Phoenix weekly herald. [volume] (Phoenix, Maricopa County, Ariz. Territory) 1896-1899, 1898-01-27
Ably Discussed Today BY the p
pervisOrs.

call of counties was made.-J. H. FRS
fy. clerk of the Board of Supervisors of
| Supervisors of Navajo county respond
ed in behalf OF Apache county, no rep
! reSentative of that county being pres
| ent. in regard to the land value of
Apache county he said that there was
very little patented land. and where
| the land grants are not assessed at 20
| cents an acre it can be bough for 10
cents.
Assessor HARDWOOD of CochiSe county
| responded for his county and said the
| land IS assessed up to its full valuation
very little land is under cultivation
] and few MeXicans and Mormon set
| tiers manage to make 4 living. Land
worth 81 an acre is assessed for 81 %.
| District Attorney Clark of Coconino
| county. said that out of 102, S34 acres
| of assessable land. between 5000 and
| 5000 acres are under cultivation and is
| assessed on an average of $3.50 per
| acre.
Supervisor Williamson of ella county
| said that there are only $500 acres of
| asSesSabl land i'll his county and it
| was assessed for all it was worth.
Mr.. Hayes of Graham county said
| that out of $4,000 acres about half of
it is under cultivation, assessed at an
| average of S15 per acre and the uncul-
| tivated at $1.25 and S1.50.
Supervisor Priest of Maricopa coun-
| ty said that there We're 259. 500 acres
under cultivation in this county asses
sed at an average value of S12.04 an
acre. Every foot is assessed for every
| dollar it is worth and that fifty thous-
and acres of patented land cannot be
| cultivated on account of the lack of
| water.
Mr.. Frost of Mohave county said
there was no agricultural land under
patent in that county. The 1850 report
ed at a valuation of $40 an acre is
| nearly all mineral land.
Mr.. Samaniego of Pima county said
no patented land was assessed for less
than the government valuation of S1.25
/ per acre. Land grants are assessed
for % cents per acre
| Supervisor Miller of Pinal county
said the land of that county is assessed
at so per acre. all tits worth.
| Mr.. Carter of Yavapai county said
| the land valuations of that county
were about right. All patented land
| is assessed at S1.2o per acre and i'm
provementS additional.
| Mr.. Modest of Yuma county thought
| the land in his county was assessed for
all it was worth.
After the discussion relative to land
values several other matters were dis
| cussed, among them that the clerks
of the Supervisors We're insutficiently
paid and that it was the sense of the
meeting to memorialize the legislature
to that effect.
Adjournment was taken till $50 this
morning when the subjects for discus
sion Will be mining, railroad and lrrl-
CATION assessments.
When the meeting convened this
morning the subjects to come up for
consideration were the respective val
ueS of horses, mules, hogs, burroS, etc.
On the subject of burros Supervisor
Norton of Maricopa, said that the re-
turns showed only 10 burroS in the
county, but he thought there were ov-
er forty in Phoenix alone. The speak
err said that the Board had not taken
bicycles under consideration but at the
next meeting of the county board of
equalization, a tax would be placed on
bicycles.
In the matter of horses Mr.. Norton
said they were notaSSeSSed high euongh
in the county He thought a double
tax ought to be placed on them to rid
the county of a surplus In the matter
of cattle the speaker thought that
dairy cows ought to be assessed at S2o
per head. Last year they were asses |
Sed at $50 per head. There are but
few range cattle in the county. At
this point Mr.. Norton said that the
property of the county was assessed |
all it was worth and the Board of SUI
pervisors did not propose to make the
burden worse on the people we |
should economize and try to reach this |
difference We are taxed for all we
can stand in this county,
Dr. Nickers, Chairman, said that 1t |
was not the intention of the TerritOr- |
ial Board of Equalization to raise the |
rate of taxation. but the Board wanted |
to enualize the rate of taxation be- |
tween the counties. At this Assessor |
Luke of Maricopa county said that Mr.. |
BurmiSter. member of the Board OF |
EQualiza ton from Prescott, had made |
the statement that Maricopa county |
alone ought to be assessed 100000, OO0,'
the entire assessment of the Territory
Mr. Burmister qualified the state
ment by saying that he remarked that
MaricOpa county is worth all the as
sessment of the Territory. Major
Black. member from Pima county, dis
claimed any idea of raising more rev
enue for the Territory, but the Board
of Equalization wanted to do its duty
toward each county.
After these arguments We're settled
the matter of discussing the value of
cattle was again resumed
Col. William Herring, who was pres
ent was called on for a speech. He
spoke at length on general taxation
and said that in 1881 the Territory had
Il taxable wealth of S30.000.0OO and
that today, although the Territory has
improved considerably, more railroads
have been built and there has been
an increase in all lines of business, the
taXabl wealth is little over $3000,0OO.
The speaker said that the fault lay
chiefly with the limited power of
he assessors. They are not paved
enough and are restricted. The county
IF Maricopa. however. has steadily
advanced. where the taxable wealth
was about $4,000. OOOin 1881. today the j
aXabIe wealth is $9,000,O00- II
He was followed by y. r Shewman,
Territorial School Superintendent, who
allied the attention of the Supervisors
# the different counties TO the school /
ands He said that Maricopa county I
lad paid i'll $1,000 from the lease of =;
chool lands while the amount turned !
II by the other counties did not aggre- 1
ate $500. 1t
The meeting then adjourned until to- ,
morrow morning at $50 o'clock. I
FROM THE MINES. l
What Is Going on Amid the Mountain
Snow "