, 1902-11-14
FOR BETTER REVENUE ANS

te''oiH revenue law VIII Poe |l--r ~ ~
the forthcoming legislatur, .l.. pics
ent laws in relation to TAXATION arr
good, but do not seem o.. reach far
enough. They are lackir. 40 p. ua.ty
Tor one thing. a man worth a Million
tor instance. may now swear b., has
nothing and escape the PAIN. and pen
altles OF perjury. In lN9, a all. was
introduced requiring tho as-.--uIS Of
the several counties to PERSONALLY list
all property and to Caus, rh, owner
10 take oath as to the correctness OF
the list. but it failed to pass This Will
doubtless be a feature of the bill to
be introduced in the legislature next
winter.
There is just as great a difference BE
tween the property values returned by
individuals as there is between the
corporations n individuals rumpar-
ed with the property of tn" state.
corporations are paying about an equal
amount of taxes. Some of our taXpay-
ers pay greatly in excess OF the cor
porations and some pay less. The
same classes of property are listed diff
~ferently in h several counties. In
Big Horn county farm lands are listed
in some cases as high as s. per acre.
while in Laramie county they are list
ed at $2.25. The actual value is prob
ably greater in Laramie county than
i'll Big Horn. Again. the same class OF
lands in Sheridan county is listed at
IS per acre and less. In Albany coun-
~ good meadow lands are listed at
from 81 to So per acre. In every Cuun
~ in the state, with possibly the sin
gle exception of Big Horn. the highest
grade of lands is rated too low and
the lowest grade too high. First-class
farm land is actually worth ten or fiji,
teen times as much as ordinary graz
ing land.
The same condition prevails in our
cities. Good business property is in
many cases valued o. low and the va
cant property and residence property
on the outside too high. 1t is a fact
that the acant lots in the suburbs
OF Laramie n Cheyenne Canno to
day be sold at anywhere neal what
they are listed at by the assessors.
This condition has prevailed for a per
iod of ten years, and has amounted
almost to ~Confiscation. The high val
ues were fixed during the boom times.
when values were inflated far above
all human reason. and it has been
hard to make assessors and boards of
equalization see the justice of reduC-
ing them. 1t is always hard TO change
existing conditions. no matter how I'M
just they are. and in a new COuntry
like this conditions are changing SO
rapidly that tax officers fine it ex-
tIemely difficult to keep anywhere
near a basis that can be called equal.
Lots that are today worth $3.50 We're
selling ten years ago for three times
that sum. When the collapse came the
bottom fell out of the real estate mar
ket. but the reveue for the support
OF the government had to be collected
just the same, and the lot owners
submitted to a high valuation through
sheer loyalty. At h present time,
when all classes OF property is in a
normal condition, there would appear
to be no -eason why a more equitable
assessment of vacant town lots and
7own lots and improvements general
~ should not be made.
Cattlemen complain because of eX-
cessive taxes. and yet there are many
amOng them who are not taxed more
in proportion t o their holdings than
the railroads. We have in mind a
ranch company that is assessed on its
lands at not to exceed 20 per cent of
their selling price and which produced
this year in calves alone one and one
half times its entire assessed valua-
ton. This is. of course, only one case.
but there are many almost as strik-
ing throughout the state.
A prominent state official said to the
editor OF The Republican recently that
he was fully convinced that the prop
erty Of Wyoming today is worth $500
900, 900. In round numbers our assess
ed valuation is $40. 00O, 900. Our levy
for general state purposes is 8 mills
on the dollar. If a full return of all
our property could be secured and val
ued at n hundred cents on the dol
lar, the rate of taxation for purely
state purposes would be less than one
mill, and, as a matter of course. county
rates would be reduced in the same
ratio. But there is no hope that a
full return can be secured and there
fore the best possible way in which
to equalize taxation is to scale down
the property now valued too high to
correspond with that which is too low.
The Republican realizes in the full
est measure how easy it is to find fault
and carp and criticize. Any man can
stand around and say. Why don't the
tax of1cers equalize all our property
70 that one man will bear an equal
burden With another, and the corpora