Executive Order 1250

by President of the United States

By virtue of the authority vested in me, I hereby establish the following Executive Order for the Canal Zone government:

Section 1. The office of the District Tax Collector, created by paragraph 2 of the Executive Order effective April 15, 1907, is hereby abolished.

Section 2. The duties heretofore discharged by the District Tax Collectors shall be performed by the Collector of Revenues in person or by duly appointed deputies, provided that there shall be a Deputy Collector of Revenues assigned to each administrative district, who, under the direction and supervision of the Collector of Revenues, shall exercise and perform the duties of the Collector of Revenues within the respective districts. The Collector of Revenues shall have such additional deputies, assistants, and other help, as are now assigned to him or may hereafter be assigned to him by competent authority.

The existing laws relating to the execution of official bonds by the Collector of Revenues and his deputies shall not be affected in any manner by this Order.

Section 3. Taxes and penalties assessed against real estate or the improvements thereon shall constitute a lien on such property, which shall be superior to all other liens, mortgages, or encumbrances of any kind whatsoever, and shall be enforceable against the property whether in the possession of the delinquent or any subsequent owner, and can be discharged only by the payment of the taxes, a penalty of twenty (20%) per cent, and any costs that may have accrued.

Section 4. A statement showing the persons delinquent for taxes in the respective districts, prepared and signed by the Collector of Revenues and approved by the head of the Department of Civil Administration, and containing the requisites prescribed by Section 54 of Act 7 of the Laws of the Canal Zone enacted September 1, 1904, shall be sufficient warrant for the proceedings to seize and sell property sufficient to satisfy the amount of taxes, penalties, and costs due in each case, and the moneys acquired by the Collector of Revenues at such sale shall be duly accounted for by him to the Treasurer of the Canal Zone, in like manner as other public moneys received by him; and in making returns thereof he shall show the total amount of proceeds received from such sale, the amount of taxes, penalties, and costs, and any surplus remaining that may have been paid over to the delinquent taxpayer for the payment of such surplus.

Section 5. The owner of personal property seized may redeem the same from the Collector of Revenues at any time before the sale, but not afterwards, by tendering to him or his deputy the amount of the taxes, penalties, and costs up to the time of the tender; the costs to be charged in making such seizure and sale shall only embrace the actual expense of the seizure and preservation of the property pending the sale, and no charge shall be imposed for the services of the collecting officer.

The purchaser at a tax sale of personal property shall acquire an indefeasible title to the property sold, and the officer making the sale shall execute a bill of sale of such property to the purchaser.

Section 6. The provision of said Act 7 of the Canal Zone Laws, relating to the forfeiture of real estate and other immovable property to the municipalities, formerly existing, in default of bidders at tax sales, and the procedure therein established in such cases, and the conditions therein prescribed in respect to the redemption of such property by the delinquent taxpayers, and the execution of deeds to the municipalities thereunder when the property was not duly redeemed shall apply hereafter to the Canal Zone Government, and the property shall pass to the Canal Zone government in default of bidders at such tax sales, in like manner and form as it did to the abolished municipalities under the said Act 7.

Section 7. Deeds conveying title to real estate or to improvements thereon executed by the Collector of Revenues or his deputies to private persons or to the Canal Zone government under tax sales pursuant to law, shall convey all right, title, and interest of the delinquent, taxpayer in and to the property sold, on the date of such sale, and shall be entitled to registration in the real estate records of the district in which the property is situated.

Section 8. All the provisions of said Act 7 of the Canal Zone Laws relating to the levy, assessment, and payment of taxes and the enforced collection thereof which conferred powers and imposed duties on the officials of the abolished municipalities shall be held to apply to the Collector of Revenues, and, hereafter, he shall exercise and discharge all of said powers and duties in person or through his deputies in the respective administrative districts.

Section 9. All laws, orders, or decrees in conflict with this Order are hereby repealed, but the repeal shall not affect any action or procedure that may have been taken or had under preexisting laws and such action or procedure if not terminated shall be proceeded with in conformity with this Order as near as may be; and, provided further, property now delinquent for taxes may be sold to satisfy the taxes due thereon under the provisions hereof in like manner as may be done with property becoming delinquent hereafter.

Section 10. Nothing in this Executive Order shall be held to deprive the Chairman and Chief Engineer or the head of the Department of Civil Administration from exercising any power or authority now conferred on them, or either of them, by law in relation to the appointment of officers and employees, or the supervision of the work of officers and employees responsible or reporting to them, or to either of them.

Wm. H. Taft.

The White House,

October 4, 1910.