Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1902-03-26
A WORD WITH VERNON COUNTY VOTERS

1t has long been evident that our sys
tenn of taxation needed changing. Many
propositions have been made aud dis
cussed ard opinions of what ought to be
done have been greatly divided But
! that he practice of assessing at fictitious
values was full of evil. was plainly eyi.
dent 10 all fair minded thinkers: and il
seems strange that it should ever have
been adopted. That some people liked
it was also evident, and the reason why
they liked it is plainly seen They hoped
to get their property assessed lower than
their neighbor's would be; or that their
town would be rated lower than other
towns or both, so their taxes would be
less than under correct system. At
first when the law was changed, many
seemed to think that assessing at a high
er rate would make taxes Just so much
higher, but when they saw that the rate
per cent of the tax was lower TO cores
pond with the higher rate of assessment
their fears vanished. But another diff
Guilty became apparent Some assessors
or boards of review were afraid TO com
ply with the law for fear some other
towns would not, and that an injustice
would therefore be done to their town;
so, Notwithstanding the fact that the
law requires a cash value assessment.
much of the real estate was rated at
much less than its market value. But
there are other lands that paid much
more than their fair share of the tax.
The object of this article is to call atten-
ton TO some of these discrepancies. and
to suggest an effectual remedy
After limited investigation / con-
clude that in some parts of the town of
Sterling, some of the real estate on which
the farm buildings are, was doubled in
assessed valuation aud then the cash
value of the buildings was added. which
really makes douole assessing, or rating
the buildings at both the cash value and
the fictitious or one-third value as
formerly assessed. and also attaching to
the land its own cash value and the
former estimated value of the buildings.
Whether this method was practiced in
all parts of the town. or In other towns,
or only few cases / am not informed; !;
but certainly in any case it ought not to
establish precedent or base for any
future valuations. The fact that such
work was done in few cases that /
know of, proves that we need thorough
rev ision of our assessment rolls, by
thoroughly competent man, and he to
be backed by board of review who are
willing to obey the law. Then with our
county superintendent of assessment to
look after the mutual interests of all the
towns, we may reasonably expect great
improvement over past methods.
Personal friendship should not induce
us to vote for an incompetent man in
preference to one who is known to be
thoroughly qualified for responsible
Office: and it is no honor to any man to
conseBt to be elected to any office which
be is not competent to fill with profit
10 those he is to serve. In our transition
from the old to the new method of equal
zing the burdens of taxation, all the
towns need the best men they have for
tris work After the revision is com
pleted, men with less experience can be
emf loyed in some of these offices more
safely than now. OF course it is neces-
sary to elect new and younger men to
positions of trust, toreplace those whose
age AMI infirm and other reasons
necessitates thei. retirement; but we
should be careful not to make such
sweeping changes as to deprive ourselves
of the service of experienced men who
have proven themselves tv be worthy of
our confidence, and are willing to serve.
Neither should party politics be factor
in our town affairs.
Hoping these suggestions will meet
the approval of a majority of the voters,
remain yours for equalization,
E. B. HYDE.
Retreat, March %, 1902.