Chap. 278.—An ACT to amend and re-enact section twelve of an act entitled an
act to amend and re-enact the charter of the town of Ashland, approved Febru-
ary 15, 1894, as amended and re-enacted by an act entitled an act to amend and
re-enact section twelve of an act to amend and re-enact the charter of the town
of Ashland, approved February 15, 1894, approved February 24, 1890.

Approved February 9, 1898.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the twelfth
section of an act entitled an act to amend and re-enact the charter of the
town of Ashland, approved February the fifteenth, eighteen hundred
and ninety-four, as amended and re-enacted by an act entitled an act
to amend and re-enact section twelve of an act entitled an act to amend
and re-enact the charter of the town of Ashland, approved February
fifteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-four, approved February twenty-
fourth, eigltcen hundred and ninety-six, be amended and re-enacted so
as to read as follows:

$12. For the purpose of paying the necessary expenses of said town
the said council shall have power to levy a poll tax or capitation tax,
and also such a tax on all taxable property in said town as they may
deem proper, not exceeding one dollar on the hundred dollars in any one
year.

In consideration whereof the citizens and property of said town are
hereby exempted from the payment of one-half of the county levy and
from the payment of the county poll tax: provided, that the county levy
of Hanover county shall be considered to include, as it does now, the road
taxes and poor rates: provided, further, that the said town of Ashland shall
at its own expense provide for its own poor and keep its streets and
roads in order: provided, further, that the citizens of and property in
said town of Ashland shall be exempted from the payment of any spe-
cial road tax which may hereafter be levied by said county. The coun-
cil shall make such provision for the establishment and maintenance of
public schools in said town as is provided by the general school laws of
Virginia. The said council shall, upon the receipt from the commis-
sioner of the revenue for Ashland district of a land and personal pro-
perty book containing the land and personal property assessed for taxa-
tion in the corporate limits of the town of Ashland, also provide for the
payment to the commissioner of the revenue for Ashland district, in said
county of Hanover, of one-half of the commissions allowed by law to
said commissioner of the revenue upon the property, real and personal,
assessed for taxation within the boundaries of said town of Ashland,
now due or which may hereafter accrue, the remaining half of said com-
missions to he paid according to law.

There shall be a lien on the real estate in the town of Ashland for the
taxes assessed thereon for the said town from the commencement of the
year for which they are assessed, not exceeding five years from the pas-
sage of this act, and when any of said taxes are returned delinquent a
list of the same shall be returned to the clerk of the county court of
Hanover county and be by him entered in a book furnished by said
town and kept in his said office, the form and manner of entering the
same to be similar to that provided by law for the record of delinquent
taxes on real estate due the state. In said book there shall also be
columns in which shall be entered the names of purchasers, the amount
and date of sales of real estate sold for delinquent taxes, as provided in
this charter. When the taxes so returned delinquent are entered in said
record as herein provided, the same shall be held to be constructive
notice of the lien thereof, and the said real estate shall be liable thereto
as against creditors and in the hands of purchasers or other persons into
whose hands the said real estate may pass. And the said real estate
may be sold for said taxes. as provided for in this charter, whether
owned by the persons in whose names it was assessed or not. After
said real estate has been, so sold for taxes the same, may be redeemed
within such time and by such persons and upon such terms as is pro-
vided by law for the redemption of lands sold for state taxes, except
that the moneys paid for such redemption shall be paid to the sergeant
of the town of Ashland. Upon the redemption of said real estate the
treasurer shall issue to the persons so redeeming it a certificate to that
effect, which shall be presented to the clerk of the county court,
who shal] thereupon mark in the said record the redemption of said
real estate, the name of the party redeeming it and the date thereof.
The clerk shall receive for his services a fee of ten cents for each lot
or parcel of land so entered in said record, a fee of ten cents for the
entry of such sale of real estate as is provided in this charter, and a fee
of twenty-five cents for each redemption so entered, to be paid by the
town of Ashland and which shall be charged against and be a lien upon
said land along with the taxes against the same. The purchaser of all
such delinquent lands shall take possession of the same directly upon
paying to the town sergeant the purchase money for same, to have and
to hold until it is redeemed as herein provided. At the expiration of
the time within which said real estate may be redeemed, if the same
has not been redeemed as herein provided, the mayor of the town of
Ashland shall execute to the purchaser thereof a deed conveying the
same in like manner as is now prescribed by law for the conveyance of
real estate by the clerk of the county court which has been sold for de-
linquent taxes due the state, and such deed shall convey such title as
would be conveyed had the same been sold for delinquent state taxes.
The county court of Hanover, on the application of the council of the
town of Ashland, through its mayor, may order real estate delinquent
for the non-payment of taxes to be sold by the sergeant for the town at
public auction for such taxes at such time as it shall direct, said sale
and the advertisement thereof to be made in conformity, as near as may
be, to the state law with reference to the sale of delinquent lands.
When such sale has been made, the same, with the date thereof, the
name of the purchaser, and the amount for which said real estate sold,
shall be entered by the county clerk in the record of delinquent real
estate provided for in this section of this act.

2. All acts or parts of acts in conflict with this act are hereby re-
pealed. |

3. This act shall be in force from its passage.