receiving and receipting for taxes on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of each week, during the last two weeks of said sixty days, between the hours of two o'clock and six o'clock in the afternoon, at his residence, or some other place in the proper township or borough, to be designated by him in the notice aforesaid.80. Compensation of collectors and duties as to settlement. 447. The collector of taxes shall collect the taxes charged in said duplicates and pay over the same to the respective treasurers or authorities entitled thereto, after deducting his commission for the collection thereof, which is hereby fixed at two per centum on all taxes paid to him on which an abatement of five per centum is allowed, and at five per centum on all taxes afterwards collected: Provided, That where the total amount of taxes charged on a duplicate is less than one thousand dollars, the said collectors shall receive three per centum on all taxes paid to him on which an abatement of five per centum is allowed: Provided further, That all taxes collected within sixty days as provided in Section eight of this act, shall be paid over as aforesaid within fifteen days after the expiration of said sixty days, and all taxes thereafter collected during his term of office, shall be paid over as aforesaid at regular intervals of one mouth, and a full and complete settlement of all taxes collected shall be made by said tax collector with the respective treasurers or authorities entitled thereto, not later than three months after the expiration of his term of office.81 Exonerations. 448. Exonerations may be made by the authorities and in the same manner as heretofore. 82 Exonerations provided for by Act May 8, 1854, Sec. 31, P. L. 617. Collector of tax to make monthly statement as to the same, and to make monthly payments of taxes collected to the treasurer. 449. Each and every collector of school taxes in the several boroughs and townships of this Commonwealth shall 80. Act June 25, 1885, Sec. 8, P. L. 187. hereafter, on or before the tenth day of each and every month, after receiving the duplicate containing a statement of the school tax to be collected by him, deliver to the secretary of the board of school directors, from whom he has received such duplicate, a statement in writing, signed by him, showing the names of all the persons from whom he has collected any school taxes upon his duplicates, to and including the last day of the preceding month, the amount collected from each, and the date of such collection, and also the amount of the uncollected school taxes upon the said duplicate, and shall at the same time, if required by the secretary or any member of the school board, exhibit the duplicate, showing the said uncollected taxes, for examination; and the said tax collector shall pay oyer, on or before the said tenth day of each and every month during his term of office, to the treasurer of the school district, all taxes so collected by him during the preceding month, less the commission or fees to which he is by law entitled for the collection of the same.83 Board of school directors and collectors shall meet together annually. 450. Board of directors and collectors of taxes to meet (on the first Monday of February of each year to ascertain the amount of unpaid taxes-and the collector must pay over the whole amount of balance on or before the first Monday of June thereafter). It shall be the duty of the board of school directors and the collector of the school taxes, in each of the boroughs and townships of this Commonwealth, to meet together, at the usual meeting place of the said school board, on the first Monday of February of each and every year, and examine the duplicate of the school taxes, which the said collector is hereby required to produce and exhibit to the said board of school directors, and ascertain the amount of the taxes then uncollected; and it shall be the duty of every such collector, on or before the first Monday of June thereafter, to collect, and pay to the treasurer of the proper school dis 83. Act April 21, 1903, Sec. 1, P. L. 229. trict, the whole amount of the balance of the taxes charged and assessed in the said duplicate, excepting such sums from which the said school directors, in their discretion, may exonerate him.84 Directors liable if they make an unlawful settlement. 451. If school directors make an unlawful settlement with a tax collector, the directors will, themselves, be liable personally to the district for the loss.85 Failure to pay taxes collected, to make monthly statements or to exhibit duplicate a misdemeanor. 452. Any tax collector who shall fail to pay over to the treasurer of the proper district the taxes collected by him, according to the provisions of this act, or who shall fail to make and deliver to the secretary of the board of school directors any of the statements in writing required by this act, or who shall fail to produce and exhibit the duplicate of the school taxes to the secretary of the board of school directors or at a meeting of the board of school directors, as required by the provisions of this act, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars.86 Collector to pay taxes collected to officer legally entitled. 