shall be invested by said board, and shall constitute a part of the permanent school fund of the state. from leases. Ibid. 191. (169.) All leases which have been heretofore Income made, or which shall be hereafter made of such lands, shall be held by "The Trustees for the Support of Public Schools" as a part of the principal of the school fund, and the income arising from said leases shall be a part of the income of said school fund. Ibid. 192. (170.) Moneys belonging to the school fund shall Investments be invested by said board in the bonds of the several school districts of this state, or in the bonds of the United States, or of this state, or in the bonds of any county, city, incorporated town, township or borough of this state the total indebtedness of which shall not exceed in the aggregate fifteen per centum of the total assessable valuation of all taxable property therein, and the interest thereof shall be a part of the income of said school fund. The income of said school fund shall be Use of used for the support of public schools, the payment of the salaries of the County Superintendents of Schools, the payment of premiums and accrued interest on bonds purchased by the "Trustees for the Support of the Public Schools," and for no other use or purpose whatsoever. An account of the management of said fund shall Annual be laid before the Legislature with the annual statements of the State Treasurer's accounts. No compensation shall be paid to said trustees or treasurer for any services performed in pursuance of this article. (a) 193. (171.) Said board shall not invest any part of the principal or interest of said fund in bonds secured by mortgage on lands except as hereinafter provided. (a) 1. The trustees for the support of public schools are the custodians of the fund set apart for the support of public schools, free by constitutional provision from even the control of the legislature, except in the designation of the mode in which the interest and dividends arising therefrom shall be applied for the support of public schools. For the purposes of the administration of the fund of which they are made custodians and of the rights and remedies upon or against the securites in which it is invested, the trustees are constituted the representatives of the State. American Dock and Improvement Co. v. Trustees of Public Schools, 8 Stew. 181. 2. See sections 275 and 276. income. accounting. Mortgage in- vestments. Foreclosure. Proviso. Purchase property at Proviso. Payment of taxed costs. Sale of real estate. Ibid. Loan on mortgage. 194. (172.) Said board shall cause foreclosure proceedings to be commenced without delay whenever the interest on bonds secured by mortgage held by said board as part of the school fund shall remain unpaid for the space of six months; provided, that whenever foreclosure proceedings shall have been commenced, said board may, in its discretion, discontinue the same upon the payment of accrued interest and the costs of such proceedings. 195. (173.) Said board may bid for and purchase any lands and premises exposed to sale under the order and decree of any court for the payment and satisfaction of any mortgage incumbrance thereon held by said board, and may take and hold title to the lands and premises so purchased in and by its official name as a part of the principal of the school fund; provided, that said board shall not bid a higher price for such lands and premises than shall be sufficient to produce the amount due upon said mortgage incumbrance and costs. The taxed costs attending such proceedings and sale, if any, shall be paid by the State Treasurer on the warrant of the State Comptroller. 196. (174.) All real estate now held by "The Trustees for the Support of Public Schools," and all real estate that may be hereafter acquired by them under foreclosure proceedings shall be sold, either at private or public sale, at such times and at such prices as will, in the judgment of said board, be for the best interests of the state. Said board may advertise such properties, either at private or public sale, in such manner as to it shall seem judicious, and the proceeds of such sale shall be paid into the school fund, and shall be invested by said board as other moneys of said fund shall be invested. Said board may loan to the purchaser of any said real estate, one-half of the amount of purchase-money, the same to be secured by bond and mortgage on the premises so purchased. (a) report to 197. (175.) The State Treasurer shall make annually Annual to said board on the first day of the annual meeting of the legislature. Legislature, and at such other times as said board shall require, a statement of the school fund, containing an account of the securities belonging thereto with the dates of investment, their values, and the interest arising from each class of securities, together with an account of the moneys in the treasury belonging to said fund. ment of fund. Ibid. 198. (176.) There shall be annually apportioned and Apportionpaid from the income of the school fund for the support of public schools two hundred thousand dollars. If the income of said fund shall not have been received in full, or shall be insufficient for such appropriation, the sum Provision for deficiency. necessary to make up the deficiency shall be drawn from the State Treasury on the warrant of the State Comptroller, which sum so drawn as aforesaid shall be replaced from the income of said school fund as soon as the same shall have been received. 