Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1857-01-31
For the Grant County Herald.
Proposed change in the mode o
Assessing Property.

ASScSSknS xAORCAAJs
Mr.. EprroR:-I have read in the Mil
waukee Sentinel, an article calling on the
Legislature to alter the mode of assessing
and recommending some way to get at 8
more just and equal valuation of property
| / happen to know something Of the way
the assessing process has been going on
! There are some men in my knowledge
who have not over 5000 or $500 worth o
personal property when the assessor comes
vet having in realityg$2, 900 to $4,000 al
interest. Their stock and tools could mol
be had for less than $1,000 to $4,000
In fact there is hardly man in our Town
whose property is not worth as many
Thousands as he is assessed hundreds of dol
lars. The most of men give the assessor
la full list of all their stock and tools, but
those who have money at interest, secured
by notes and mortgages drawing IL to 20
per cent interest, have no personal prop
|erty, no money at interest! Again, some
men having turned all their lands and eff
fects into money, like fleas hop from town
to town to eyade assessors and tax collec-
tors-jumping from Beetown to Lancaster
just before assessing time, then somewhere
else few days, then up the river a while,
but having cuckoo nest somewhere in
the county for Matching out money to loan
ION mortgage. The law should provide some
method of reaching these classes Of pro-
fessional money-lenders and grasshoppers.
The idea seems to prevail among prop
|erty holders and assessors, that the lower
the assessment the less the tax, so each
assessor aims to assess as low as possible
thinking thereby to secure the ia
vor of tax payers for official favors. Ifone
town or county should assess at the full
cash value and others not, then such would
have to pay moro than their proportion,
but | am now urging some general way to
|arrive at uniformity throughout the State.
There is certain amount for all to raise,
and whether the sum be $4,000 or 500,
1000, it is the same to pay one mill on the
dollar of valuation as 10 mills. By re-
sort to real valuations as fixed rule, ass
|essors would be saved from much hard
swearing, and the masses of taxpayers
would pay justcr proportion and lower
tax than they now do. People would al
so have the credit of being worth or 8
times as much as they now do, and in
stead of having to pay Z mills state tax,
we would only have about l mill to pay.
To arrive at the remedy, think it
would be well to have the assessor under
the direction of each person assessed, set
down full list of all the property Of each
taxable. Misunderstanding lands, horses,
cattle, swine, sheep, money at interest
with the quality of each kind of stock indi-
Gated in classes and numbered l, 2, 8, DC,
to Indicate value; then have each man sub
scribe ION oath or not,) to the fact, and
then let the assessor fix the real cash val
ue; then open the Roll for examination
and il any man tenders less than a full ac-
count of his property, some one will have
the curiosity to call public attention to it.,
and the rascal be dealt with as the law
may direct. GRANT COUNTY.
Millville, January 18th, 1857.
REMARss.-Allowipg trifle for defects,
there is more sound sense in the sugges-
tons of our correspondent than in our
present code of laws for assessing proper
ty.-- Ed.