Section 30. The City Assessor — His Powers and Duties. —

The city assessor shall have charge of the department of assessment. He shall receive a salary of not exceeding two thousand four hundred pesos per annum. He and his authorized deputies are empowered to administer any oath authorized in connection with the valuation of real estate for the assessment and collection of taxes. He shall make a list of the taxable real estate in the city, arranging in the order of the lot and block numbers the names of the owners thereof, with a brief description of the property opposite each such name 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. For the purpose of completing this list, he and his representatives may enter upon the real estate for the purpose of examining and measuring it, and may summon witnesses, administer oaths to them, and subject them to examination concerning the ownership and the amount of real estate and its cash value. He may, if necessary, examine the records of the Office of the Register of Deeds and of the Office of the Provincial Treasurer in the Province of Leyte showing the ownership of real estate in the city. The city treasurer shall act as city assessor until the municipal board, by ordinance approved by the Department Head, provides otherwise.