Show S SPoor S to A Poor System of Tax Collection S THERE Is something wrong with wIt a a. system of property tax assessment as- as J. J and collection which can pem permit a piece of or property io jo o ride O on t th the tax rolls for 14 years without a penny of tax being collected and with th the bill for unpaid id taxes plus Interest then eing being settled at ft R. figure which amounts to something ing lik like 20 cent on the dollar That was the situation revealed the other day by the pay- pay nent of 1 in settlement of a tax yea years years' tand- tand Ing involving the Salt Sat Lake Memorial mausoleum 1001 Eleventh avenue venue Here is the history of this case The mausoleum objected to tc the basis of assessment used by the c county when it fixed originally an an assessed value of on the property consistIng consistIng consist consist- Ing wg of five acres of ground bui buildings dings and improvements It refused to pay taxes assessed against the property Flo From 1930 to to o 1936 the unpaid taxes nc not t including any penalty or interest amounted to After 1936 no taxes were assessed against the property because the county took title but if taxes tad had been regu regularly arly assessed and certai certainly the county w was s still entitled to tax revenue from this income property they would have ave ani am amounted to The total taxes which the county S have received over these 14 years amounted to Under ti the law there is a 2 pe per cent penalty charge o on all delinquent ent t taxes plus pius 8 per cent interest a year If that penalty and interest were figured up and added to the total of unpaid taxes axes the amount due would have been something more than Now it may be that the basis bash of assessment on this property Was as wrong The county counEy officially any admits this to be the case now ow because cause it has dropped tb the assessment from the original to for 1944 Were We're not arguing about that But if f the e assessment nt was wrong then why wasn't it changed long ago W Why let Jet this tax delinquent property stand on the county's books without doing anything about it without collecting any taxes on it without making any attempt to liquidate the property prop prop- erty to which the county had taken tax title for 1 14 years S That doesn't make sense In the first place it isn't good business and in the second pl place ce if it is common practice in the handling of tax delinquent property it opens the way to all kinds of Cf abuse and fife evasion of legitimate tax payments Property taX taxes are supposed to be levied on ona a fair and qui ble basis If they are not the taxpayer has avenues by he can s seek ek a proper adjustment Any tax controversy should be settled promptly and fairly fairly and and then that settlement strictly enforced C Certainly the answer is not to let the thing drag on for years with no action to collect the taxes directly or through rough disposal of the property |