Chap. 295.—An ACT to amend and re-enact section 34 of an act entitled ‘an
act to raise revenue for the support of the government and public free
schools and to pay the interest on the public debt and to provide a special
tax for pensions, as authorized by section 189 of the Constitution,” ap-
proved April 16, 1903.

Approved March 17, 1906.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That section
thirty-four of an act entitled “an act to raise revenue for the support of
the government and public free schools, and to pay the interest on the
public debt and to provide a special tax for pensions, as authorized by sec-
tion one hundred and eighty-nine of the Constitution,” approved Apri
sixteen, nineteen hundred and three, be amended and re-enacted so as tc
read as follows:

§34. Each incorporated telegraph and telephone company doing busi:
ness in this State, and each firm, person, or association owning or operat:
ing a telegraph or telephone line in this State, shall report annually o1
the first day of September to the State corporation commission all of it
real and personal property of every description in this State belonging t
it on the thirtieth day of June preceding, showing particularly in wha
corporation, county, and school district the property is located, an
classify the same under the following heads:

First. Number of miles of poles or conduits owned or operated by i
within this State on the thirtieth day of June preceding in each county
city, town, and school district.
Second. Number of miles of wire in excess of one wire in each city,
county, town, and school district.

Third. Real and personal property, including the value of the tele
phone instruments, switchboards, etcetera, and the value of telegraph in-
struments, apparatus, etcetera, in each city, county, town, or school dis-
trict.

Fourth. The gross earnings and receipts in this State for the twelve
months next preceding the thirtieth day of June.

The report herein required shall be verified by the oath of the presi-
dent or other proper officer of the company making the same.

The State corporation commission shall, after thirty days’ notice pre-
viously given by it to the president or other proper officer of each of such
companies, incorporated under the laws of this or any other State, assess
the value of its property. Should any such incorporated company fail to
make such report at the time herein prescribed the State corporation
commission shall, at such time as it may elect, upon the best and most
reliable information that can be procured, assess the value of the property
of said company, and assess upon said property the taxes imposed by law,
and shall also assess the license tax imposed by law upon every such com-
pany, and in the execution of such duty shall be authorized and em-
powered to send for persons and papers.

_ The State corporation commission shall assess upon said property the
taxes imposed thereon by law.

A certified copy of the assessment, when made, shall be immediately
forwarded by the clerk of the State corporation commission to the auditor
of public accounts, and to the president or other proper officer of each
such company, and such company shall pay into the treasury of the State
by the first day of December following the taxes assessed against it.

It shall be the duty of the State corporation commission to furnish to
the council of every corporation, and to the board of supervisors of every
county, and to every city and county treasurer wherein any property be-
longing to any such corporation is situated, a certified copy of the as-
sessment made by the State corporation commission of such company’s
property, which assessment shall definitely show the character of the
property, its value, and the location for the purposes of taxation in each
city, county, and district, so that city, town, county, district, and road
levies may be imposed upon the same.

Upon the receipt of every such report from a person or a firm not in-
corporated, operating a telegraph or telephone line in this State, a cer-
tified copy of each such report shall be immediately forwarded by the
clerk of the State corporation commission to the auditor of public ac-
counts, and it shall be the duty of the auditor of public accounts forth-
with to require all the telegraph or telephone lines and wires of each such
firm or person throughout the State, and each county, district, city, or
town thereof to be assessed at a fair valuation by the commissioner of the
revenue of the county, district, or city wherein the chief office of such
firm is located, and all other property of each such firm or person to be in
ike manner assessed by the commissioner of the revenue of the county.
listrict, or city wherein located, and every such assessment shall be re-
turned to the auditor of public accounts within thirty days after the
same is made. A certified copy of the assessment when made and re-
turned, shall be immediately forwarded by the auditor of public accounts
to the chief officer of such telegraph or telephone firm, or to such person
whose duty it shall be to pay into the treasury of the State on or before
the first day of December following the taxes assessed against it. A firm
or person failing to make such report shall be immediately assessed, under
the direction of the auditor of public accounts, by any commissioner or
commissioners of the revenue designated by him for that purpose, rating
each mile of telegraph or telephone line at its real value, and not less
than one hundred and twenty-five dollars for one wire per mile, and
twenty-five dollars for each additional wire per mile, and ascertaining
the value of all other property, real and personal, owned by such tele-
graph or telephone firm or person, in the mode prescribed by law for
ascertaining the value of property of individuals for the purpose of
taxation, and a tax shall at once be levied on such value as ascertained at
the annual rate levied upon the value of other property for the year. If
any such telegraph or telephone firm or person shall fail to make such
report to the auditor of public accounts, such firm or person shall also be
liable to a fine of not less than five hundred dollars nor more than two
thousand five hundred dollars, the said fine to be imposed and judgment
entered therefor by the State corporation commission after thirty days’
notice to such defaulting firm or person to appear before the said com-
missioner and to show cause, if any, against the imposition of such fine,
subject to appeal of the supreme court of appeals of Virginia. Any such
firm or person may seek redress against any erroneous assessments made
under this section, in the mode prescribed by law for redress against
erroneous assessments of property of individuals.

It shall be the duty of the county superintendent of schools in each
county in which any such telegraph or telephone company or firm or per-
son operating a telegraph or telephone line owns property, on or before
the first day of July of each year, to furnish such telegraph or telephone
company, firm, or person, and the clerk of the State corporation com-
mission, the boundaries of the school district of said county wherein any
such property is situated.

It shall be the duty of the judge of the circuit court for each county,
at the next term of said court aften the first day of July in each year, to
instruct the grand jury to inquire into and ascertain whether or not the
county superintendent of schools has furnished the boundaries of each
school district to such telegraph and telephone companies operating in
said county and to the clerk of the corporation commission. If the grand
jury shall find that the county superintendent of schools has not fur-
nished the boundaries of such school districts as herein provided, in-
dictments shall be found against him for a misdemeanor, and upon con-
viction thereof he shall be fined not less than twenty-five dollars nor
more than one hundred dollars for each school district so omitted.

Any such company, firm, or person failing to pay said taxes into the
treasury within the time herein prescribed, shall incur a penalty thereon
of five per centum, which shall be added to the amount of said taxes.