The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-12-16
NINTH ANNUAL REPORT
OF the State Board of Equaliza-
ton.
SOME PROPOSED CHANGES
Many Suggestions Made for h Con-
s.deration of the Next Assembly.
Uniform Taxation and Just
Valuation.
Special Dispatch to the Standard.

material for legislative elaboration in
the 9th annual report OF the state board
of equalization issued to-day. The re-
port. which is unusually long. devotes
considerable space to the consideration
Of uniform taxation and just valua-
ton and in Offering TO the states law
makers a number of suggestions IN the
way of amending and otherwise modi-
flying the constitution and laws of Mon
lana relating to the powers of the state
and county boards i'm the matter Of
making assessments and proposed
changes in the revenue laws. After FUR
nlshing a resume of the state boards
work in making up the assessment of
the different railroads in the state, the
report turns to the question of just val
uation and says:
THE power and authority vested in
the state board of equalization by the
state constitution and by the statute
in the matter of equaliz!ng and making
uniform the assessed valuation Of prop
erty is annulled and made imperative
by the decision of our supreme court,
in the case of Wallace We. the state
Board of Equalization, 18th Montana,
page 476. our court follows an earlier
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this decision is reversed, on re-hearinE.
or our constitution changed to conform
to the Colorado decision, the board can
not make the assessment uniform. nor
equalize the assessed valuation OF the
same class of property in the different
counties of the state
The report discusses the constitution
al and statutory authority with which
Il believes IL was clothed and rather
questions the wisdom OF the supreme
courts decision, saying i'm part:
he constitution placed equal power
with county boards in the hands or
the state board to protect the interests
of the state at large. Section , OF
article IL of the constitution limits
the legislature and state officers in the
| levy of taxes for state purposes, ana
| section II of the same article limits the
expenses to the revenue for the current
year. The legislative power in the mat
ter of taxation is without limit and its
enactments are void only when in con-
nict with or prevented by the para
mount law. The manifest policy OF the
| constitutional and statutory enactments
is an equitable appCrtionment OF the
burdens of taxation among the several
counties of the state and this cannot
be done, at any time in the execution OF
the law, either by the assessor, or the
county board or state board without in
creasing or decreasing the aggregate
valu Of specific classes OF property,
and therefore the total value of all pro-
perty and we challenge the supreme
court of the state Of Colorado, with the
assistance of all the other courts in the
land, aided and counseled by all the
wise lawyers-taking the constitution
and laws Of the state of Montana, n
the returns of the county assessors and
county boards with their mistakes, in
accuracies and gross inequalities in
valuation as a basis, having i'm view un-
iformity in assessment and full cash
/ valuation, to adjust and equaliZe spec
life classes of property without In
creasing or decreasing the aggregate
amount of such value and thereby in
crease or decrease the aggregate value
Of all the property Of the state returned
for taxation.
Let the constitution and the laws he
overruled by judicial construction and the
keystone to the arch of revenue and tax
alton will fall and take down the super
structure with II. The Colorado court, i'm
the decision quoted by our own court.
asks II the claim of power on behalf OF
the state board to increase the valuation
be admitted, why limit In the constitution
the per cent. that IL may levy. They say
Il matters little whether the limitation be
| mill or 10. IL the increase of valuation
be unrestrained. If this was said by any
one but a high court we would say. this
is not argument. 1t is pure and unadul-
terated buncombe, but. as the court has
said. we will not call II buncombe. Let the
courts wait until some legislative or ex-
ecutive officers violate the law by increas-
ing the volume of assessment beyond a
uniform an just valuation before they
place themselves upon a very high pedes-
tai and proclaim aloud. as from the h6y
of HOLES. that coordinate branches of
the state government are not 10 be trust
ed with the execution of the law, but.
-. a sU- shAfR nnNha q Cunnn
the constitution and the law and the
heavy bonds and penalties they are under.
they will increase the assessment of spe-
cihc classes of property beyond the true
value in money and beyond the uniform
and just value provided for in the consti-
tuition and laws.
with a limited levy of 2k mills for state
purposes and and an unlimited levy for
county purposes. it can be readily seen
that II the state board Is not given the
power to increase or decrease to the limit
Of uniformity I'm taxation and just valua-
ton that year by year the valuation of
property, more particularly I'm the large
counties, will increase, thereby deprivinG
the state of its just revenue and COM
pelling the other and less prosperous
counties To pay the state more revenue
upon the same class and kind Of property
thar their more prosperous neighbors.
w therefore ask you to again consider
the important subject, clear the existing
law of all antiquities and defects. IL any,
so that the interests of the individual, the
county and the state may be well guarded
and that we may have, as near as may
be. the uniformity of assessment and just
valuation prescribed by the constitution
and the avs
In the Judgment Of this board greater
DISCREPANCIES in valuation and decreased
assessments will be the rule each yeai
until the state board of equalization OF
some other board or person Is authorized
To pass upon the returns from the sew
eral counties and have power and au'
thority to adjust and equalize the same
Arrived Mt Havana