, 1877-09-30
THE INEQUALITIES OF TAXATION,

THE INEQUALITIES OF TAXATION.
Some years ego broker in this city, il
I making his schedule of personal property
for taxation, wrote down that be Lad cash
on hand $50, 600. Tile Assessor returned
t1lis schedule unchanged No objection be.
ing interposed, it was consolidated with the
whole county assessment reported to the
State Board Of Equalization. That Board
added IS per cent to the assessment of per
sonal property in this county, making the
valuation upon the cash Of the broker nt the
rate Of $1,76 per dollar. Upon an appeal
to the Supreme Court, that body decided
that no relief could be given; shat the bank
er had been guilty Of laches,-had slept on
his rights; that the Inv afforded every citi-
zen full means of protection, and that he
should have attended to tie bushes IS before
the county authorizes.
It has never been very clear r. ne ,inds
of tbs public how the law affoi.s any kind
Of protection to the citizen il tnis matter
of taxation. For several years the State
Board has By resolution declared that the Is
sessment Of property for taxable purposes
was at the ratio Of so per cent of IL; c{.sh
value In making their returns OF rs:.onal
property in this county the general rublic
have adopted this 50-per-cent. rul: that is,
the owners of personal property made re-
turns thereof at half its value, ana the As
SCISSOR, following the same rule, adopted that
valuation. When the County Board revised
these valuations it added 20 per cent to the
assessments for the South Town. low the
State Board has added So per cent to the
whole county assessment, first having de-
clared that the general valuation of the prop
erty throughout the State was so per cent
of the real value Now let us COM
pute the effect Of this valuation by an
actual case: A, having personal property
worth 50 600, returned this under the 5O-per-
cent rule at $1,000; to this the County
Board added 20 per cent, or $500; and the
State Board has added $3.50, making n total
of ;51,750; which, being, according
to the State Board, only so per cent of its
real value, makes that $4,000 worth 50, 800.
The Supreme Court has ruled that the State
Board is law unto itself, and that in the ab-
sence Of fraud its valuations are final The
State Board has decided thaRthe eqlta1ized
Of property as completed by it is
at the rate of so per cent Of the real value
while, as in the case of the broker, whose
greenbacks were assessed at $1.75 on tho
dollar, and in the case we have put of prop
erty valued at 87t per cent of its real value.
the decision of the State Board that it is
only 80 per cent must stand as 3 finalitr.
and is without redress.
We suggest that the declaration of the
Supreme Court in the ADsrr case-that the
law afforded ample protection to every citi-
zen, if the citizen will resort to the remedies
provided lis not sustained by feet, and that
the citizen has no legal protec+ion against
injustice and unfairness in th. matter of
taxation. In the first place, tn law is i'm
peratlVe That property shh1l be ,s'',ed at its
full cash value; the Assessors acc sworn to
assess all property at its full cash value; the
forms of listing given to citizens On which to
make returns require full cash values to t. |
returned The practice, however, is az: mt |
this; the requirement of the law is icnared,
and the State Board grave1y assumes annually |
to M, arbitrarily, rate at which the valua-
ton has been made. It deals with counties, |
1t decides which Of the 102 counties ARE as-
sessed too high and which too low On |
each description of property, and adds to |
OF takes from the aggregate valuation
returned by such counties with uncontrolled
Freedom The State Board levies taxes by
counties, and not upon property Of indi- |
viduals. If man in Kane County has n |
farm worth $50 an acre, and makes return |
thereof as required By law at that value, and |
the State Board shall decide that oil the land |
in Kane County has been assessed to low.
and adds 100 per cent to the valuation Of
lands in that county, this person will have
his land assessed for taxation at $10o an
acre, and there IS no legal remedy or relief.
Fhe Constitution Of the State provides for |
'Slevying a tax by valua* M, 80 that every
person and corporation snaJ pay tax in
proportion to the valae 's Ais, her, or its
property" It does not prc tide for 'slevying
tax by valuation, SO that each couc = shall
Do taxed such sum as Board gitting at
Springfield shall apportion thereto" Il is
in the assessment of property
mat Tar1ous degrees Of accuracy in ths val-
aat1on shall occur. Property in county
may be assessed at 40, 50, 60, Is, so, or 100
per cent OF its real value. This inequality
he State Board does not attempt to correct.
It deals With counties; it adds 10, 60, or 100
Der cent to value of property in the whole
county, thus doing the grossest injustice to
hose whose property had already been val
led at or near its full value. M dagraa ~