453 Tax collectors cannot, by mandamus, be compelled to pay taxes collected by them to any body other than the officer legally entitled to receive them. It is no part of a tax collector's duty to pay orders on the township treasurer.87 Misappropriation of tax funds embezzlement. 454. If any person charged with the collection, safe keeping, or transfer of any state, county, township, school, city, borough or municipal taxes, under any law or laws of this Commonwealth, shall convert or appropriate the moneys so collected, or any part thereof, to his own use in any way whatever, or shall use by way of investment in any kind of 84. Act April 21, 1903. Sec. 2, P. L. 229. 85. Mason vs. Caffrey et al., 9 Kulp 414, 1899. 86. Act April 21, 1903, Sec. 3, P. L. 229. 87. Hoover vs. Reap, 10 Kulp 59, 1899. property or merchandise any portion of the money so collected by him from such tax or taxes, and shall prove a defaulter or fail to pay over the same or any part thereof at the time or times, place or places, required by law and to the person or persons legally authorized to demand and receive the same, every such act shall be deemed and adjudged to be an embezzlement of so much of said money as shall be thus taken, converted, appropriated, embezzled, invested, used, or unaccounted for, which is hereby declared a misdemeanor; and every such tax collector and every person or persons whomsoever aiding or abetting, or being in any way accessory to such act, and, being thereof convicted, shall be sentenced to an imprisonment not exceeding five years, or pay a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, or both at the discretion of the court.88 Judgment against collector for an amount due from him. 455. The secretary of any board of directors or controllers may, at any time within one year from the delivery of the duplicate of school tax to the collector thereof, file a certificate, signed by the president and attested by the secretary, in the office of the prothonotary of the court of common pleas of the proper county, stating the amount of said tax due and unpaid by said collector, at the date thereof, and it shall be the duty of the prothonotary to enter the same on his docket, which certificate shall, from such entry, have the same operation and effect as a judgment of said court, against said collector and his sureties, and execution may issue thereon, in like manner as in judgments, for the amount remaining unpaid at the date of said execution.89 Section 13, Act April 11, 1862, not affected by act June 25, 1885. 456. There is nothing in the act of 1885 which “interferes with the reasonable operation of Section 13 of the act of 1862, the primary purpose of which was security and protection of the school district, by means of a lien against the real estate of the collector and his sureties. After the act of 1885, as well as before, exonerations are to be made by the 88. Act June 3, 1885, P. L. 72. 89. Act April 11, 1862, Sec. 13, P. L. 474. several authorities, and in the same manner as before. As to the execution that may issue on the judgment against the collector and his sureties, the court will control that, as was done in this case, pending the consideration of any alleged legal or equitable defense. If accounts settled by the auditors show amounts different from those named in the certificate of the school board, the court would not fail to limit the execution accordingly. The acts under consideration taken together, form a complete and harmonious system for the security and collection of the school fund, and present no points of antagonism that will interfere with their proper enforcement.90 Settlement of accounts. 457. The accounts of collectors of taxes shall be settled by township or borough auditors of the proper township or borough, and he shall state a separate account for each different tax collected by him."1 There is nothing in this that interferes with the reasonable operation of Section 13 of the act of 1862, the primary purpose of which was security and protection of the school district, by means of a lien against the real estate of the collector and his sureties.92 Suit on bond cannot be entered until after settlement by auditors. 458. Until the accounts of township tax collectors are settled by the township auditors and an amount ascertained by such auditors to be due by such collectors, a proceeding at law upon the official bond is premature and unauthorized.93 Suit on bond properly brought in assumpsit. 459. A suit on the bond of a tax collector is properly brought in assumpsit and the averments of the statement are sufficient when it assigns with certainty the failure to pay or account for a definite sum claimed as the balance of the taxes in the duplicate for a given year.94 School District vs. Pitts., 184 Pa. 156, 1898. 90. 92. School District vs. Pitts., 184 Pa. 156, 1898. 93. Swatara Twp. School District's Appeal, 1 Pa. Superior Ct. 502, 1896. 94. Commonwealth vs. Gruver, 13 Pa. Superior Ct., 553, 1900. |