199. (1.) It shall be lawful for the Trustees for the Support of Public Schools to arrange with any municipality in this State to change any bonds heretofore purchased, or now held or hereafter purchased by said trustees, from coupon to registered bonds, and it shall be lawful for any municipality issuing such bonds so held by said trustees to detach from such bonds the coupons thereon and cancel the same, and stamp upon such bonds the registration thereof, and the necessary agreement for the payment of the interest thereon to effectuate the provisions of this act. Within sixty days after the passage of this act every coupon bond in the possession of said trustees, and (a) A bond and mortgage given to the trustees for the support of public schools cannot be deducted from the valuation of real and personal estate for which an individual shall be assessed for taxes. Montgomery v. Trenton, 11 Vr. 89. Change coupon bonds to registered. Chap. 236. P. L. 1911, Stamp coupons on Stands now owned by state. Appropriation from state fund. P. L. 1903, Special session. State school tax. Rate of tax. Apportionment by state comptroller. every coupon bond thereafter acquired immediately upon the receipt thereof, shall have stamped upon the bond and upon each coupon the following: "This is the property of the trustees for the Support of Public Schools." ARTICLE XVII. STATE SCHOOL TAX. 200. (177.) For the purpose of maintaining free public schools there shall be appropriated each year from any moneys in the State Treasury not otherwise appropriated such sum, not less than one hundred thousand dollars, as may be determined by the Legislature in the annual appropriation act; which sum shall be apportioned among and paid to the several counties in the proportion that the ratables of each of said counties shall bear to the total ratables of the state as exhibited by the latest abstract of ratables filed in the office of the State Comptroller. In addition to the amount so determined and appropriated, a state school tax shall be annually assessed, levied, and collected upon the taxable real and personal property in the state, as exhibited by the latest abstract of ratables from the several counties made out by the several boards of assessors and filed in the office of the State Comptroller. Said tax shall be such an amount as will make, when added to the amount determined and appropriated as aforesaid, a sum equal to two and three-fourths mills on each dollar of valuation of the taxable real and personal property in the state as exhibited by the last abstract of ratables from the several counties made out by the several boards of assessors and filed in the office of the State Comptroller, which tax shall be assessed, levied and collected at the same time and in the same manner as other taxes shall be assessed, levied and collected. The State Comptroller shall apportion said tax and appropriation among the several counties in proportion to the amount of taxable real and personal estate of said counties, respectively, as shown by the abstract of ratables as aforesaid, and he shall transmit on or before the first day of February in each year, to the State Board of Education, a statement of the amount of said tax and appropriation, apportioned as aforesaid, and to the County Collector a statement of the amount of said tax apportioned to and payable by said county, and said. County Collector shall lay said statement before the board of assessors of the townships, cities, incorporated towns, boroughs and wards within his county at its next annual meeting, and said board of assessors shall thereupon apportion said school tax as other taxes are apportioned, and the same shall be assessed, levied and collected according to law. (a) 201. (178.) Every County Collector shall pay to the State Treasurer the quota of the State school tax from his county on or before the twentieth day of January next after the assessment thereof. In case any collector or other officer having the custody of collected taxes shall fail or neglect to pay to the County Collector the full amount of State school tax due from his taxing district on or before the twenty-second day of December, said County Collector shall give to the County Superintendent of Schools written notice of such failure or neglect, and said County Superintendent of Schools shall withhold from every school district in said taxing district, the full amount apportioned to it out of the reserve fund for the support of the school or schools situate within said taxing district, and said County Superintendent of Schools in making the next apportionment of school moneys shall reapportion the amount of the re Statement furnished. Payments collector by county to state treasurer. Penalty for failure to pay tax. (a) 1. School taxes are to be levied and applied for the school year succeeding the assessment. Elizabeth v. Sheridan, 13 Vr. 64. 2. The board of assessors in apportioning the State and school taxes among the several townships in a county must distribute them according to the value of the property, after deducting debts, as shown by the duplicates of the assessors of the several townships of the then present year and not of the preceding year. Skirm v. Cox, 9 Vr. 302. |