St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1880-06-26
OF LEGISLATIVE
ACTION.
New Orleans Daily States. ]

New Orleans Daily St"tes.l
Whether an extra session of the
Legislature shall be called is not II
question of choice and expediencv,
but one involving the maintenance
OF the government.
No tax on real and personal prop
erty can be imposed or collected
unless 1t has been preceded by a
valid and legal assessment. This
rule is elementary and tie pre-
requisite of listing and assessment
cannot be dispensed with. 81 the
fifth section OF statute No. II, Of
1880, the assessment OF 1879 has
been suspended by that to be
made Ill 1880, and We are therefore
without assessment npon which to
base the taxes of this year. True
the assessors are busily enga ged
throughout the State III obtaining
data to make up The rolls, but can
they complete them. and. il compile
ted under present legislation, c,.n
taxes be collected under them?
Gen tainly not.
Article 203 of the Constitution of
1879 provides that taxation shall be
equal and uniform, and directs that
IN order to arrive at this equality
and uniformity the General Assem-
by shall, 1t Its first session after
the adoption OF this Constitution,
provide system II equality and
uniformity III assessments. based
upon the relative value of property
i'll the different portions OF the State.
And that the valuation put upon
property for the purposes of State
taxation shall be taken as the uro-
per valuation for purposes of local
taxation III every subdivision of the
State. The consequence is that 10
valid assessmet can be made until
the system provided for by the Con-
stitution has been adopted, and
that 10 tax can be collected in any
subdivision of the State because
there is no assessment under which
it can be imposed. In fact we are.
completely hampered and paralizad
Ill ali our measures of revenue unless
We can find the required enabling
act, and yet search the statutes OF
1850 from beginning TO emf ;:ad no
where will it be found.
Twice does the legislature point
to the necessity for such an act
sections Is and 20 of act Nc. II of
lSSO-tirst by directing the asses
sors to estimate all property subject
to taxation ut its cash value "ulder
such rules as may be established b.
u system of equalization of the prop
erty of the State, under Art. 2O3
OF the constitution" and second.
when prescribing the duties of the
assessors for the parish of Orleans
Tor the assessment of 1880, .'to the
end that the actual cash value NAV
be ascertained, being governed by
aproper system of equality and uni
forinlty In assessments, based upon
the relative value OF. property in the
different portions of the State, un-
der article 203 of the constitution :"
but the needed, Indispensable law
to give vitality to the system is
missing. and hence not legal step
can be taken in the direction of as
sessin8 and collecting taxes for the
year 1880.
In view, then, of this deficiency
In the legislation of the State and OF |
the obstacles thrown in the way of
the proper collection of the revenue, |
the necessity and importance of an
extra session of the General Assem-
bly, must be generally admitted, if |
for no other purposes than to adjust
these serious difficulties which have
grown out of insufficient and defect
i've legislation. |