Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1892-04-07
A VETO MESSAGE.
Gov. Stone Declines to Approve
the Land Assessment .
Chapter.
STATE OF Mississippi,
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
KsoN. Miss. March, 81. 1892


slider to he most serious, IL not insu
parable, constitutional objections to-
provisions of that chapter of the An
notated Code which relates to revenue,
wherein lands are classified by coun-
ties and arbitrary values sought to DC
fixed by the statute for purposes of
taxation.
Section 112 of the Constitution of
1890 declares that
Taxation shall be uniform and equal
throughout the State. Property shall
he taxed in proportion to its value.
= Property shall be assessed
for taxes under general laws, and by
uniform rules acc ording TO its true
value.
1t must he assessed, that is there
must be an official estimate, made UNI
der general laws by uniform rules, ac-
cording to its true value. No arbi-
trary value is to he affixed, but the
true value of all property is to be as
certained by official estimation, under
q general law which furnishes uni
form rule on the subject. The Con-
stitution provides for an assessor for
each county and for the assessment of
property according to its true value,
not its value rs In II certain class fixed
by the edict of the Legislature, but
its true value as determined by the
proper authority on an estimation up
on the particular property to be val
ued. No arbitrary valuation for
counties or districts can be adopted,
but the particular property to be
assessed must be valued according to
law so as to ascertain its true value.
Value depends on many things. 1t
varies greatly with circumstances
even in the same locality, and to place
groups of counties and millions IF
acres of land by arbitrary enactment
in prescribed classes, with valuation
of each fixed by the statute without
regard TO what may he according to
the true value, would seem to be a
disregard of the plain constitutional
provision on this important subject.
Assessing is judicial rather than n
legislative function. 1t involves val
uatiOn us its chief element, and that
is clearly judicial in character, and
not appropriate to Legislative body.
1t has been decided that the Legisla-
ture cannot make the valuations of
property for taxation. Cooley on
Taxation, page 40.
In our own case of Daily VS.. SwOpe,
II Miss, page 367, the value arbitrari-
ly adopted by the Legislature for
lands in different counties for levee
taxes. was held to be u proper eXer-
else of power, on the ground that
such local specia! assessments were
not subject to the constitutional re-
quirements of equality and unifOrmi-
ty. This was under the Constitution
of 1869. 1t is plain that the Consti
tuition of 1890 more clearly and en-
phatically than that of 1869, requires
the observance of the rule of equality
and uniformity by its distinct provi-
sion, that "property shall be assessed
for taxes, under general laws and by
uniform rules, according to its true
value" Not by guess, by legislative
assumption--nOt by a legal declara-
ton that certain lands have certain
value, but by ascertaining the true
value, in the method prescribed by
general laws as to the property of
every person, so that each shall con-
tribute to the support of Government,
according to the true value of his
property ascertaincd by judicial esti
mate of the proper authority
So thorough are my convictions that
the provisions referred to are viOlative
of the spirit and letter of Section 112
of the Constitution | am constrained
to give yOu notice that | cannot as
sent to their incorporation in the code
as a part of the laws of the State, and
recommend a reconsideration of the
action whereby they were adopted,
and such amendments rs will conform
to the provisions of the Constitution.
Relying upon the correctness of the
views herein presented, | am i'll seri-
Gus doubt as to the validity of the
present assessment. Under Section
PA of the Constitution all statute
laws repugnant to its provisions re-
main in force only until the first day
of April, 1892. Then if the provi-
sions of the annotated code are open
to the foregoing objections, the law
under which the assessment was made
is also in conflict with the COnstitu-
ton of 1890, and unless new assess
ment is now provided for, no taxes
can be legally collected, and the
grayest consequences must inevitably
follow. Respectfully,
j. NJ. STONE,
Governor.
After the Governors message WAS
received, u conference committee of
the two houses was appointed to take
the matter under consideration. The
submitted plan of assess