The Iola register., 1885-01-09
WORK FOR THE LEGISLATURE.

There are only two things that the
legislature, which meets at Topeka
next Tuesday, will be compelled to do.
One is to make the necessary appro-
priations for the support of the admin
istration and the various state insti-
tutions, and the other is to elect a
United States Senator. There are sew
eral other matters of legislation, how
ever, that very badly need attending
to and that we hope to see carefully
considered. One of these, the most
important one in our opinion, is the
revision or radical change of our assess
ment system. The REGISTER has al
ready harped a good deal on this
string, but as we notice that some of
the other state papers are beginning TO
take up the same refrain, We feel en-
couraged to renew the music. a
glance at our present assessment law
is enough to convince any one that it
often works injustice, that it always
misrepresents the true relation of the
rate of taxation to the valuation of
property, and that it is in many ways
cumbersome and incomplete in the ex-
treme, A number of minor points
which illustrate this might be pointed
out, but they are all included in, or
rather they are all attributable to the
one great mistake in the whole law.
And that mistake is in allowing as
SCISSORS to return property at what
they know to be less than its actual
cash value. It is the rule in most of
the counties of the state, perhaps in
all, to assess real estate at one-third of
its actual value, while personal prop
erty is assessed little higher, but still
very far, as rule from its real value.
The result is that the valuation is
extremely low while the tax is appall
ingly high. If the way in which this
relation was established could be fully
understood, it would not so much mat
ter, but it is impossible to have it fully
explained to every one and the result is
that citizens ofother states, who are ac-
customed to regard the assessment rolls
as an accurate estimate of the wealth
of a township or county, are deferred
from coming here because of the ap-
parently exorbitant taxes. There is
just definite amount of money to be
raised by taxation every year, and it
is plain that if the taxable property is
returned at one-third its actual value,
the rate must be three times as much
as if the property were assessed at
what it was actually worth. And it
would certainly make much better
showing if. this latter plan were pur-
sued. 1t would certainly impress
strangers much more favorably to tell
them, for example, that the valuation
of lola township was 100000 and the
rate of taxation 2 per cent, than to
tell them that the valuation was $780,
600 and the rate per cent, while the
result would be the same to the tax
payer.
But the worst feature of the system
is apparent in the assessment OF per-
sonal property. 1t is customary for
the township assessors of a county to
meet and agree on a ''basis of ASSESS
ment." This s'basis" is not certain |
per cent. of the real value, but is a sort
of dumping Off of certain classes of
personal possessions. 1t may be of
some assistance perhaps in helping the
assessors to arrive at some degree of
but it really leaves them
to their own Judgment and otter leads
them into most ridiculous blunders, as
almost all tax payers have observed.
These are only a few of the most
prominent faults of the system. The
list might be extended almost indefi-l