The Wichita city eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1872-1883, 1876-05-18
For the EAGLE.
The Higher the Assessment the Lower the Taxes


EDITOR EAGLE: You did well to
comment SO favorably upon Mr.. Kel-
ly's communication upon the tax law.
J Every.common sense man in the county
thinks upon the subject just as he
wrote upon it. But there is one other
very important fact connected with
this subject which should be more
thoroughly understood, which Mr..
Kelly failed to notice, aud that is the
constitutional exemption of two hum
hired dollars for each family. This
very materially concerns every mar
ried person in the State, who possesses
two hundred dollars worth of personal
effects, and every single one whether
they possess that amount or not
In your comment upon Mr.. Kelly's
article you say, $50 far as the tax
payer is concerned, so long as the rate
of assessment IS uniform it makes no
kind of difference whether his proper
ty be valued high or low, it is the
amount raised that affects the tax
payer. not the valuation" Now, if
there was no exemption, this would
be true, but under existing circum-
stances it becomes essentially great
mistake.
In Sedgwick county this year, with
personal property assessed at seventy
five per cent. of its real value, the tax
on this kind of property will be divid-
ed up among some eighteen or nine
teen hundred tax. payers. But sup
pose we assess the property at five
per cent. instead of sevonty-fve. The
constitutional exemption would then
blot seventeen hundred of these tax
| payers names from the tax roll, and
| the other one or two hundred would
have to foot the entire bill. These
last named, think, would find out
whether it made amy "kind of differ
ence" whether the valuation was high
or low. You have said, and truly,
that given amount Of revenue must
be raised, and, III the instance just
given, this small number of men
would have to pay an enormous rate
per cent of tax to meet the required
amount. Eastern men may well stare
with amazement at our past rates of
taxation. Such ''big money! talk
would scare Cheyenne Indian. But
they have not been caused by the
amount levied, but by being divided
between SO few property holders. Low
assessments, combined with the con-
stitutional exemption, have annually
allowed many million dollars worth
of property to go unjustly free of tax.
The burden of taxation then falls with
a great weight upon the real estate.
Two hundred dollars in gold, every
one knows, is worth as much as two
hundred dollars worth of land, but
the former may be owned without be-
ing taxed, although out at interest, be-
cause the statute defines it as personal
property. The latter, however, must
be taxed in every instance, because it
is real estate. The same rule will
hold good between married and single
persons. A married mans dollar is
worth as much as single mans dol
lar, and for TINT reason he is no more
entitled to an abatement of two hum
dred dollars than the cold bachelor"
But if the married man must have the
exemption, it is very much to the in
terest of the bachelor to have personal
property assessed at full valne, so as
to bring his married neighbor in for
portion of the taxes. We will give an
example and then close with an apollo
gy for encroaching so far upon your
crowded columns.
There are two thousand taxpayers
in oivan county TIE total amount
of revenue required is $4,000. Each
one of the tax payers must pay a two
thousandth part of this revenue, that
is five dollars. We will select two
neighbors, A. and b., as representing
an average of these tax payers. A. is
married man and resides upon
timber claim. He has forty acres. of
walnut timber, forty acres of apple
orchard, forty acres of peach orchard
and forty acres of grape vineyard, a
fine house, with outbuildings to cor
respond, all of great value. These are
not taxed. He has also some personal
property, but if it makes ''no kind of
difference whether the rate of assess
ment is high or low" let us su ppose it
to be twenty-five per cent.