Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 49 Part 1.djvu/1417

 137 2 74i CONGRESS. SESS. II. CHS. 449, 450. MAY 26, 1936. Proviso. State sanction. premises : Provided, however, That the city of Buffalo shall have secur ed the s anction and con sent of the Sta te of N ew York through its constituted a gencies. Approved, May 26, 1936. [CHA PTER 450 .] AN ACT May 26, 1936. [H.R.8287.1 To establish an assessed valuation real property tax in the Virgin Islands of the [Public, No. 616 .] U nited State s. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Establishment of United States o f America in Congress assembled, That it is the policy assessed v aluation re al of C ongress to equa lize an d more equitabl y to di stribute existi ng property tax ° taxes on real property in the Virgin Islands of the United States and to reduce the burden of taxation now imposed on land in productive use in such islands. Ba sed on ac tual SEC. 2 . For the calendar year 1936 and for all succeeding years value. al l taxes on real proper ty in th e Virgi n Island s shall be comp uted uniform rate in each municipality. on the basis of the actual value of such property and the rate in eack municipality of such islands shall be the same for all real property subject to taxation in such municipality whether or not such prop- erty is in cultivation and regardless of the use to which such property is put. Provisional rate. SEC. 3. Until local tax laws conforming to the requirements of this Act are in effect in a municipality the tax on real property in such municipality for any such calendar year shall be at the rate of President to pre- 1 .25 per centum of the assessed value. If the l egis lativ e au thori ty scribe regulations ifno municipal levre, etc. of a municipality shall fail to enact laws for the levy, assessment, collection, or enforcement of any tax imposed under authority of th is Act within t hree mo nths aft er the date of its ena ctment, the President shall then prescribe regulations for the levy, assessment, collection, and enforcement of such tax, which shall be in effect until the legislative authority of such municipality shall make regulations for such purposes. Deposit of collections. SEC. 4 . All taxes so levied and collected shall be deposited in the municipal treasury of the municipality in which such taxes are collected. Virgin i slands C om- SEC. 5. The Virgin Islands Company shall pay annually into the Pant ° Parements bre, in lieu municipal treasuries of the Virgin Islands in lieu of taxes an amount of taxes. equal to the amount of taxes which would be payable on the real property in the Virgin Islands owned by the United States and in the possession of the Virgin Islands Company, if such real property were in private ownership and taxable, but the valuation placed upon such property for taxation purposes by the local taxing authorities shall be reduced to a reasonable amount by the Secretary of the Interior if, after investigation, he finds that such valuation is excessive and unreasonable. The Virgin Islands Company shall also pay into the municipal treasuries of the Virgin Islands amounts equal to the amounts of any taxes of general application which a private corporation similarly situated would be required to pay into other prop erty the said treasuries. Similar payments shall be made with respect St ates . bre the United to any property owned by the United States in the Virgin Islands which is used for ordinary business or commercial purposes, and the income derived from any property so used shall be available for making such payments.