for New Castle county. In case of death, resignation, or refusal to act, or inability to give bond as aforesaid, of any person so appointed Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer as aforesaid, or whenever a vacancy shall occur in said office through any cause, the Governor shall appoint a competent person to act as Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer during the residue of the term in which said vacancy shall happen, and such person so appointed shall be subject to all the provisions of law respecting said office. Every person who shall be appointed or elected to said office of Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, take and subscribe before the said Associate Judge an oath or affirmation that he will support the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of Delaware, and that he will perform the duties of the office of Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer with fidelity.
SECTION 7. That it shall, be the duty of the Levy Court Commissioners to have prepared from the assessment lists for the year 1891, and as shall be settled thereafter in succeeding years, duplicates of the taxes of each hundred, for the use of, the said Receiver of Taxes, on or before the first day of July in every year, and shall fix the rate of county and poor taxes, and issue their warrant to the said Receiver for the same. The said Receiver of Taxes shall have prepared for each of hundred a book of blank receipts, numbered serially, which have prepared a book receipts when delivered upon payment of taxes shall show the amount of the assessment, distinguishing real, personal, and poll assessments, and showing the rates of county, poor and road taxes, and the discount, or additional percentage, as the case may be, on the payments; each receipt shall have a corresponding stub, which shall be retained in said book.
The said Receiver of Taxes shall have his office in Wilmington, and shall also in pursuance of public notice thereof attend not less than twice, either in person or by deputy, in each of the months of August, September and October, at the voting place in each hundred exclusive of Wilmington, for the receipt of taxes due in such hundred, or any adjoining hundred; in case a hundred has been, or may be divided into two or more election districts, the receiver shall attend at the original voting place of the hundred. At his office in Wilmington, he shall receive taxes assessed in any hundred of the county. He shall give notice in two newspapers published in the city of Wilmington of the times and places, when and where he will receive taxes in the hundreds exclusive of Wilmington. It shall be his duty to attend, either in person or by deputy, at his office in Wilmington, every day, except Sundays and legal holidays, and except the days he may be attending in other hundreds in New Castle county, for the receipt of taxes as hereinbefore provided. His office hours in Wilmington shall be from two till five, and from seven till eight P. M., and in the hundreds exclusive of Wilmington, he shall attend at least five hours on every day so appointed.
In case the Receiver of Taxes shall fail to attend either in person or by deputy, at his office in Wilmington, at the times herein appointed for his attendance in Wilmington, or in the hundreds in New Castle county, exclusive of Wilmington, at the times to be appointed by him, for his attendance in such hundreds, he shall, unless such failure to attend be shown to be unavoidable and not owing to negligence, forfeit and pay to any person who may have called at such time, for the purpose of paying his tax and did not find the said Receiver or his deputy in attendance to receive the same, the sum of ten dollars, to be recovered before any justice of the peace in New Castle county.
SECTION 8. That on all taxes paid before the first day of September there shall be an abatement of five per cent.; on all paid before the first day of November there shall be an abatement of three per cent. On all taxes unpaid on the first day of December, five per cent thereof shall be added thereto, and if unpaid on the first day of January next ensuing, the said duplicates with the taxes that have been paid, distinctly marked thereon, shall then be placed in the hands of Collectors of Delinquent Taxes, who shall be appointed by the first day the Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer hereinbefore provided for, and who shall have all the powers now conferred by law upon the collectors of county taxes.
Such Collectors shall give bond in double the amount of taxes placed in their hands for collection: such bonds shall be in form and with such sureties as the said Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer shall prescribe and approve. Each collector shall be furnished with such a receipt book as is required by Section 7 of this act. The delinquent taxes of more than one hundred may, in the discretion of said Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer, be placed in the hands of one collector. Every such collector shall, between the first and second Tuesdays of March in every year, give and publish in a newspaper printed in a hundred of which he is collector, or in an adjoining hundred, or in case there be none such, then in a newspaper published in the city of hundred Wilmington, ten days' notice that he will attend at convenient times and places stating the same, to receive such taxes; and be shall also give the same notice by handbills posted in at least ten of the most public places in each hundred of which he is collector; such notice, and the notices hereinbefore required to be given by the said Receiver of Taxes, shall be deemed and taken to be a sufficient demand under existing law in relation to the collection of taxes in this State. All taxes remaining unpaid on the first day of May shall be extinguished, except taxes on real estate or other property, and against persons assessed therewith, and as to such the authority of the collector shall continue until the first day of September or until such further time as the said Receiver of Taxes shall determine. Such collectors shall make payments twice in every month to the County Treasurer and take duplicate receipts for the same, one of which receipts shall be filed with the Levy Court Commissioners. Collectors shall be allowed ten per cent commission on every tax so collected by him against a taxable, where such tax exceeds five dollars, and twenty per cent, on every tax so collected by him against a taxable where the same is five dollars or less. Whenever a person holding the office of county constable shall be appointed collector of delinquent taxes, he shall be obliged to qualify as such collector, and perform the duties of said office of collector of delinquent taxes, under the penalty of forfeiting his office of constable.
