152 MISC. PUBLICATION 218, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
In New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Wisconsin, and the six New 
England States, taxes are collected by township officials. In Dela- 
ware, Illinois, and N ebraska they are collected in some counties by 
township collectors and in others by county officials. With these 
exceptions all property taxes, except in some instances city taxes, are 
collected by county officials. In Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, 
Mississippi, North Carolina, Oregon, West. Virginia, and the less 
populous counties of Texas, taxes are collected by the sheriff. In 
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, "Maryland, Pennsylvania, and the more 
populous counties of Texas, they are collected by independent tax 
collectors. In the remaining ‘22 States they are collected by the county 
treasurer. In several States there are exceptions to the general prac- 
tice, and frequently a different official collects delinquent taxes from 
the one who collects current taxes (38, pp. 207-218). 
The most widely used system of collection—and probably the most 
satisfactory one—is collection by the county treasurer. Under this 
system all current taxes, except in some instances city taxes, are 
included in a single tax bill, and the proceeds are distributed by the 
collector to the various taxing units. The treasurer has other duties 
and can be employed full time at a stated salary. The practice of 
combining the duties of tax collector and sheriff has proved unsatis- 
factory. The two classes of work are so incongruous that rarely is one 
person qualified for both. 
In 14 States—Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, 
Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Utah, 
Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming—(38, pp. 207-213) collectors are 
required to send out tax bills, though this 1s not done consistently in 
some of these States. In the rural jurisdictions of several States bills 
are sent only when requested by the taxpayer. Probably in all 
States tax bills are sent out by the larger cities. The general practice, 
whether tax bills are sent or not, is to publish the time and places at 
which taxes may be paid. 
The more usual method of compensating the tax collector in the 
Eastern States is the fee system. Under this system the collector 
receives a commission on taxes collected. In New York, which has 
township collectors, the fee is 1 percent for all current collections, 5 
percent for collections of delinquent taxes, and 2 percent for taxes not 
collected. Obviously, such a system puts a premium on delay and 
would seem well designed to encourage delinquency. Where a sepa- 
rate collector is employed, the work of collecting taxes is not generally 
sufficient to occupy his entire time, and this has been offered as an 
objection to compensation on a salary basis. 
TIME OF PAYMENT AND PENALTIES FOR DELAY 
Taxes are most commonly due and payable during the fall and 
winter. This time was probably selected originally to meet the seasonal 
nature of the farmers’ income. Twenty-one States have departed 
from this schedule to the extent of allowing payment in two install- 
ments, the second installment usually being payable 6 months after 
the first. These States are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecti- 
cut, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, 
New J ersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, 
Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming (38, pp. 214-217). 40 
4 Direct inquiry in the case of Connecticut. 
