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Show MINUTE INSTRUCTIONS ARE ! PREPARED FOR ASSESSORS; Will Be Sent Out at an Early Date to the Officials Offi-cials of the Twenty-eight Counties. THE first complete and accurate draft of the instructions of the state board of equalization, to be printed at once and sent to all county assessors in L'tah for their guidance in the making up of their rolls for the ensuing year, was considered consid-ered and approved yesterday by the board. The instructions are explicit and amplify the general agreement reached at the convention of assessors and county commissioners held February Febru-ary 6 and"". They are as follows: Real K state This property should be divided into four classes, specifying the number of acres in each "class, as follows: (a) farm lands, which should include all lands owned or held for farm purposes, pur-poses, present or prospective, w-hether broken up or not, whether in pasture, hay or grain; (b) fruit lands, should "include only lands planted to orchard for commercial purposes and not the few trees on the home lot of the owner; (c) grazing lands, should include only mountain range lands such as are used for lambing purposes, outside grazing of cattle, horses, etc.; (d) other lands, should include those which might be termed waste lands, such as creek beds, swamps, alkali lands, lands used as streets, rocky wastes, etc. Makes Check Complete. If real estate is properly entered in the rolls, as suggested above, the aggregate will equal the amount of land owned by the individual in ; each particular tract and thereby a complete check on each section may be had. Real estate must be entered on the rolls according to section, township town-ship and range in their regular order or-der as prescribed by law, and in order that this may" be effectually done the county commissioners should see that the assessors are furnished with up-to-date present ownership maps. State lands As the equity only that each individual holds in" these lands is assessable, it is imperative impera-tive that not only the description of the land be entered, but the certificate cer-tificate numbers as well, and the valuation as furnished by the state board of land commissioners should be carried into the money and solvent credit column. Assessors should, and are required by law. to visit either in person or by deputy every piece of land they assess, and it "should be listed at what it is worth, regardless of its classification or location. Another Suggestion. We are mindful of the fact that January 1 is not the time when this work can best be done, and therefore would recommend that the assessors diligently make their classifications earlier, before the ground is covered with snow, and note the same upon their blotters ready for the January assessment. City lots City lots should be entered en-tered 'bv lot and block in consecutive consecu-tive order and in no instance should the acreage be carried into the column col-umn of acreage for farm lands. Improvements Care should be taken to assess all improvements with the land upon which they are located, as the taxes then become a lien on the real estate. There should also be a short description of the improvements entered upon the roll in the column printed for that purpose. pur-pose. Livestock The basis for the assessment as-sessment of livestock is as follows: Range cattle, $33 per head; milk cows. $40 ner head; horses weigh-ing weigh-ing from 800 to 1200 pounds. $40 to $73 each; from 1200 pounds to 1.500 pounds, $100 to $123 each; sheep, range variety, $7 per head; blooded rams, $25 "per head. The state board, however, is of the opinion that these prices placed on cattle and sheep are low. The convention con-vention placed these values, however, how-ever, as a basis only, and not as 1 the maximum price. j Task Is Difficult. i Merchandise The difficulty of , securing an accurate knowledge of the value of merchandise carried by an individual or firm is realized; rea-lized; but attention is called to the fact that every merchant knows what stock he-carries and you are entitled to that knowledge. Ordinarily Ordi-narily a stock of merchandise is worth what it cost the owner. Their book accounts are also assessable in so far as they arc solvent, bearing bear-ing in mind.v of course, that defots are deductible therefrom. It is j urged that assessors give this prop- : erty careful consideration, and see that if bears its proper share of j taxation. , ! It is agreed that all sugar in the hands of manufacturers January 1 j should be assessed at $5 per bag of 100 pounds each. Mining machinery and improvements improve-ments It is the duty of the county assessor to visit each year, either in person or by deputy, all the mines in his countv and make a complete list of all improvements and machinery' at each mine, and submit this with his values to the state board of equalization. ,The assessors are urged to give this matter more careful consideration thac has been done in the past. Farm Machinery. Farm machinery Farm machinery machin-ery should be itemized and listed list-ed on the assessors' blotters so that when the county board of equalization equaliza-tion meets there can be given them full information as to these assessments. assess-ments. Money and credits This class of property is more difficult of assessment as-sessment than any other. The laws of Utah, however, regard this property prop-erty the same as all other classes, anil it is the duty of the eountv assessor to put forth his best efforts ef-forts to get it upon the assessment rolls. Solvent credits consist of notes secured or unsecured, judgments, judg-ments, debts and accounts due 'and payable by solvent persons or firms to others. Every person before being be-ing assessed for solvent credits is entitled to deduct from such solvent sol-vent credits all that he may be owing ow-ing to others, excepting only insurance in-surance premiums, which are not deductible. It is believed that a reasonable degree of success will obtain if the proner effort is put forth in finding this property. Bank stock should be assessed to each individual stockholder, and not to the bank itself. Let the assessor as-sessor write upon his rolls in succession suc-cession the names of each stockholder, stock-holder, the number of shares of stock held bv each, Rnd the value thereof. While the bank pays the tax, it must be assessed as 'stated here. ' , The value that should be placed upon bank stock is the fair market price. It should be treated the same as any other class of property. prop-erty. A 'bill is now pending before the" legislature placing this property prop-erty in a class by itself. Should this fail in passing, however, this property should be entered in the money and solvent credit column. In conclusion the assessors are admonished ad-monished to cultivate the confidence of the people and to invite their co-operation in securing an honest assessment under the law. |