St. Paul daily globe., 1896-04-15
AFTER THE FRANCHISES
assessors Are Admonished tn I.r
Hold On Them

state Auditor Dunn has prenared q o,.o,,
iar letter to county assessors which will ha
sent OUT today. It accompanies a ststanoont
VI the changes made by the board of eouaIi1o-
eion at its last meeting, and adds some sug-
eestlons to the assessors, citing various stat-
utes oy number. Among these suggestions arc
the following: al
the ene tav burden of satisfactory operation Of
re .ie TAX laws OF our state rests largely u,,th
I Ine assessor. Our doctrine is that evaTv dnI
ia ier worth of taxable property shonId baar
is tberefprop fproportlon OF the public expense It
~ iit eLoIe tne DUTY of every property owner
10 list his holdings with the assessor o"nTr T.,
t taseS Wnere 1t rs difficult to secure satief.nA
It'll Easements, the law clothes the assessor
necessary. eo u lne extreme If
10 not let dollars worth of taxab1a
ceT persona ond , property escape Exercise due
'aaS anu gooo judgment in fixing valuations
Millions of dollars in money in this state
escape taxation entirely. In 1893 the SSSso Sso
ss9 7oh osd State and Savings banks contained
S95 ''4beS tSsy que a to @. depositors. On Dec g.
IN 1898 there was assessed So, ,19S So Of money S
otner than bankers Qtem 2D and IN 1907
ssssssora sess mem amount amounts to only ST. 5O39O The
fair proportion of money for assessment
Less than 100000 listed for taxation and
PROBABLY seventy-fve millions in banks is
all possible allowances for offsets. publio
FUNDS and funds otherwise taxed.
Land contracts and bonds for deeds ex-
cept those given by railroad companies are
credits and should be treated the same as
mortgages. The unpaid part of purchase
money, whether represented by q mortgage
or a land contract, is taxable.
Private bankers must deliver to the as
SCISSOR complete report of the property as
required by section 1881. G. S. 1894 Shares
OF stock in national or state banks are listed
by the officer in charge required by Sec
ton 1882. To reach basis for assessment
the statement should show: First, amount
Of capital stock; second, amount of surplus;
third. amount Of undivided profits In excess
of 10 per cent of the capital stock. From
the total of these three items deduct the actu-
al value of legally acquired real estate. The
remainder gives the basis for assessment.
The attention Of assessors in the larger ci-
ties is especially directed to franchises an
nuities, royalties etc. (class 10. From the
returns it would appear that very valuable
franchises or privileges escape taxation. Do
not fail to give at least ten Q0) days notice
of the meeting Of the local board of review
That is the proper place to correct erroneous
and inequttable assessments
To County Auditors:
The following resolution was adopted by
the state board of equalization at its last
meeting: Resolved That the state auditor
be requested to recommend to the auditors Of
the counties in the lumber districts to direct
the assessors In said districts to confer to-
gether for the purpose of obtaining uni
form rate of assessment on logs and lum-
Der throughout the state" 1t was also
recommended that the assessment for logs
and lumber in the hands of manufacturers
be made under class II.