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Show Jeff Merc Wins Suit Charging Inequitable Tax Formula; ZCMI Starts Suit in Salt Lake The methods, principles and formulaes used by the Utah State Tax Commission in assessing retail merchandise for tax purposes arc "illegal, unenforceable and contrary to the Constitution and Statutory Provisions of the State of Utah, and are wrongful, arbitrary, and are, in effect, intentionally discriminator)- and excessive . . . in violation of the Constitutional Constitu-tional provisions requiring uniformity of assessment and assessment as-sessment of property in proportion to its value in money.'- That was the language used by Fifth District Judge Will L. Hoyt in a decree ordering Rondo T. Farrer, treasurer of Beaver County, to refund $570.09 together with interest at 6 from Nov. 1, 1957, to the Jefferson Mercantile Co. of Milford. Jefferson Mercantile Co. had sued the county assessor the Utah State Tax Commission Com-mission and the Beaver C'.niity treasurer, charging over-assessment and asked judgment and icfund of excess ex-cess taxes paid. A similar suit was filed in Iron County by Mr Jefferson and Al Cline, doing business as the Southwestern Distrib- j uting Company. A similar suit filed for recovery re-covery of excess 1956 taxes paid was heard by Judge Hoyt, and after he handed down a verdict favoring plaintiffs and ordered refund of $542.42 in excess taxes paid, the Utah State Tax Commission amended amend-ed its "instructions" to coun-I coun-I ty assessors regarding meth- ods of assessing taxes. I Previously, county assessors I had been instructed to assess j merchandise owned by retail merchants for resale at cost, while assesssing livestock at "a j value as a reasonable cash value which was 50 of the price which the owner thereof could have obtained on a sale in cash; and 50 of the fair market value thereof as of 12 I o'clock noon, Jan. 1st, 1956; "On real estate and improvements, im-provements, a value as a reasonable, reas-onable, cash value which was 50 of the price which the owners thereof could have obtained ob-tained on a sale in cash, and 50 of the fair market value thereof as of 12 o'clock noon. Jan. 1st, 1956." The complaint charged that the county assessor in arriving arriv-ing at an assessment of merchandise mer-chandise owned by retail merchants mer-chants for resale for the year 1956 used a basis of valuation of 40 of the actual cost, but in arriving at an assessment of livestock used a valuation varying between 372 and 50 of the price which . the Continued on Page Five HERE'S MORE ABOUT r DEER HUNT Continued from Page One operated by the Fish and Game Department. However, with uie extremely ex-tremely warm weather, all hunters were urged to get their game to a processing station as soon as possible after the kill. A total of 17-lo deer were checked through the Santa Clara station' by 1558 nonresident nonres-ident hunters the first week end. In Beaver, the kill to date seems "about normal," according accord-ing to local sportsmen, with the deer brought in being about equally divided between bucks and does. Merrill's Sporting Goods hail sold (up to Thursday morning) 950 non-resident licenses. li-censes. Ward Mood had issued 19C, and Hal Lund 250. Mrs. Charlotte Jacobs and daughter of Santa ' Monica Calif., called on her sister Mrs. Sadie Patterson, Satur-dav Satur-dav en route home from attending at-tending conference in Salt Lake. Another sister, Mrs, Wallace Mclntire, and her husband also visited with Mrs Patterson en route to the.r I home in Ontario. Cabf.. after a month's tour of Europe. A SO'N was born in the Provo Hospital to Mr. and Mrs. Leon l)ean. Beaver grand parents are Mr. and Mrs. Carl Dean. Home On Leave I.t. Frank Manz'one speni several davs at home th- week, enjoyi;ig the deer hunt. He left Tuesday for Rees" Air Force Base in Tc-xas. where he is now stationed. |