The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1895-01-04
LAME ROAD TAX LAWS.
Correspondence on the Road
Tax Matter Present Law
Should be Repealed.

Not long since, Frank Hughes, of Lob
ster, wrote to the Southern Pacific Comp any
in regard to the collection of road taxes
assessed against the company's land in Mr.
Hughes road district. As the subject is of
interest to the general public, and as there
has been little attention paid the important
matter of road taxes, the GAZETTE prints
the following communication, written by
the company's counsel, Messrs. Bronaugh
Macarthur & Fenton, in reply to Mr..
Hughes.
'lst-These lands being indemnity lands
the company. and such title did not pass
until the same were selected by the company
and such selection approved by the secreta-
ry of interior. The secretary makes such
selection by the issuance and delivery of
patents and in other way. The patent
of these lands issued February Goth,
| 1S93 but was not delivered to the company
Until long after the first of March, SO that
the title to these lands remained in the
| United States until that time. In this
advised the company that taxes could not
be assessed or collected against them.
''2nd--But even if these lands were liable
to assessment and taxation by the state, and
even if they could have been assessed on
March lst, 1898, or at any time thereafter
for that year, they were not assessed by the
county of Benton aud did not appear upon
the assessment roll either by the act of the
assessor or of the sheriff, and therefore the
supervisor has authority to attempt to
claim tax for 1894 thereon. AS we con-
strue the law, we think that the supervisor
has no authority to put valuation on prop
erty or to put any property on his list that
does not appear upon the county assessment
roll
by section 1854 amended at page 81,
Session Laws, 1889, you had the power as
supervisor to furnish on or before the first
day of February, 1894, list of all persons
III your district liable to perform labor on
| the public roads and file the same with the
county clerk, whose duty it wass to af1ix to
each name the amount of taxable property
owned by each person residing or owning
real property therein for the county rates
the last preceding year.
Section 40S5 as amended provides that in
making such estimate and assessment the
supervisor shall apportion the labor to be
performed in his road district according to
the valuation of taxable property owned
therein, the ratio of one days work for
each and every 81, ,OU0 assessed for state
and county purposes the last preceding
| year.
"Section 40S7 provides that whenever the
supervisor shall from any cause whatever
| neglect or omit to place on his list and assess
any person within the time required by law,
he shall at any time afterwards place the
name of any such person on the list and
assess the number of days work to be per-
| formed by him, which assessment, shall in
| all respects be valid as if made III due time.
! Y Gu will ohssEEe thAt-shss section does not
give the supervisor any authority to put
any value on any property, but merely
authorizes him to put omitted names on his
| list and assess the number of days work to
be performed and before he can ascertain
what the assessment is Of any such omitted
person he must go to the assessment roll for
| the last preceding year. In other words
| the supervisor has no authority to affix ary
| valuation upon any land in his district but
must take the valuation made by the county
| authorities. If for any reason the county
| authorities have omitted to assess tax
payer, the supervisor cannot himself perform
the function of the assessor.
''For these two reasons we have advised
the company that it is not liable to pay the
tax claimed by you, and while it sesms a
| small matter in this case, yet it is one which
governs the company in all the counties
where like cases may arise.
Commenting on the foregoing Mr.. Hughes
writes the GAZETTE as follows:
'To the taxpayers and road supervisors,
and more especially to the members of the
coming Legislature, that have the power to
create or make new laws outright. The
reader can see at once the ragged laws we
now have in regard to assessing the lands or
other decided property that has been decided
by the government. l doubt that deed
has to be delivered to the party before it is
subject to taxation according to our law
now. Ii such is the case anyone and every
one can escape. taxation by deciding his prop.
erty away just before the first day of March
and laying the deed aside till after that
time, in the same way that the o. & G.. r.
r. Go. do escape paying their taxes on over
16, 600 acres of land in this road district, or
about Sl25 900 in this county. There was
an item in your paper some weeks ago which
stated there had been 10, 900 acres of land
recorded in Benton county, mostly in the
Alsea valley, belonging to the o. & G. R.
R. Co., which sounded very big That is
only a garden spot compared with the COM
pany's land in Benton county that the
authorities omitted to assess. The reason
they gave me was that the company's prop
erty was not recorded in Benton county.
Have not the authorities the right to inves-
tigate those lands and have them assessed
at once, as they uudou btediy have the plot
of the entire county? The legislature
should enact law to compel all parties to |
have their deeds recorded within twenty
days of the transfer, and have the property |
assessed from the date of the deed if not