Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-03-24


club. 1t is notorious that the tax laws
are administered far more faithfully
and efficiently in the city Of New York
than they are in any other part of the
state; and yet the farmers CT New
York have always had sufficient politi-
cal influence to maintain board OF
equalization, which every year in
creases the valuation in New York
City, although it is honestly made, and
decreases the valuation in the interior
OF the state, where it is far less honest
ly made, for the sole purpose Of taking
off one CT two million dollars a yeal
from the farmers taxes and laying
them upon the large cities. The result
of this rough and tumble method OF
administering the law is that the
farmers of New York are much less
D., heavily taxed. in proportion to theil
means, than are the farmers of Ohio
although the tax laws CT Ohio are just
what the farmers want them to be and
, the tax laws of New York are quite
otherwise.
| "A careful investigation into the
| reasons for this failure of methods o!
! taxation has long been desired, and
has been the subject of much consider
| alton in this department and elsewhere.
| Many independent investigations have
F, been made. sometimes by local officials,
but more often by unofficial students.
+, The results thus ascertaired fully sus-
| tain all that has thus far been said as
, to the inequity of the present system
CT, local taxation; but all the statistics
thus far obtainable have been subject
To
sarily COMPOUNDED the affairs of farm
ers with those of the residents of
villages and small towns. And even
where, as in Massachusetts,, census
of farms has been taken separately
! from all other properly, with state
ment of the value of land, of buildings,
and of movable property separately,
the census makes no claim to a COM
plete analysis in these respects.
THE secretary of agriculture there
fore directed the employment of a few
experts to make thorough investiga-
ton in purely farming districts of those
facts which need to be known before
any intelligent discussion of this sub
ject can be had. They were instructed
, to visit as many farms as possible
within the short period allowed to
them and personally to inquire and
estimate the value of all visible prop
erty upon each farm.
In compliance with these instruc-
tons the experts personally visited
1H4 farms in 1895, selecting the ex-
irene eastern and western sections of
the state of New York. They OBJ
tanned from the owner of each farm his
Is"GON1l nctifna q n no Of, al n L :
value of his entire visible property
separating buildings from land and al
so separating from the naturals value
of the land in it's primitive form the
value given to it by cultivation, for the
purpose Of studying the possible effect
of that provision in the constitution of
California of 1879 which directs that
cultivated and uncultivated land shall
be assessed alike, which provision has
, been very properly interpreted by the
courts as meaning that the most highly
cultivated land is to be assessed no
| higher than it would be if it were abso-
lutely without cultivation. The valua-
ton of personal property has been con-
fined strictly to that which the expert
could see for himself.
Contrasting the four city counties
with five counties of Ohio which are al
most exclusively rural and contain no
large towns whatever The
value of assessed personal property in
the city counties is 1925 per cent of the
whole. while in the rural counties it is
32.5 per cent"
Among the conclusions deduced from
the facts obtained are: These sta
tistics show that if farms were assessed
only at their strictly unimpreved value,
that would be less than 40 per cent of
the improved value, while, on the other
hand, an assessment of city lots .upor
their unimproved value would amount
to rather more than So per cent of the
improved value. The great advantage
, which would accrue to the farmer by
this change is manifest from this sim
pie statement"
One table compiled gives the figures
returned by the agents. From another
table it is seen that the personal prop
erty is u per cent of the entire real
and personal values. the cultivated
land is 80 per cent. the uncultivated lis
per cent and the total land 1915 PEI
cent, while the building value is 1874
per cent of the real and personal prop
erty combined. 1t is shown that the
unimproved land value Is 1872 per cent
of the existing value of the real estate,
and that it is 34.5 per cent of the exiSt
| ing value of both real and personal
estate.
THE valuation that the. assessors
| placed upon the real estate of these
farms is 60.9 per cent of the true value
; of the assessed real estate; the assessed
/ valuation of personal estate is q pei
cent of its true value, and the assessed
valuation Of both classes of property is
Sol per cent of their combined true
value COMPUTATIONS have been made