PHILLIPS LEE GOLDSBOROUGH, GOVERNOR. 7

SEC. 245-E. Be it enacted, That the Board of Aldermen,
upon such terms as shall be prescribed by Ordinance, shall sit
as a Board of Equalization and Review, and may either upon
appeal by a property owner, or upon its own motion, value any
taxable property, increase, diminish or abate any property not
heretofore assessed, or increase the valuation of any property,
they shall first give notice to the owner or person in charge of
said property, in such manner as shall be prescribed by ordi-
nance, to show cause why the same should not be valued, or the
valuation thereof not increased, as the case may be; and said
Board shall have power to correct erroneous assessments and to
hear complaint thereunder and to adjust any assessment found
by it to be erroneous, if any person, persons or corporation shall
feel aggrieved by the assessment or valuation of the assessors,
either in an intermediate or general assessment, or by the as-
sessment or valuation of the City Register, or by any proceeding
of theirs or his, in revising, amending, correcting, changing or
revaluing the assessment on the property of such person, per-
sons or corporations, he, she, they or it, may appeal to the
Board of Aldermen, whose duty it shall be, under such terms
as may be prescribed by ordinance, to examine into the merits
of such appeal, and their decision in the premises shall be final
on all questions of fact, and questions concerning the valuation
of said property; but whenever a question of law is involved,
the petitioner may appeal to the Circuit Court for Frederick
County, provided the appeal be taken within thirty days after
the decision of the Board of Aldermen, when sitting as a Board
of Equalization and Review. When an appeal has been taken,
the Circuit Court for Frederick County shall appoint a day for
hearing such appeal, which shall not be less than five nor more
than thirty days after the expiration of the thirty days limited
for taking appeals as aforesaid. The Circuit Court for Freder-
ick County shall have full power to hear and fully examine into
and decide all questions of law involved in said appeal, and for
that purpose it is hereby authorized and empowered to adjourn
from time to time, and may cause all or any of such appeals
to be consolidated, or may hear and decide them separately, and
may require all such persons as said Court may deem necessary
to attend, and examine them on oath or affirmation, and may
permit and require all such amendments and additions to be
made to and of the proceedings as the Court shall deem requisite.
The party appealing to the Circuit Court for Frederick County
shall have a trial before the Court, upon the questions of law
involved, without the intervention of a jury, and the Court