SECTION 9. That on the first day of January in every year the said Receiver of Taxes shall deliver to the Comptroller hereinafter mentioned, the receipt books mentioned in Section 7 aforesaid, with the blank receipts and all the stubs; and on the first day of May, 1892, and yearly thereafter, the collectors aforesaid shall deliver to the said Comptroller the receipt books heretofore issued to them with the remaining blank receipts and all stubs. The said Comptroller shall examine and preserve all the said books. For the taxes not extinguished, as aforesaid, on the first day of May other similar receipt books shall be furnished the collectors.
SECTION 10. That upon the personal application of any taxable whose tax has been paid, a duplicate receipt shall be given for his or her taxes upon its being shown that the stamped receipt for such taxes has been lost, mislaid or destroyed, or in the possession of some person unknown to the applicant, or if known, who refuses to deliver the same; such receipt and its corresponding stub shall be plainly stamped with the word "duplicate."
SECTION 11. That if any receiver of taxes or collector, as aforesaid, shall give a receipt for an extinguished tax, or fraudulently antedate or postdate any tax receipt, or use any other fraud in giving the same, lie shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be fined one hundred dollars, and further shall forfeit and pay one hundred dollars to any person who will sue therefor.
SECTION 12. That the Trustees of the Poor shall on or before the first day of June, A. D. 1891, and on or before the first Tuesday of March, in every year thereafter, certify to the Levy Court Commissioners the sum necessary for the maintenance of the almshouse; which sum, if approved by the said commissioners, shall be obtained by a rate laid for that purpose, otherwise said commissioners shall themselves fix a rate.
The Comptroller hereinafter mentioned shall audit the comptroller accounts of said Trustees of the Poor at least once in every three months.
SECTION 13. That the Road Commissioners of the several hundreds shall, on or before the first day of June, 1891, and yearly thereafter, certify to the said Receiver of Taxes the rate per centum on the assessment lists of their respective hundreds necessary for the maintenance of the roads, and issue their warrants to the said Receiver of Taxes to collect the same. Any orders issued by road commissioners for the payment of labor on, or for the material furnished for the roads shall be accepted by the Receiver of Taxes in payment of road taxes. He shall keep an account with the road commissioners of each hundred, and his official bond shall apply to all his transactions with them. The provisions of Section 8, aforesaid, relating to delinquent taxes, shall apply to road taxes. The accounts between the said Receiver of Taxes and said Road Commissioners shall be audited by the Comptroller hereinafter mentioned at such times and places designated by him, not less than three times each year.
SECTION 14. That all funds in the hands of the present County Treasurer and Treasurer of the Poor shall be transferred to the County Treasurer appointed under this act within five days after he shall have been appointed and shall have qualified, and all balances of taxes as settled and determined by the present Levy Court, as due from the County Collectors shall be paid to the said last mentioned County Treasurer within twenty days after his appointment. Upon default in such transfers or payments the said Levy Court shall have full power and authority to proceed on the official bonds of such treasurers and collectors; and in case of full payment aforesaid as certified by the Comptroller, the said Levy Court or their attorney, shall have authority to and shall satisfy the said official bonds.
SECTION 15. That all moneys received as aforesaid and all moneys received from other sources, and all taxes received, shall be deposited by the County Treasurer in the Farmers Bank either at Wilmington, or New Castle, to his credit as County Treasurer; the deposits of taxes and all other moneys that come into his hands, as County Treasurer, shall be made within three days after his receiving the same.
