treasury at the commencement of the year, when and from what sources all moneys paid into the treasury during the preceding year were derived, and the whole amount thereof, and when, to whom and for what purpose all money paid from the treasury during the same period was paid, and the whole amount thereof, with the balance then in the treasury, which statement shall be recorded in the minute book and filed and preserved in the clerk's office.

All property taxable; poll tax abolished. SECTION 925—136. All property in the city subject to taxation under these statutes, shall be subject to taxation for all purposes authorized by this chapter.

This section was amended by Chapter 443 of the Laws of 1919 by striking out the provision authorizing common councils to provide for the levy and collection of poll taxes.

Agricultural lands within the city are taxable by the same rule as other city property. Weeks vs. Milwaukee, 10 Wis. 242. Janesville vs. Markoe, 18 Wis. 368.

The statute which provided for the annexment of lands to a city was held void because it authorized the assessment of agricultural lands so annexed at a different rate from that of other city property. vs. Racine, 13 Wis. 398.

City levy; limitation.

Slawson

SECTION 925-142a. The common council shall have the power to levy annually such sum or sums of money as may be sufficient for the several purposes for which taxes are authorized to be levied and to apportion the same into such funds for city or ward purposes as they may provide by ordinance or resolution; provided, a tax levied for any one year for municipal purposes, together with the tax required to be levied for state, county, county school and school district purposes, and for delinquent taxes for the preceding year, shall not exceed three and one half per cent of the assessed value of the real and personal property in the city in that year.

The limitation of tax rate prescribed by this section applies to cities operating under the general charter law only. The maximum tax rate in cities operating under special charters is governed by the provisions therein contained. For limit of tax rate in counties, towns and villages see sections 776, 914 and 1074. Pp. 14, 15, 23, 100, 101.

School districts; levy of school taxes. SECTION 40.09. The inhabitants of any school district qualified by law to vote at a school district meeting when assembled at the first and at each annual meeting in their district or at any adjournment thereof in their district shall have power:

(5) To vote such tax as the meeting shall deem sufficient to purchase or lease a suitable site for a school house, to build, hire or purchase a schoolhouse and to keep in repair and furnish the same with the necessary fuel and appendages.

(6) To vote such tax as the meeting shall deem proper for the payment of teachers' wages in the district.

(7) (a) To authorize and direct the sale of any schoolhouse, site or

other property belonging to the district when the same shall be no longer needed for the use of the district.

(b) To levy a tax for the purpose of paying to any surety or bonding company the fee or consideration necessary to secure a bond indemnifying the district against any loss of moneys belonging to the district in the hands of the school district treasurer.

(a) To impose such a tax as may be necessary to discharge any debts or liabilities of the district lawfully incurred.

(9) To vote a tax not exceeding seventy-five dollars in any one year for the purchase of maps, blackboards and school apparatus.

(10) To vote a tax not exceeding one hundred dollars in any one year for a district library, consisting of such books as they may direct their district board, at a district meeting, to purchase, said books to be selected under the advice of the state superintendent; provided, that any school district having less than two hundred children of school age shall not vote a tax exceeding fifty dollars in any one year for such library; and that no district containing a population of less than two hundred and fifty inhabitants shall have power to levy and collect a tax of more than five hundred dollars in any one year for any purpose other than for the purposes prescribed in the fifth subdivision of this section, and for the payment of the principal and interest of any loan due the state.

Limit of tax rate for schools. (10a) The total amount of school district tax hereafter levied in any school district in this state in any one year for building, hiring or purchasing any school building, and for the maintenance of schools, including teachers' wages and incidental expenses, shall not exceed two per cent of the total assessed valuation of taxable property in such school district for the preceding year.

(18) At the annual meeting only, to vote a tax to compensate the treasurer and director, which in districts supporting graded or high schools shall be such sums as may be voted, and in other districts maintaining only one school not more than ten nor less than five dollars to each of the above officers, and in districts maintaining more than one school in separate buildings five dollars for each separate additional school maintained in a separate building, provided the buildings are at least a mile and a half apart, the distance to be measured by the nearest traveled highway.

SECTION 40.015. All

School districts in cities and towns-joint. school districts heretofore or hereafter organized, composed of territory from any incorporated city or village, however organized, together with territory adjoining said village or city, shall constitute a joint school district, and all the school property thereof shall be vested in said joint school district.

All taxes for sites, buildings and maintenance of the schools on said joint school district shall be uniform throughout said joint school district and shall be levied and assessed in accordance with law.

2

The provisions of subsections (1) and (2) supersede the existing law only insofar as it is inconsistent herewith.

Created by Chap. 612, 1919.

Clerk's certificate. Under sec. 1, ch. 81, 1869, a certificate of a clerk which merely stated "that, at the annual school meeting, voted to raise three hundred dollars for teachers' salaries, in building a woodshed, and all incidental expenses during the year," was not sufficient to confer authority to levy the tax: Arnold v. Supervisors, 43 Wis. 627.

The failure of the clerk to file the statement required goes to the ground-work of the tax, and might be set up as a defense to an action under sec. 35, ch. 22, 1859, without making the deposit required by sec. 38 of that chapter: Powell v. Supervisors, 46 Wis. 210.

School district taxes; assessment and collection. SECTION 832n. 1. All school district taxes, unless otherwise specially provided by law, shall be assessed on the same kinds of property as taxes for town and county purposes; and all personal property which, on account of its location or the residence of its owner, is taxable in the town shall, if such locality or residence be in the school district, be likewise taxable for school district purposes.

