Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force, Feb. 1, 1840.

AN ACT to amend “An act concerning the Public Revenue, approved 26th Feb.[February] 1839.”
1

Assessors to make returns by the 1st Monday in June.

Persons aggrieved may appeal.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That hereafter assessors shall have till the first Monday of June annually to make their returns to the Clerks of the county commissioners’ courts of their respective counties; and any person feeling aggrieved by reason of the assessment of his or her property, shall be allowed until the September term of the county commissioners’ court of the proper county, in each year, to appeal to said court for the purposes set forth in the twelfth section of the act concerning the public revenue.

Clerks to transmit statement to Auditor.

To deliver to collector, list of taxable property.

Sec. 2. The clerks of the county commissioners’ courts of the several counties, shall, immediately after the September term of their courts, annually, and by the first day of October, transmit by mail to the auditor of public accounts, a statement, as required by the thirteenth section of the act concerning the public revenue, and hereafter shall deliver to the collectors of their respective counties, the list of taxable property returned to them by the assessors, on or before the second Monday of September, annually.

Collectors to pay over into State Treasury all moneys collected.

Sec. 3. Hereafter, collectors shall annually, and within ten days after the times of holding the first terms of the circuit courts of their respective counties, account to the auditor of public accounts for, and pay into the State treasury, all moneys collected by them for the use of the State, deducting therefrom their commissions for collecting the same: Provided, That if the times of holding the term of any of the circuit courts should be previous to the first Monday in March, then, and in that case, the collectors of such counties shall in like manner account for, and pay into the State treasury, all such moneys, within ten days after the said first Monday in March.

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Collectors to have an extension of time.

Delinquent list to be published in any newspaper having the most ext’nsive[extensive] circulation.

Penalty on collectors for neglect of duty.

Sec. 4. The collectors of the several counties heretofore appointed, or hereafter to be appointed or elected, shall have an extension of time for making a final and annual settlement with the county commissioners’ courts of their respective counties, until the first Monday of June. They shall also make returns to the several circuit courts as required by the twenty-fifth section of the act to which this is an amendment, at least five days previous to the first day of the term of their circuit courts respectively: they shall also be authorized to publish the delinquent list of lands and town lots in any newspaper in this State, which, in the opinion of the collectors, has the most extensive circulation in their respective counties; and in case any collector shall fail to make report of the persons failing to pay taxes on lands, at the first term of the circuit court, then he shall make such report to the next succeeding term of the court, and the said circuit court shall proceed as though application had been made to the first term of the circuit court, to give judgment as is now provided for by law. If any collector shall fail to comply with any of the provisions of this act, or the act to which this is an amendment, in relation to advertising delinquent lands, he shall be liable to a penalty of one hundred dollars, to be collected by an action of debt before any justice of the peace, or in the circuit court of his county, in the name of the county commissioners of the county.

Assessors to value property.

Sec. 5. Assessors shall also be required to value and assess any lands or town lots not included in the list of lands and town lots furnished them by the clerks of the county commissioners’ courts, which they may ascertain to be liable to taxation.

Sec. 6. The thirty-second section of the act to which this is an amendment, is hereby repealed.

Persons names need not be in alphabetical order.

Sec. 7. So much of the act, to which this is an amendment, as requires the names of all persons listing taxable property to be arranged and written in alphabetical order, be, and the same is hereby repealed; and assessors are hereby allowed to arrange and take the names of persons listing property in any manner most convenient to said assessor; except in listing lands, the lands shall be arranged by townships, ranges and sections, in numerical order.

Fees to officers.

