| OCR Text |
Show i TAX PROBLEM DISCUSSED BY ONE WMOWS Ex County Commissioner Gives Sidelights Side-lights on Some Causes for the Heavy Tax Burden Tho following statement with reference ref-erence to Bomo conditions which exist ex-ist that tend to mako the taxes in Cacho County high on the property owner, has been prepared by Ex-County Commissioner O It "Cronqulst. Mr. Cronqulst has given tho question ques-tion of taxes considerable study and is In a position to speak authorlta- lively on this all important sublet. t Since the holding "of the taxpayers convention at Nlbloy Hall Wednesday December 22, 1915, at which members mem-bers of tho State Hoard of Equalization Equaliza-tion were present, thero havo boon many discussions on tho question of taxation from various ang'.es. Tho V wholo contention of the state board M was to Justify their present position S to assess property on tho actual cash 'M valuation basis, Including all ral j estate, Improvements, livestock"," etc., M in fact all property that Is not ox-B ox-B erupted by law, to bo assessed at ac-iSj ac-iSj tual cash value. ffl Chairman William Dallcy of the M State Hoard, had many facts In hand M and lie stated his caso In a way that J It tickled tho ears of his hearers and tm ho received a hearty hand clap when IM ho told his audience that ho favored m excluding all Improvements from tho m tax roles. A bowed head was tho result when ho stated that to reduco jH the waste of public money which goes tho road building would suffer. Tho farmers could not seo what they wero I being led Into if wo do not assess I improvements. Tho burden would M again fall upon tho farms. X Why did not Mr. Balloy say that S ho favored a proposition whereby ma- I chlnery and horses would bo exempt m" If ho really wanted to lighten tho M" burden of the farmers? If thero Is m anything that should bo exempt from M taxation, in my opinion, It shou'd bo h the motlvo power used In tho dovel- opment of the farm, such as the V horses and machinery. Tho farm Is j taxed to tho oxtcnt of Its productive-ft. productive-ft. ness, nnd then tho equipment is tax-S tax-S ed which Is used to produce tho In-R',. In-R',. como, Instead of removing Improve-K; Improve-K; ments from tho tax roles, I am firmly wj of tho opinion that tho farm is suf-f suf-f flclently taxed when tho real estate SJH has been included. If the taxpayers H will reason this out with themsolvcs fink they will sure nrrlvo at tho samo con-(Sfe' con-(Sfe' elusion. Instcail of pointing out to tho tax- MrS pnjers assembled that road building 2P? wou,(1 suitor if wo curtailed our pros- jft ent tax Incomo, why did not tho ino speaker suggest that it would bo im- fix possible, to curtail tho oxpenso In) S the ofllccs of tho various state, do- iffi partments? Tho best facts wo havo shown HM conclusively that more than 80 per Hr cent of tho tax money goes to tho yjf schools. Why not curtail somo of f th waste of public money which goes ia to blgh salaried men? Wo want lr moro monoy on our roadB If it la jl spent Judiciously and wisely. It Is .5 not this Item of oxponso that tho tax- payers aro objecting to. J Tho tax on real estate is becoming tJ such a burdon that in many instances yj it takes moro than tho amount pro- duccd on J)io land, over and above if tho actual oxponso of producing the ' income, to pay tho taxes. This bur- den cou'd bo reduced in many ways. , It Is not fair to tax land beyond what ' it will produce under good cultiva- Why aro wo so scared about lotting j tho wealthy corporations stand their ; . portion of the tax burden? Tho farmers farm-ers seem to be afraid thoy will Btop . on tho toos of tho officials thoy havo i o'ectcd to be tholr servants. Aro thoy J not our servants? Will Mr. Balloy m toll tho Cacho county farmers wb,y fcjL tho assessment of tho Blacksmith JFork canyon power plant was reduced fcg from $05,000 to $05,000 by his board? SL At tho samo tlmo will ho also oxplaln flfet,tho reasons why his board was plac-Mlng plac-Mlng a blanket ralso of 25 per cent on r$all Cacho county real estato while JBLjJhls reduction was being mado on OlBftho power plant? T1iIr action by tho wboard was taken in 1014, Just pro-IKCvlcun pro-IKCvlcun to this a reduction on the as-HRiessed as-HRiessed va'uatlon of tho Oregon Short KjlLIno Interosts In tills county, wero Dp reduced $15,000. In theso two items B Is found n reduction of $45,000, Was k i this reduction on theso corporation mado up by tho 25 per cent increase en Cacho county real ostato. Not only wero reductions mado In thes? two public utilities mentioned, but tho board reduced tho valuation oi practically all pub'Ic utilities In tho county. It Is hard to make tho farm ers and taxpayers of this section ol the state feel that tho state board of equalization Is tho friend of tho far mor In vlow of these facts. A corporation In Logan City which under the law Is exmpt from taxes was satisfied with a $0,000 assessment assess-ment which our assessor placed on tho corporation nnd Would havo paid taxes on that amount. But Mr. Bnll-ey Bnll-ey Bald No. Wo must lncrcaso the valuation of that concern many times tho $0,000. An appeal was made from Mr. Bailey's decision nn.l the concern, on tho advice of Its attorn oy, paid taxes on $125, simply nn amount to thko caro of the furniture in tho ofllco. Wo should have had upwards of $330 In the count:; traaB ury and we got $7 because outside Influences moddlcd In tho affair. Tho farmers and taxpayers should offect n strong organization that will stand for legislation that will Include such laws which bring about a Jusl and fair valuation on assomblo propel prop-el ty. This organization should stand for tho election of members of the etaTo board of equalization by popular popu-lar vote. In this way wo could Bolect men who would represent U3 fairly men who have a knowledge of values of land. In tho matter of nrrlvlng at Mo proper valuation to bo placed ori real estnte, when tho readjustment to a cash basis is made this spring, the commissioners should meet With n ropiesontatlvo committee, appointed by the people of each town or pre-clnct pre-clnct and discuss these, problems together, to-gether, exchange Ideas and then each community wi'.l know what is going on in tho communities around them in tho wny of assessments. In this way a better feeling will main tain. Tho commissioners should meot several dajs with this committee commit-tee and dcternilno on tho apprnlso-mont, apprnlso-mont, whether tho present valuations' are to bo Increased ono, two or three, times tho present valuations. It must- be j-ememboredHjiat'no'fnrm land should bo assessed for more than it wli produce under gopd cultivation. cul-tivation. Because seme assessable property should bo Increased in value moro than two and a half times the present valuation, In ordor to get tho needed revonuo tho present ex penso of tho state demands, It cannot can-not bo shown whore farm prorerty should bo incrensed moro than two nnd n half times tho present vnlua" tlons. If It is, then the tax burden will bo ovon higher than at proceut. This Is a matter for tho taxpayers to pay particular attention to. |
