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Show Not Kick-en - Just Explain-in By G. B Workman In recent months the Legislative Council published an article' in which they recommended that the office of County assessor be' abolished, ab-olished, and that the property taxes to be collected and assessed by the State Tax Commission. This commission as you know are appointed by the Governor. Due to the fact that nearly all commercial machinery (oil rigs and sixemograph machines, trucks and equipment) moved out of our county, our machinery valuation is considerable less than for last year. Also is it well known, because be-cause of the extreme drough in the Northwestern part of Duchesne Du-chesne County, many farmers and livestock men had' to sell their stock, because they had no winter feed. As a result our livestock numbers are considrable less than for 1955. But we thought that in spite of this loss in valuation, which no one could help, that we would get some $300,000 to $400,000 dollars assessed value from our new pipe line which was installed in 1955. But to our surprise when we got the returns from the State Tax Commission, they had assessed the oil company $360,000, but for some unknown reason had depreciated de-preciated the old line and machinery machin-ery some $410,000. This left us with $50,000 less value from this source, in spite of the new line, for 1956 than we goet in 1955. To my way of thinking this is POLITICAL BUNK The old Republican Re-publican line of catering to Big Business. Your valuations and mine were not given such unreasonable un-reasonable and unfair reductions. The boys on Capitol Hill really did a god job that time. Maybe we had 'better turn the job of assessing as-sessing and collecting over to them. They probably could depreciate de-preciate values so that hone of us would have to pay any property tax. But let me say that as long at Lee and his hand-picked bunch are there, there will be little or no relief for the common or little man. Last year because of the increased levy by the State and local units the people of our county paid some $160,000.00 more in tax money than they did the previous year. Now with this loss of values in our county, I see little or no relief for this year. If the Governor will be kind enough to take off the State Levy, which he has done the past three or four electtion years, (but put right back after election) maybe we will be able to get by with about the same levy as last year. Up to 19.60 mills over 1954. So here we go what the heck, I was not kick-en, just explain-in. G. B. W. |