Sec. 8. The following fees and compensation shall be allowed to the several officers and persons herein named, for services rendered under this, and the act to which this is an amendment. To sheriffs, for each tract of land or town lot sold for taxes, ten cents, to be collected as costs, and in the same manner as the principal sum: for each sheriff’s deed, twenty-five cents, to be paid by the person receiving such deed. So much of the sixty-second section of the act to which this is an amendment, as allows collectors ten cents for each tract of land or town lot sold for taxes, be, and the same is hereby repealed. To clerks of the circuit court, for

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receiving and recording the collector’s return, six cents for each tract of land or town lot contained in said report, which shall be taxed as costs, and collected in the same manner as the principal sum; and no clerk, sheriff, collector or other officer, shall be allowed to charge any other fees for services rendered under this act and the act to which this is an amendment, except those expressly granted and allowed to be charged. There shall be allowed collectors of the several counties in this State, ten per cent. on the first five hundred dollars of revenue which they may collect, and six per cent. on all sums above that amount; and collectors shall be allowed to have one or more deputies—such collector being in all cases responsible for the acts of his deputy.

Thirty-first section of the act to which this is supplementary repealed.

Sec.[Section] 9. So much of the thirty-first section of the act to which this is an amendment, as requires the clerk of the circuit court to furnish a copy of the collector’s report to the sheriff, be, and the same is hereby repealed. The word “of” in the seventeenth line of the first section of the act to which this is an amendment, shall be construed as the word “and.”

Secretary of State required to publish this act on its passage.

Sec. 10. The Secretary of State is hereby required, so soon as this bill become a law, to have, without delay, three copies of this bill printed for each county in this State, and forward the same without delay, by mail, to each of the following county officers: One copy to the clerk of the circuit court, one copy to the clerk of the county commissioners’ court, and one copy to the sheriff of each and every county in this State.

Approved, Feb. 1st, 1840.

1On January 2, 1840, Peter Green introduced HB 1 in the House of Representatives, and Abraham Lincoln moved the following amendment as an additional section: “That hereafter, all Revolutionary pensioners within this State shall be permitted to loan all or any part of the money which they may have acquired exclusively by means of their pensions without paying any tax whatever. Therefore, The Assessors of the several counties within this State shall take the production of th regular pension certificate from the War Office of the United States, as sufficient evidence that the person therein shown to be a Revolutionary pensioner, is a Revolutionary pensioner, and shall then take the statement upon honor of such pensioner as sufficient evidence of the facts, whether he has any money loaned other than that acquired by means of his pension; and if so, how much, and on all other questions deemed necessary and proper under this act; which amendment was agreed to.” The House then referred the bill to the Committee on Finance, which included Lincoln as a member. On January 13, the House referred the bill to the Committee on the Judiciary. On January 16, the Committee on the Judiciary reported the bill with several amendments, and members proposed additional amendments. The House then voted against a proposal to lay one of the amendments on the table by a vote of 37 yeas to 43 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. On January 18, the House voted to lay the bill on the table. On January 18, the House took up the bill again, and members proposed additional amendments. The House then voted against a motion to lay an amendment on the table by a vote of 29 yeas to 53 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. The House agreed to further amend the bill and referred the bill to a select committee. On January 24, the select committee reported the bill with additional amendments, including amendments from the report of the Committee on the Judiciary. members then offered additional amendments, and the House voted to lay one of the amendments on the table by a vote of 50 yeas to 33 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. Members then offered additional amendments, and the House concurred in the amended report of the Committee on the Judiciary. On January 29, the Committee on the Judiciary reported additional amendments to the bill, and the House concurred in those amendments and passed the bill. On January 29, the Senate voted against a motion to suspend the order of business for purposes of taking up the bill. On January 30, the Senate referred the bill to the Committee on the Judiciary. On January 30, the Committee on the Judiciary reported the bill with several amendments, and the Senate concurred in those amendments and passed the bill. On February 1, the House concurred in the Senate amendments to the bill by a vote of 52 yeas to 22 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. On February 1, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Journal of the House of Representatives of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at Their Called Session, Begun and Held at Springfield, December 9, 1839 (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1839), 116-17, 152, 161, 185-86, 201, 202-03, 237-39, 259, 280, 296, 305, 318-19, 325, 329; Journal of the Senate of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at Their Called Session, Begun and Held in Springfield, December 9, 1839 (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1839), 188, 201, 209, 210.