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Show .' TO BE INVESTIGATED Undervaluation of Property ' in Utah County Partly Defended. j": Board of Equalization Hears Reports From Special Investigators. The state board of equalization discussed dis-cussed yesterday reports from its special spe-cial investigators with regard to the assessed as-sessed valuation of various counties in the state south of Utah and Juab counties coun-ties and including, as well as those counties, "Wayne, Garfield and Kane counties. Today the investigators, Adam L. Petersen Pe-tersen and James T. Hammond, Jr., will begin a tour of counties north of Salt IjRke, including Davis, Weber, Morgan, Summit and Rich. This is part of a plan to be adopted by the state board, in an attempt no: only to equalize the assessment between the counties, but also to br.ng the assessments assess-ments up to something Lke the actual cash value of the property assessed. In a few instances assessments on some classes of property may have to be revised re-vised downward. Utah county was visited by the state board Monday. Its assessment figures were investigated with considerable care. It was found, among other things, that farm lands were assessed at something like 55 per cent of their actual value in Utah county. Facts regarding transfers of property and loans were brought out from the county records to prove this. The county commissioners, sitting as a board of equalization, admitted it and it was written into the record of the meeting. Position Well Taken. The defense was that other counties of the stale are assessing their farm lands at similarly low figures, and if the Utah county residents are not to be made to bear more than their share of the burden of taxes in the state, their lands must be assessed at low values. The reports made by the board's spe-. spe-. cial investigators so fax indicate that the position of the Utali county board of equalization is well taken, so far as the - at tit tide of other counties is concerned. ; ; The matter of raising the assessed valuation ot t'tah county was left with t the state board of equalization, with the ' understanding that it will act when It r has made similar investigations in every county in the state. i, The board has undertaken to make ; these investigations. In some instances 9 it wi.'I visit the counties. In other instances in-stances the 'county ofl'ic.als will be asked to visit the board, because, in the short month remaining before the count.es must fix their tax levies for 1319. there is an immense amount of work to do. Raise Is Expected. It is predicted that the general action j of the board will be to raise the assessed valuations on tarm lands, if the county omm ss oners. sitting a.s boards of equalization, do not do this themselves. Salt Lake county will be included in the list. It is predicted that farm lands in Salt Lake county will take on a higher . valuation on the assessment rolls. And Salt Lake county acreage has been assessed as-sessed nearly ftfO per acre, while only one other county has assessed its acreage acre-age at more than $:h an acre. One or two counties assess acreage at less than ?5 an acre. The state board of equalization also agreed with the Utah county comm.s-s. comm.s-s. oners that rev sion of assessments of merchandise should be left to the state board. Some of the larger stores in Utah county, it was found, have been assessed at low figures for their stock. Others have been assessed at higher figures, in proportion. To Undertake Revision. Under the same agreement, the county board of equalization will undertake to' revise the livestock assessments and the assessment of banks. By comparison with county records. such as chattel mortgages, it was shown that in individual indi-vidual instances the county assessor found livestock in numbers only about CO per cent of the numbers stated by the owners thereof, in other records. The county commissioners will look Into this matter and will report to the state board this month. In one Instance, at least, it was found a bank had beer, assessed at figures which stock transfers did not justify. Work similar to that carried on in Utah countv is to be done in every county in the state this month, in the effort to bring the assessed valuation of the state up to an equitable basis all over the state, with the constitutional provision requ'iring a cash value assessment for all property, in mind. In the meantime, the county assessors are asked not to fix their tax levies until the assessed valuation of the company has been finally fixed. This is the action ac-tion required by law, and it is deemed the logical action as well. Otherwise, if the tax levy is fixed, and the valuation valua-tion of a- county ra'sed afterward, the revenue of the county resulting is in excess ex-cess of its estimated needs. The taxpayers tax-payers bear the burden. Southern Trip Reported. With the raised valuation, lower tax levies may in many instances be found poss:ble, it is the hope of the state board. Mr. Petersen and Mr. Hammond reported re-ported in detail yesterday on their southern south-ern trip. Their investigation was made ; from the county records so far as pos- sible. Their aim has been to get at the i actual facts in the matter of valuation, without in anv manner crittc:sing the judgment of the county off iclnls. who were doing what they deemed in the best interests of their county, under the circumstances cir-cumstances as they appeared at the time the valuations were made. Incidentally, the two special investigators investi-gators reported that drought conditions , in the counties they visited are severe, and especially on the Arizona strip, where, on account of the scarcity of water, wa-ter, grazing is very scarce. |