The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1892-08-24
ON THE RACK.
Kern County Officials Before the State
Tax EquaIizers.
Members of the Board Make some
Very Pointed Queries, But the
Visitors Stand Them Off.

Yesterday was the day fixed by the
State Board of Equalization for the Su-
pervisors Of Kern County to appear and
show cause why the property valuations,
as returned by the Assessor of that
county, should not be raised. In re-
spouse to their somewhat urgent invita-
ton, there appeared before the board A.
L. Lightner, Assessor of Kern County;
Il. NJ. Roberts, representing its Board Of
Supervisors, and Attorney McCutchin,
representing the Kern County Land
Company.
Most of the day was consumed in dis
cussing values of Kern County property
and the discrepancies between the re-
ports made by the Assessor and those Of
the Auditor of the county, the two off,
Gals having differed widely in their esti-
mates of values.
AS an instance of the quality of the
nuts the State Board is trying to crack,
the following are few of the PROPOSE
tions that came up: The Assessor on his
list has in some cases given in piece OF
land as worth a given sum, and the i'm
provements thereon given sum; on this
land there may be an orchard, or num-
Der of acres OF alfalfa, which is not seq
Improvements"
Therefore, when another piece of land
Is assessed as so many acres Ofalialfa land
or as having so many orchard trees at an
estimated valuation, there is marked
discrepancy in the assessment, and No.
Two wants to know why No. ones orch
ard or alfalfa was not assessed.
Again, the same grade of land in one
locality may be valuable for fruit, while
III another it would not, and the same
may be also the case with alfalfa or other
crops for which land may be adapted, but
which crops are not found the most
profitable. In such cases arises The dill
Guilty OF valulng the same grade OF land,
crops, etc.
Assessor Ilghtner was questioned as to
many things on his roll and showed how
circumstances alter cases. One or two
queries cropped up, however, which
seemed to stagger the appraiser OF county
property.
Mr.. Morehouse, Chairman OF the board,
was in very inquiring mood and
wanted to know about great many
things yesterday.
How is it, Mr.. Lightner,' said he,
that you have valued typewriters Il
mean the machines) at S23, and telephones
at $40? and here you have secondhand
sewing machines valued at Sl3 66?'
These seemed simple little queries,
but TO answer them the Assessor
must go into long dissertation about
the relative incomes derived from type
writer's, telephones and secondhand
sewing machines.
One member Of the board suggested
that, whereas a person having only one
typewriter or secondhand machine
would not be particular as TO its valua-
ton, telephone company might have
thousands Oftelephone boxes and make
1t an important matter TO value them
more carefully.
Mr.. Morehouse said rather drily that
there didn't seem to be many fine horses
in Kern County.
The representatives Of that county
would not agree to this; he said they had
fine horses there.
''WelI,' said the Chairman, "what [
mean Is, they are not valuable horses -
"Oh," said the Kern Assessor, t'horses
are cheap now-away down. You see,
,hey are being taken out Of the fields and
replaced by traction engines; the street
horse cars are almost things of the past;
good horses are cheap
Then the board wanted to know all
about certain canals and bitches operated
by the Kern County Land Company. and
Mr.. McCutchin made it very clear that
water was water down there, but that
bitches cost money, and it required time
TO make the property in bitches yield
returns.
water yield an income in the end, but at
present they were simply trying to sell
land, and by putting water on it were
making property valuable.
Someone suggested that he saw the
point. 1t was the same with a ditch as
with railroad-if it went through a sec
ton it was increasing values everywhere,
although it might not itself pay, and this
seemed to be generally assented to, but
no one was sure of it.
After long discussion of these TOPICS,
one member of the board said there
would be difficulties in the way Of equal
izing the rates on typewriters, telephones,
alfalfa fields, orchards, horses, bitches
and canals until all these things were
owned and operated by the State Board
of Equalization.
The representatives of Kern County
were loyal throughout TO their constit-
uents, but there is no knowing at pres
ent how much more they are worth than
they say.