Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1896-11-19
To the Honorable Board of Supervisors of Iowa

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cities of the county for the purpose of examin-
ing the real and personal property with refer
ehce 10 equaAZlng the assessment of the county
and report to the county board at its annual
meeting in November, 1896. That the chairmen
OF the several towns and mayors of cities be
/ quested to assist the commission in their re-
sIectiNe towns and cities. and that the expense
Of the commission be limited to a per diem and
the actual expense incurred; the expense of the
several chaIrmen and mayors acting guides
TO DC borne by the several towns and cities.
Pursuant to the foregoing the Chairman APP
pointed the undersigned as such commits siuu.
Nobody al this day disputes the right ofgovern-
meht 70 tax Its people, and nobody pretcuds to
deny the proposition that taxes should be levied
with uniformity on all property but il is not
saying too much to say that in practical life
there Is no such thing uniform taxation
upon al property. 1t Is fact, one well known
and admitted, indeed, that that form Of prop
erty, being personal property, which marks lis
poscssors generally as persons having surplus,
as 1t were, is so elusive that it in a very great
degree escapes taxation.
Although We do not recognize it as coming
within the purvicw of our duty, we can but re-
/ MAJ that the methods of taxation that pre-
vail IN this state, having reference particularly
to our system of listing and assessing property,
appear to but lily answer the purpose intended.
II Is probably true that the fault Is not patent
IN the law relating to the subject; it is inherent
IN the system il is latent in the law
Ihc primary defect, We believe, IS IN the fact
that the Office of Assessor is filled by election
every year. While human nature remains what
ltis men will not carry out the details of our
scssnent laws for the pay that is earned by an
assessor. For an assessor is to fulfill the du-
ties of his office strictly according to the law
would be to incur the hostility Of at least a por-
ton Of the most influential men of his town.
For his year of office with its few dollars of
compensation he would be forced to furcgO all
chance of again being elected to office; he
would become an object of hatred to some of
the community. Say what You will, under our
laws, an assessor is a sort of an inuuistor,
and no man Will take that role to act among
his neiGhbOrs.
I,,,tI Ill .F, =, II,
not, at any rate the fact remains that there is
every year general break down i'll the matter
of assessing. Personal property is not listed,
and in no town is there any prptcnSiOn made to
assessing any thing at Its full value. The as
SCISSOR of each town acts according to his own
ideas, or those of his predecessor. In the one
town the assessor will assess at half value, or
fifty per cent in an adjoining town the as
SCISSOR Will work upon basis of quarter values
or twenty-five per cent; and III the other towns
the percentage of assessed value to the total
value stound to vary between 2land - per cent.
Tho consequence of all this is that the county
board of this county Is annually, in rquali2ng
the values OF the various towns and cities,
obliged to make its best possible guess Of what
l. Just and ialraS between town and town, de-
pending moro, indeed, upon the concurrent
testimony of preceding county boards as
formulated il the reportsof theircqualiz com
mlttec5 than upon the returns mace by the as
SCISSORS.
1t VIII be agreed to by all parties that every
town and city should each bear its Just and pro-
purtlunatC share of the burdens Of state and
county taXation; but when the law RECURRING
assessors to assess property at fun value is unl
yCTSallN dI.Obcycd, ami every individual asses
Sur adopts his own standard, how can a county
board rQualiZc real estate values! The only
data it ha- before it from the legal source Of
obtaining il Is misleading. Thus consideration
shows how absolutely Imperative it is that
system of assessing shall be devised that shall
work ON the theory of assessing at true values
and now we speak particularly of read estate
he cqnalialng Of values would BE- easy indeed
Ill case assessments were upon the basis Of full
value.
We need in Wisconsin some method of asses
sing that shall be successful method. one
that shalt list all property, personal Us fully as
real estate, and then assess all at fun value
That would mean n Just and fair c,luali2atiOnuf
the burdens of taxation. In effect We have no
such system. We have no such results. But
enough has been said upon this subject.
This commission came into existence because
somch hing like tin" state of affairs above men
toned was known to exist by the members of
the last county Cuard who had longest served
rs county board members. They knew that
save III the matter of numbers of horses, CATTLE
etc. incidentally reported every year by the
various town and CITY assessnis, the returns Of
the assrSsors were practically useless for the
purpose of data III making an equalization OF
the assessments of the county and il was be-
cause of such knowledge and with the desire
that matters should be inquired into, that the
pr sent commission was provided for.
In pursuance of the object to- be attained the
undc sEucd have personally inspected every
town, city and village i'll the county
Ina general way this commission, speaking
now with relation to real estate, has by its la
burs substantially verified the correctness of
the cqualI2atlons of real estate made 10y the
county boards of this county in recent years
ruualiaations made Independent of assessors
valuations, and upon the collective knowledge
of the members OF the County Boards of 5hc
past. Slight changes We have made in the val
ulatiun ot towns, mostly notably in advancing
Moscow and Waldwick but ON tho whole We
have changed real estate but little from what
il has heretofore been CQuali1ed at.
At the outset tins Commission determined
that it would try and express its conclusions in
full values rather over than under That de-
termination We have carried out in the tabular
statement which IS Incorporated in this report.
The actual figures look large, but it will be re-
mcmbcrcd that they do not mean an increase
Of taxation. We have been the more inclined
to cXpre.a the actual values because of the
thought that the effect upon the future assess
orS of the county may be beneficial.
We have not only examined the various
towns with view to determine the relative
values compared one with another; we have
looked up III every town the assessors valua-
tiuns of Il number Of farms, and fixed values on
the same in order to determine the percentage
basis upon which the assessor acted. While
We have not assumed that land of the same
quality Is worth Us much in one place as in an
other II this county, regardless If how II was
locally valued, il Is vet true that we have given
that idea pretty strong recognition, modified,
Of course, hy consideration ct nearucss to mar
krts etc.
II will be observed that we have classrd to.
sothHr Eden Linden and AlHln. There arc
shades of differences between them, hut, all
things considered, we thln. they should stand
together. WaldWck is prrhap, the most level
lying town in the county but the soil Is rather
thinner than is the soil ot tho prairie part Of
the three towns above mentioned, We have
ca>,rd Brlgl am and EdscwaN together. 1t Is +
probably true that brigham las rather the
largest area uf comparatively smooth land hut
The soil on muell Of i thai appears the most
~muuth Is tMn and IT. roughcr portion Is /
rOuEhpr than any area ui the Same size in
EidgcwHA. oar eudraHor has been To find and
i,tNs \ ar ~ "a