King v. Marion County
King v. Marion County
Opinion of the Court
“The tax collector shall, in addition to the compensation and costs now allowed by law, be entitled for making up the delinquent record or supplement thereto where necessary under this act the sum of five cents for each and every line of yearly delinquencies entered on said delinquent record or supplement, such compensation to be paid out of the general fund of the county upon the completion of said record or [said] supplement.” Acts 1915, p. 252.
The court found that the appellant had prepared a duplicate record in accordance with law, which contained 34,450 lines, which at 5 cents each amounted to $1,722.50. From this sum he deducted $205.94 allowed as an *1053 offset at tlie instance of the county, and rendered a judgment for the remainder. In estimating the total amount due the court made no allowance for the separate entries in the copies or duplicate records. Appellant contends that such was not the correct construction of the law. He claims that he was entitled to 5 cents per line in each of the two copies of the record, which would have made twice the amount allowed by the court. The word “record,” as here used, is not synonymous with “booh,” “volume,” or “copy,” but means the compiled matter which is entered in the book or volume. Having made the preparation of duplicates, or two exact copies, compulsory, there was no occasion for requiring that a copy should be taken into consideration in estimating the amount of the fees earned.- Since the same-data must be entered twice in every instance in order to complete the record required, the use of the singular form of “said delinquent record” is very significant. The Legislature intended to adjust the compensation to the labor which the tax collector was required to perform. This, we know, consisted mainly in the search for and collection of the necessary data preparatory to making the entries. The latter is comparatively a small part of the legal duty imposed. We think the trial judge correctly construed the statute.
The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
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Reference
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- King v. Marion County.
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