Pennsylvania Act 1913-269 — FOREST LAND, TAXATION OF

Act text

FOREST LAND, TAXATION OF
                  Act of Jun. 5, 1913, P.L. 405, No. 269              Cl. 32
                                  AN ACT

     To provide for the assessment and taxation of auxiliary forest
        reserves, and the collection, distribution and use of the
        taxes collected therefrom.

        Section 1.  (1 repealed May 22, 1933, P.L.853, No.155)
        Section 2.  (2 repealed May 22, 1933, P.L.853, No.155)
        Section 3.  Whenever timber, on land which is included in the
     class of land known as auxiliary forest reserves, is about to be
     harvested, the then owner of the timber on said land shall give
     a bond to the county treasurer in twenty per centum of the
     amount of the estimated value of the timber to be harvested, and
     to be approved by the court of the county, conditioned to pay to
     the county treasurer, within ninety days after harvesting, ten
     per centum of the value of the trees immediately at and before
     the time of harvesting; which amount shall be ascertained by
     statement and return, under oath or affirmation, furnished in
     triplicate, one to the county commissioners, one to the county
     treasurer, and one to the commission, immediately after
     harvesting, by the then owner of the land, setting forth said
     value; which sum thus paid shall be divided and distributed by
     the county treasurer of each county--to the county, and to the
     poor district, the road district, and the school district of the
     township in which the auxiliary reserve is situate, pro rata,
     based upon the last assessed millage of taxation for county,
     poor, road, and school purposes within said taxing district.
        Such sum of money when ascertained to be due as a tax by the
     filing of the foregoing statement and return, under oath, and,
     as hereinbefore provided, directed to be paid to the county
     treasurer by the owner of an auxiliary forest reserve, shall,
     from the time of such filing, be and remain a lien upon the land
     of such owner until payment shall have been made: And be it
     further provided, That all moneys received by the boards of
     supervisors shall be appropriated exclusively to the opening,
     maintenance, and repair of the public roads now or hereafter
     passing through or into said auxiliary forest reserves, or upon
     which said reserves now or hereafter may abut; and, in the event
     that no public highways pass through or into said reserves, or
     none of said reserves abut on such highways, then said moneys
     shall be used for general township road purposes.
        Section 4.  Should the county commissioners be dissatisfied
     with the return made, as hereinbefore provided in section three
     hereof, the court of common pleas of the proper county, on
     petition of the commissioners, shall appoint a board of three
     appraisers, who shall go upon the land in question, estimate the
     quantity and value of the trees immediately at and before the
     time of harvesting, and make a return thereof to the court,
     which said return shall then be made the basis upon which each
     owner shall make payment to the respective county treasurers,
     unless changed upon appeal. The said appraisers shall be duly
     sworn or affirmed before entering upon their work, and either
     party, if dissatisfied with the report of the appraisers, shall
     have right of appeal to the court of common pleas of the county,
     within ten days after such report shall be filed and notice
     thereof given the owner. The said appraisers shall be allowed
     their expenses and a compensation to be fixed by the court, both
     to be paid by the county commissioners.
        Section 5.  In case of the removal of said lands from the
     class known as auxiliary forest reserves, prior to the maturity
     of the timber, and without payment of the tax of ten per centum
     of the value thereof, as provided in section three of this act,
     the county commissioners shall, on notice from the commission,
     ascertain the amount of the taxes which would have been paid by
     the said owner on the original assessment, before the reduction
     provided for in section two of this act, adding legal interest
     from the date when each tax payment would have become
     delinquent. The said commissioners shall likewise ascertain the
     amount of taxes which have actually been paid upon the land in
     question, adding legal interest upon all such payments from the
     date when paid, and certify the result thereof to the county
     treasurer, who shall then proceed, in the manner provided for
     the collection of county taxes under general laws, to recover
     from such owner the difference between the two amounts, with
     costs. Such difference, so ascertained to be due as tax as
     aforesaid, shall be and remain a lien upon the land of such
     owner until payment shall have been made.
        If such land shall be so removed from said class after the
     due cutting of a matured crop and the payment of tax thereon,
     the owner shall, in that case, not be liable for such past
     assessment; but the land shall thereafter be liable to
     assessment and tax as all other land not classed as auxiliary
     forest reserves.