Valuation of realty. 2. Whenever any real estate in any school district shall not have been separately valued in the assessment roll of the town, and the valuation of such real estate cannot be definitely ascertained from such assessment roll, the town clerk shall estimate the value of the same in proportion to the valuation affixed in said assessment roll to the whole tract of which such lot or piece of land forms a part.

3. The town clerk shall assess the taxes so certified upon the property liable thereto, placing the same in a separate column in the next tax roll of his town, whenever so certified, before he shall have delivered the roll to the town treasurer for collection, although after the third Monday of November; if any such tax shall not be assessed in the next tax roll after being voted it shall be assessed in that of the next succeeding year. Such taxes shall be collected or returned delinquent by the town treasurer and collected by the county treasurer in all respects like other taxes.

The assessor or assess

Duties of Assessors. SECTION 925-137. ors elected or appointed under this chapter shall, within the time and in the manner prescribed by law for making the assessment of property for taxation under these statutes, make an accurate assessment of all property in the city subject to taxation; provided, that in cities of the first class the tax commissioner shall perform such duties in relation to the assessment of property for taxation as may be prescribed by the council; and provided further, that the assessment roll for the entire city or the roll for each ward of the city shall be made as the council may direct.

For detailed discussion of the powers and duties of assessors see Sections 1030 to 1060 of the statutes and notes and decisions pertaining thereto. Pp. 32 to 83 Post.

The

Reports of assessments to county clerks. SECTION 1004. clerk of each town and city, and of each village which collects its taxes independently of the town, and the town clerk of each town in which any village is situated, the taxes for which village are collected by the town treasurer, shall annually, at the time he is required by law to deliver the tax roll to the town, city or village treasurer, make out and transmit to the county clerk, on blanks furnished by the secretary of state, a statement showing the assessed valuation of all property within his town, city or village, and separately the amount of all taxes levied therein by said town, city or village, including school district, highway, street and sidewalk taxes for the current year and the purposes for which the same were levied; also a complete and detailed statement of the bonded and other indebtedness of his town, city or village, and of the accrued interest, if any, remaining unpaid, and the purposes for which said indebtedness was incurred.

Report of taxes levied to tax commission. SECTION 1004a. Annually, on or before the third Monday of December, a statement in detail of all taxes levied in each town, village and city during the year, shall be made and filed by the clerk thereof, with the state tax commission. Any such clerk failing to make the statement herein provided for, and within the time above provided, shall be liable to his town, village and city for all damages caused by his delinquency. The tax commission shall prepare and furnish the blanks for such statement, as well as for the statement mentioned in section 1005.

The information furnished under this section is used in determining the average tax rate on the general property of the state applicable to railroad and other public service companies under section 51.14, Statutes.

Returns to tax commission. SECTION 1005. The county clerk of each county shall, immediately upon the receipt from the tax commission of the blanks and instructions necessary. for carrying out the provisions of section 1004a, by town, village and city officers, distribute the same to such officers at the expense of the county, and shall annually, on or before the thirty-first day of December, make out and transmit to the tax commission, on blanks furnished by it a tabular statement of the statistics of valuation, taxes and indebtedness reported by the town, city and village clerks; and also, separately, the assessed valuation of all the taxable property in his county as last fixed by the county board, a statement in detail of all county taxes levied thereon during the preceding year, and the purposes for which the same were levied and expended; and also a detailed statement of the bonded and other indebtedness of his county, of the accrued interest thereon, if any, remaining unpaid, and the purposes for which such indebtedness was incurred. Any county clerk failing to make the statement herein provided for, within the time above provided, shall be liable to his county for all damages caused by his delinquency.

Forms for the reports called for by this section have been prepared by the tax commission for the use of the county clerks. The information furnished thereby is principally used for statistical and accounting purposes.

Tax commission to collect sales' statistics. SECTION 1007. It shall be the duty of the tax commission to collect from time to time statistics of recorded sales of real estate in each county and of the assessed valuation of the lands included in such sales. In collecting such statistics, sales appearing to be made for a nominal consideration or as to which the true consideration is not stated and cannot be readily ascertained, and those in which the description of lands does not substantially correspond or cannot be identified with descriptions upon the assessment roll, shall be omitted; and the commission may also exclude from such statistics any other sales where for any reason the data appear to be unreliable or not serviceable.

In former years the tax commission employed field agents to collect information relating to the sales of real estate. That service is now performed by assessors of income in their respective districts. Memoranda of all transfers of real estate are obtained from records in the Register of Deed's office and transcribed on cards. They are then verified in the field, tabulated and preserved in the office of the tax commission. When the consideration actually paid cannot be obtained, or the transfer is a trade or between relatives or otherwise fails to represent a normal or bona fide transaction the sale is rejected. The number of representative sales actually used for statistical purposes is less than half the total number of transfers. For a full discussion of the use of sales for valuation purposes, see Tax Commission Report 1914, pp. 39 to 42.

Sales statistics; items for collector. SECTION 1008. be collected as provided by section 1007 shall include: (1) The date of each instrument of conveyance or sale; (2) The date, volume and page of the record thereof; (3) A brief description of the lands conveyed or sold; (4) The number of acres, where the lands are unplatted; (5) The consideration recited in such instrument;

The data to

(6) The assessed valuation next previous or nearest to the date of such instrument.

(7) Such other facts as the commission may deem material.

Sales' statistics to be compiled. SECTION 1009. The statistics for each year shall be compiled by assessment districts and by counties in tabular form, and the compilations shall be filed and carefully preserved in the office of the tax commission for use in the performance of its duties. An abstract or copy of such compilations of so much as is used by the commission in arriving at the true value for each county shall be furnished to the county clerk of such county in each year as soon as practicable after the same shall be completed for such year. The county clerk shall cause same to be laid before the county board at its next annual meeting.