SECTION 16. That the Governor shall, within ten after the passage of this act, appoint a competent person, who shall be a resident freeholder in New Castle County, to the office of County Comptroller, which said office is hereby created. The person so appointed shall hold office from the date of his appointment until and including the Monday next preceding the first Tuesday in the month of January, A. D. 1893, or until his successor be duly qualified. That Comptroller at the general election in the year A.D. 1892 and at the general election in each and every fourth year thereafter, there shall be voted for and elected by the voters of New Castle county, qualified to vote for members of the General Assembly, a person, being a resident freeholder as aforesaid, to fill the office of County Comptroller. The person so elected as aforesaid, shall hold office for the term of four years, commencing on the first Tuesday in January next succeeding his election, or until his successor shall be duly qualified. Any Comptroller appointed or elected under the provisions of this act shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, give bond to the State of Delaware with one or more sureties, to be approved by the Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the State of Delaware resident in New Castle County, in the sum of ten thousand dollars, conditioned for the faithful performance of the duties of the said office, and such bond shall have attached thereto a warrant for the confession of judgment thereon. Such bond and warrant shall be forthwith transmitted by said Judge to the Clerk of the Peace of New Castle County, to be by him recorded and safely kept. It shall be the duty of said Clerk of the Peace whenever, in his judgment the public interest demands, or whenever the County Treasurer or the Levy Court Commissioners, or a majority of them shall so request, to cause judgment to be entered on said bond in the Superior Court in and for New Castle Governor to county. In case of the death, resignation, or refusal to act, or inability to give bond, as aforesaid, of any person appointed Comptroller as aforesaid, or whenever a vacancy shall occur in said office from any cause, the Governor shall appoint a competent person to act as County Comptroller during the residue of the term in which such vacancy shall happen, and such person so appointed shall be subject to all other moneys that may come into his hands, as County Treasurer, shall be made within three days after his receiving the provisions of law respecting said office. Every person who shall be appointed or elected to the office of County Comptroller shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, take and subscribe an oath or affirmation that he will support the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of Delaware, and that he will perform the duties of his office with fidelity.
SECTION 17. That it shall be the duty of the County Comptroller to audit all the accounts of the said Levy Court Commissioners and countersign all warrants drawn by order of said Commissioners for the payment of money. No money shall be paid out of the Treasury for county purposes except on warrants drawn by order of the Levy Court Commissioners signed by the President of the Levy Court and countersigned by the Comptroller, as provided hereafter in this section; provided, however, that interest coupons on the bonded debt of the county, and orders drawn by the Clerk of the Peace and the Prothonotary for fees of witnesses and jurors, shall be paid on presentation; and provided further, that orders drawn by the Clerk of the Peace concerning the laying out of roads shall be countersigned by the Comptroller before payment. After the adjournment of the Court of General Sessions of the Peace and the Superior Court, the Comptroller shall verify the accounts of the Clerk of the Peace and Prothonotary touching witness and Orders for juror fees. All orders for the use of the Trustees of the Poor shall be drawn by their chairman and countersigned by the Comptroller. He shall also, at least once in every month inspect the books and accounts of the Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer and audit the same and report the result of such audit to the Levy Court Commissioners. Such audits shall be made at the office of said Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer. He shall also at least once in every month, inspect all books and accounts of the Collectors of Delinquent Taxes and audit the same and report the result thereof to the said Levy Court Commissioners. It shall be the duty of said colle6tors to present themselves to the Comptroller, at his office, with all their books and accounts for his inspection, at such time in each month as said Comptroller may designate. He shall also keep a book or books of accounts, in which shall be entered all items of expenditure; all warrants drawn; to whom made payable, and for what particular work or other cause; all written contracts made by said Levy Court Commissioners shall be deposited in his custody, and he shall enter all such contracts upon his books. And it shall be the duty of said Comptroller before countersigning any warrant, to inquire into and carefully investigate the transaction in relation to which any such warrant shall have been drawn; and to this end he shall have power to issue summons and compel the attendance of witnesses; and the production of books and papers pertinent to the said transaction; to administer oaths and affirmations; and ascertain the truth of the transactions so to be inquired into.
