243.370. Drainage taxes constitute a lien--court action when delinquent--proceedings--evidence.
Drainage taxes constitute a lien--court action whendelinquent--proceedings--evidence.
243.370. 1. All drainage taxes provided for in thischapter, including maintenance taxes, together with all penaltiesfor default in payment of the same, all costs in collecting thesame, including a reasonable attorney's fee to be fixed by thecourt and taxed as costs in the action brought to enforcepayment, shall from date of the levying of the same by the countycommission as provided in this chapter, until paid, constitute alien, to which only the lien of the state for state, county,school and road taxes shall be paramount, upon all of the landsassessed, and shall be collected, in the same manner as state,county and school taxes upon real estate are collected.
2. The said tax shall become delinquent if not paid on orbefore the thirty-first day of December of the year for whichsaid taxes were levied, and when so delinquent shall bearinterest at the rate of one percent per month until paid, eachfractional month being counted as a full month.
3. The liens established and declared in this section mayand shall be enforced by an action on delinquent tax bills, madeand certified by the county collector which shall be institutedin the circuit court without regard to the amount of the claimwithin six months after December thirty-first of the year forwhich said taxes were levied. The suit shall be brought by theattorney for the drainage district in the name of, and to the useof, the collector of the revenue, of the county wherein the landlies, against the land or other property, on which such drainagetax has not been paid.
4. The pleadings, process, proceedings, practice and sales,in cases arising under this chapter, shall except as hereinprovided, be the same as in an action for the enforcement of thestate's lien for delinquent general taxes upon real estate. Allsales of lands made under this section shall be by the sheriff,as is now provided under the general revenue law. All sheriff'sdeeds executed and delivered, pursuant to this chapter, shallhave the same probative force as deeds executed under judgmentsfor delinquent general state taxes and in actions institutedunder this chapter. The same abbreviations shall be allowed andthe aforesaid drainage tax book shall have the same probativeeffect as the back tax bill has in actions for the enforcement ofthe state's lien for general taxes upon real estate.
5. The title acquired through any sale of lands or otherproperty under the aforesaid proceedings shall be subject to thelien of all subsequent annual installments of drainage tax. Inall suits for the collection of delinquent taxes, the judgmentfor said delinquent taxes and penalty shall also include allcosts of suit and a reasonable attorney's fee to be fixed by thecourt, recoverable the same as the delinquent tax and in the samesuit. The proceeds of sales made under and by virtue of thischapter shall be paid at once to the county treasurer and shallbe accounted for by him the same as the drainage taxes.
6. The drainage tax books of this district shall be primafacie evidence in all courts of all matters therein contained.
(RSMo 1939 § 12417)Prior revisions: 1929 § 10828; 1919 § 4496; 1909 §§ 5599, 5600
CROSS REFERENCE:
Delinquent taxes, drainage districts may redeem land, when, RSMo 140.380