Taxation - Historical Notes

Assessor of Property

The following acts were superseded, repealed or failed to win local ratification, but they are listed here as a reference to laws which once affected the assessor in Wayne County.

1. Private Acts of 1911, Chapter 411, set the salaries of the Tax Assessors for several counties by amending Acts of 1907, Chapter 602, which had established guidelines for the assessor's salary. Wayne County was among those counties fixing the annual salary of the Tax Assessor of that County at $600 per year.
2. Private Acts of 1921, Chapter 924, stated that the Tax Assessor of Wayne County should be paid an annual salary of $900 on warrant drawn on the county treasury as now provided by law and that amount is hereby appropriated for that purpose.
3. Private Acts of 1937, Chapter 742, amended Private Acts of 1921, Chapter 924, by increasing the amount of the annual salary of the Tax Assessor provided for therein from $900 to $1,200 to be paid out of the county treasury.
4. Private Acts of 1945, Chapter 243, declared that in Wayne County the Tax Assessor shall be paid an annual salary of $1,800 in equal monthly installments out of the general funds of the County on the warrant of the County Judge or Chairman.

Taxation

The following is a listing of acts pertaining to taxation in Wayne County which are no longer effective. Also referenced below is an act which repeals prior law without providing new substantive provisions.

1. Acts of 1869-70, Chapter 30, which re-established Lewis County, directed the tax collectors of Wayne, Maury, Hickman and Lawrence Counties to pay over to the Trustee of Lewis County all taxes collected within Lewis County.
2. Private Acts of 1975, Chapter 2, applied to counties with a population of not less than 12,050 and no more than 13,000, which would include Wayne County. The Act specifically mentions Hickman County. This Act levied a privilege tax of $15 on all motor driven vehicles, except farm tractors and farm machines not usually driven on roads, scooters and government owned vehicles. The tax was $7.50 on motorcycles. The tax was to be paid to the County Court Clerk at the same time the State auto licenses were sold and a decal would be issued representing payment. The County Court Clerk would be paid 50 cents for each decal issued. Duplicates could be obtained if the original were destroyed, or stolen. Failure to comply was a misdemeanor. This Act was rejected by the Quarterly Court of Wayne County and never became an effective law under the Home Rule Amendment to the Constitution.
3. Private Acts of 1967, Chapter 32, established a litigation tax of $2 to be assessed and taxed as a part of the costs in all civil and criminal actions brought in the General Sessions Court of Wayne County, and a $4 cost in all civil or criminal actions originating in Circuit and Chancery Court. The Clerk of said Courts collected the litigation tax and paid the same into a separate fund designated as the "Wayne County Capital Improvement Fund" to be used exclusively toward erecting and equipping a new jail to be constructed in Wayne County. This act was repealed by the Private Acts of 1992, Chapter 241.