All bills shall, before allowance by said Levy Court Commissioners, be audited and marked "correct" by the said Comptroller, and no bill shall be passed by the said Levy Court Commissioners without such endorsement. In case the Comptroller shall refuse to allow any item of expenditure, or to countersign any warrant, or to endorse any bill, as aforesaid, he shall forthwith transmit to the Levy Court Commissioners his reasons therefor in writing, which shall thereupon be duly considered, and if this action shall be overruled by a vote of a majority of the Levy Court Commissioners, it shall be the duty of the said Comptroller to allow the expenditure or countersign the warrant or endorse the bill, in conformity with the judgment of the said Commissioners expressed as aforesaid, in which case he shall be exonerated from any responsibility in the premises. The Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer shall not disburse any moneys upon warrants drawn by order of said Levy Court Commissioners except such warrants shall have been duly signed by the President of the Levy Court, and countersigned by the Comptroller.
SECTION 18. That for all work and labor hereafter required to be done, and all merchandise, tools, implements and machinery to be furnished or had and used by or for account of the county, where the cost in any particular when, case will probably exceed the sum of five hundred dollars, the Levy Court Commissioners shall publicly invite sealed proposals for the doing of such work, and the furnishing of bidder, such merchandise, tools, implements, and machinery, and give the contract to the lowest bidder or bidders; provided that the said commissioners may require of such bidder or bidders security for the faithful performance of such contract.
SECTION 19. That the rooms in the County Courthouse now occupied by the Levy Court, shall, on and after the first Tuesday in January, A. D. 1893, be for the use of the Levy Court Commissioners to be elected under this act, and the rooms now occupied by the present County Treasurer shall be for the use of the County Comptroller and Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer, provided for by this act, from and after the date of their appointment. The Levy Court Commissioners shall provide for the County Comptroller, Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer the necessary records, books, cases, stationery and seals for the use of their respective offices. And it shall also be the duty of the said Levy Court Commissioners to furnish the said Receiver of Taxes and the Collectors of Delinquent Taxes, with new seals of a design to be adopted by the said Levy Court Commissioners, and such seals shall be delivered unto the said Receiver of Taxes on or before the twenty-fifth day of June, A. D. 1891.
SECTION 20. Any County Comptroller appointed or elected under the provisions of this act may be removed from office by the Superior Court of the State of Delaware, in and for New Castle County, after trial and conviction upon charges of willful neglect or malfeasance in office.
Any vacancy occasioned by removal from office of any County Comptroller under the provisions of this section shall be filled by appointment of the Governor for the residue of the unexpired term.
The annual salary of the Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer shall be four thousand dollars, and the annual salary of the County Comptroller shall be two thousand dollars, and the said salaries shall be paid quarterly.
SECTION 21. That the said Levy Court Commissioners shall have authority to employ legal counsel. Whenever the County Comptroller shall need clerical assistance in the clerical performance of the duties of his office, he shall apply to the Levy Court Commissioners, and if they deem it necessary they may authorize such employment.
SECTION 22. That in the month of December in each associate year it shall be the duty of the Associate Judge of the Superior Court, resident in the County of New Castle, to appoint a committee of three freeholders of New Castle county, who shall inspect the books and accounts of the County Comptroller and Receiver of Taxes and County Treasurer and make report under oath, to the said Judge, who shall cause the same to be published once each week for three weeks in two of the daily newspapers of the city of Wilmington at the expense of the county, and the said committee shall receive as compensation for their services the sum of five dollars for each day in which they shall be actually engaged in such duty.
The County Comptroller and the Receiver of Taxes and Receiver and County Treasurer shall, during the said month, make a general statement, showing the receipts, disbursements and appropriations, together with the bonded indebtedness of New Castle county, which statement shall be verified by their respective affidavits, and shall be published in two of the daily newspapers of the city of Wilmington.
SECTION 23. That from and after the passage of this act, it shall be the duty of the several constables in the county of New Castle, to do and perform the several matters and things required by Chapter 18, Vol. 15, Delaware Laws, to be done and performed by the collectors of taxes, in relation to licenses.
SECTION 24. That nothing in this act shall be construed so as to vacate, annul or invalidate any official bond heretofore given by any officer whose term of office is herein vacated and ended, either as to the principal or any surety therein, but the same shall have full force and effect and may be proceeded upon by the Levy Court Commissioners for any violations of the conditions thereof until all the accounts of said officer, and all the business of his said office shall be finally and satisfactorily settled with the proper officers as is designated under the provisions of this act.
SECTION 25. That all laws or parts of laws inconsistent with or supplied by this act are hereby repealed.
Passed at Dover, April 28, 1891.