Chapter 19687 Sp. Acts 1939 v •
CHAPTER 196$7 (Sp. Acts 1939)
AN ACT To Amend Sections 2$, 31 and 33 of Chapter 13907,
Laws of Florida, Acts of 1929, the Same Being "An Act to Fix
the Territorial Limits of the Town of Atlantic Beach, to Pro-
vide
for Its Government, and Prescribe Its Jurisdiction andJ
Powers."
BE- IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA:
Section 1. That said Section 2$, of said Chapter 13907 ,
be and it is hereby amended to read as follows:
"Section 2$. All persons , corporations or firms, hold-
ing property, whether real or personal, subject to taxation
by the Town of Atlantic Beach, are hereby required to make a
return of the same to the Tax Assessor before the first day
of April in every year."
Section 2. That said Section 31, of said Chapter 13907,
be and it is hereby amended to read as follows:
"Section 31. All taxes shall be due and payable on the
first day of November in each year or as soon thereafter as the
assessment roll may come into the hands of the Town Clerk, of
which he shall give notice by publication once a day for four
consecutive days in some newspaper published in Duval County,
Florida, or by posting said notice at the Town Hall and two other
public places in said town,and the taxes remaining due and un-
paid on the first day of April thereafter shall be enforced in
the manner prescribed by law, and interest at the rate of twelve
per cent. per annum from the said first day of April shall be
added thereto and collected. If any taxpayers shall pay his
taxes before the first day of December, he shall be allowed a
discount of four per cent from the amount of his taxes; if he
shall pay during the month of December he shall be allowed a
• discount of three per cent ; if he shall pay during the following
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a
month of January he shall be allowed a discount of two per cent ;
and a discount of one per cent if he shall pay in the following
month of February. Any assessment of taxes shall be and remain a
lien upon the property assessed superior to all other liens or
claims until the same shall be paid. The Town Clerk shall have
power to issue distress warrants in the name of the State and Town
to enforce the collection •of taxes on property and privileges.
Such warrants shall be executed by the Town Marshal or by any con-
stable or sheriff.
The officer to whom the writ is directed shall execute the
same by service upon the defendant , if he be found within the Town,
and by levies upon the property distrainable for such taxes, and
he shall give public notice of the time and place of the sale of
the property to be sold at least fifteen days previous to the sale,
by posting a notice of such sale at the Town Hall and two other
places in the Town; provided, that if the person owning or claim-
ing such property cannot be found in the town, no personal service
shall be required. At any time previous to the sale the owner of
such property may release the same by the payment of taxes and the
charges for which the same is liable to be sold. In case any lev-
ies shall be made as aforesaid, the officer making the levy shall
be entitled to the same fees as are allowed the sheriff."
Section 3 . That said Section 33 of said Chapter 13907, be
and it hereby is amended to read as follows:
"Section 33 . If the taxes on real estate shall not be
paid before the first day of April of any year, the Town Council
may require the Town Clerk at any time thereafter, to make from
the assessment roll a separate copy of any assessment thereon re-
maining unpaid, showing the assessment of any lot, parcel or tract
of land as the same appears from the town assessment roll, which
he shall certify to be a true and correct copy from the town
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assessment roll of the assessment of the lot, parcel or tract
therein described, and deliver the same to the solicitor or at-
torney at law selected by the Town Council for the collection,
which certificate shall be prima facie evidence of the contents
of the assessment roll and of the levies made thereon, in all
suits to enforce the payment of the lien for such taxes or assess-
ments as may appear in the said copy. The attorney or solicitor
charged with the collection of any such tax may thereupon prepare
and file in the office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Duval
County, Florida, a bill in chancery in the name of the Town of
Atlantic Beach, alleging the Town's claim of lien against such
real estate, and he shall name as parties defendant to said bill,
the parties named as owners of such real estate on the copies
from the Town's assessment roll so certified to him, and such other
persons as the solicitor may know or have satisfactory reason to
believe the owner of or interested in such real estate, or to have
any right thereto, or lien thereon, and the Town' s claim and lien
for taxes and assessments shall be by the said court enforced by
decree and sale of the property against which a lien is found to
exist , as other liens are enforced in chancery. The taxes or
assessments on any number of different tracts, pieces or parcels
of land may be collected in one suit, as the solicitor for the
town may determine. Upon a collection of moneys due the town, pay-
ment shall be made , first , of all court costs, including the cost
of abstracts, clerk's, sheriff's, and master's and advertising fees;
second, of the amount due the town for taxes and interest , and last ,
of the attorney's or solicitor's fees in connection with the col-
lection of said tax."
Section 4. This Act shall not become operative or effective
until ratified or approved at a referendum election to be called
and held in the said Town of Atlantic Beach, Duval County, Florida,
as provided by general law.
Became a law without the Governor' s approval.
Filed in Office Secretary of State , thine 12, 1939.
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