The City Assessor.
Section 25
Sec. 25. The City Assessor. - There shall be a city assessor who shall have the following general powers and duties: He shall annually assess and value for taxation the real estate of the city, and for this purpose is empowered to administer in the assessment or collection of taxes. He shall make a list of all taxable real estate in the city and the names of the owners thereof, with a brief description opposite their names of the property owned by them and the cash value thereof. In making this list the city assessor shall take into consideration any sworn statement made by-the owners of the property, but shall not be prevented thereby from considering other evidence on the subject, and exercising his own judgment in respect thereto. Tor the purpose of completing this list he is authorized to simmon witnesses, administer oaths to them and subject them to examination concerning the amount of real estate, its ownership, and cash value. If the city assessor is unable to discover the owner of any real estate, he shall never the less list the same for taxation and charge the same against an unknown owner. In case of doubt or dispute as to ownership of real.estate, the taxes shall he levied against the possessor or possessors thereof. Where it shall appear that there are separate owners of the land and the improvements thereon, a separate assessment of the property of each-shall be made. If it shall-be discovered by the city assessor, or brought to his attention that any taxable real.estate in the city hus escaped listing, it shall be his duty at once to list and value the same and it shall be the duty of the city treasurer forthwith to charge against the owner thereof the taxes due for the current year and for all other years since the original assessment, and the taxes thus assessed shall be added to'the back taxes as if they were assessed at the time when they should have been assessed. He shall complete the listing and valuation of all real estate situated within the city on or:before the thirty-first day of December of each year, and when completed shall authenticate the same by signing the following certificate at the foot of the list: I hereby certify that the foregoing list contains a true statement of the piece or pieces of taxable real.estate belonging to each person.named in the list, and its. true cash value, and that no real estate taxable by law in Quezon City has been omitted from the list, according to the best of my knowledge and belief. City Assessor" He shall, when the list is completed, inform the public by notice published for seven days in a newspaper of general circulation in the city, if any, and by notice posted for seven days at the main entrance of the municipal building, that the list is on file in his office, and may be examined by any person interested therein, and that upon the date fixed in. the. notice, which shall not be later than the tenth day of January, the city assessor will be in his office for the purpose of hearing complaints as to the accuracy of the listing of the property and the assessed value thereof. It shall be his duty carefully to preserve and record in his office copies of said notices. On the day fixed in the notice, and for five days thereafter, he shall be present in his office to hear all complaints filed within that period by persons against whom taxes have been assessed as owners of real estate, and he shall make his decision forthwith and enter the same in a well-bound book, to be kept by him fo that purpose, and if he shall determine that, injustice has been done or errors have been committed he is authorized to amend the list in accordance with his findings. He shall attend all meetings of the board of tax appeals and furnish it with all written evidence in his pos session relating to assessment and valuation. He shall likewise furnish the city treasurer with a list of taxable real estate, the respective assessments thereof and against whom assessed, and such other information as the city treasurer may require for the collection of taxes.