161 Iowa 504 | Iowa | 1913
Though acting in a different' capacity, the personnel of the city council and board of review are the same, and the
If, however, the language of such a statute is accompanied by negative words importing that the act or acts required shall not be done in a manner or at a time other than
In 2 Sutherland on Statutory Construction, section 611, the author concludes, after quoting from the cases, that: “Unless a fair consideration of a statute, directing the mode of proceeding of public officers, shows that the Legislature intended compliance with the provision in relation .thereto to be essential to the validity of the proceeding, it is to be regarded as directory merely. Those directions which are not of the essence of the thing to be done, but which are given with a view merely to the proper, orderly, and prompt conduct of the business, and by the failure to obey which the rights of those interested will not be prejudiced, are not commonly to be regarded as mandatory; and if the act is performed, but not in the time or in the precise mode indicated, it will still be sufficient, if that which is done accomplishes the substantial purposes, of the statute.”
Negative terms are quite generally treated as indicative of a legislative intent that the provision shall be imperative (State v. Russell, 90 Iowa, 572; Starling v. Bedford, 94 Iowa, 194), but as is stated in 26 Am. & Eng. Eney. of Law (2d Ed.) 689: “As a rule of universal application, this cannot be relied on, as provisions framed in negative language have
The county auditor is required by section 1377 of the Code to make out and transmit to the Auditor of State an abstract of the real and personal property in his county, and under the following section the executive council is required to meet as a board of review on the 2d Monday of July each year and after equalizing the valuation of properties between the several counties, which is required to be done before the first Monday of August, the Auditor of State must transmit to each county auditor a statement of the percentage to be added to or deducted from the valuation of each kind or class of property in his county, and shall certify the rate of said tax fixed as required by law. Section 1382, Code. Manifestly it is necessary that each officer or board shall perform