The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-01-11
A|NNESOTHS NEW TAX LAW COMPLETED
Continued From First Page.

members, appointed by the governor and
confirmed by the senate.
The members OF this permanent com
mission shall hold office for six years,
one to be appointed every two years THE
great office of the tax commission will be
to counterfeit local tendencies to depress
the valuation of property. The bill
gives the commission power to take any
steps necessary to the proper assessment
of property, whether by the appointment
Of assistants or otherwise.
EQUALIZATION of Property.
The equalization of property, both by
state and county authority, as provided
by the existing law is, in general lea
lures, continued in the bill. A radical
change is made, however. in the compo !
sition of both the state and count%
boards.
The state board of equalization wi ]
hereafter be known as the state board
of review and will be composed OF the
governor, state auditor, secretary OF
state. attorney general and the three tax
commissioners. Tt will meet annually
on the third Tuesday of September. =,
The county board of equalization VIII
hereafter be known as the county boar q
of review. 1t will be composed OF tue
county auditor. county treasurer, chair
man of the board of county commission
ers. register of deeds and county super
visor of assessments
Levy and Collection of Faxes.
The provisions of the existing law as
49, 1890
! TALLY changed.
for the collection of taxes is pursued
with certain modifica tons.
The time when taxes become due AMI
payable has been changed from JAN
to Jan. IS.
Taxes are to become delinquent on per
sonaI property on the list of March as
at present, when penalty of IL per
cent will attach.
The treasurer must return to the audi
tor on the first Monday N June the de-
Iinquent list.
Personal property taxes will be lier
for six years from the day when they
become due upon all real estate DELHI
quent in the county: and the lien may
be enforced against it.
A penalty of 10 per cent attaches to
real estate for delinquent taxes on tie
first day of June.
prior to June and the other prior to
Nov. / is allowed An additional pen
atty of per cent accrues on the first
Monday in January.
Publication of the delinquent list VIII
be required as at present. but will con-
tain new provisions looking to the pre-
vention of errors incident to publication.
radical change in the existing law is
effected by the Section which makes per-
+ sonal property taxes lien for perio
of six years upon real property.
Tax Judgment Sale.
Tax sales Of land against which juds-
ment has been rendered will begin or
the first Monday in May, after notice
given as provided by the bill.
A radical change from the present law
has been made as to the manner of bid
ding. Instead of a tract being sold, IS
at present to the, person bidding the
highest amount therefor above the
amount charged against it. 1t will b2
sold to the purchaser who bids the
amount so charged at the lowest rate o.
interest, which rate cannot exceed Z p%r
cent per annum.
The auditor will bid in for the state
all tracts not sold at a tax sale and may
thereafter assign them to purchasers as
at present.
Another new feature of the law pro-
vides for transfer of the lien of the
state to the certificate holder in case The
certificate is for certain reasons adjudg-
ed void
Lands bid in by the state and not as.
signed or redeemed within three years
shall become the absolute property of
the state.
Each county auditor is required to
transmit to the state auditor in July
list of all unredeemed lands situate W tn
in his county. The state auditor will
thereupon provide for annual sales there
of. The commissions bill seeks to cor
rect abuses growing out of the existing
law, both as to attachments and refund
ments Attachments will be allowed only
mission. RefundmentS will be allowed
only % when the property was exempt,
(2) when taxes have been paid before
sale, and 90 when the assessment OF
levy was void.
Redemption must be made under the
bill within three years.
Taxation of Corporations.
zone of the perplexing problems en-
countered by the commission is the taxa
ton of corporations. So far as the or
binary business corporation is CONCERNED
there is no valid reason why it should
not be taxed by the same methods which
are applied in the taxation Of the prop
erty of ordinary taxpayers. 1t is, how
ever, manifest that as to corporations
having quasi public character, such
methods would prove very inadequate.
MANY corporations, like railroad, teic-
graph, telephone, express, street car gas,
and other companies, possess franchises
and privileges of great value, more or
less monopolstic in character, and which
cannot be measured by their visible
property situate within the state Sucn
property is intangible and cannot be ade-
quately reached by the assessment of
tangible property. 1t IS apparent that
the valuation Of intangible property will
always be difficult and unsatisfactory.
This arises not only from the nature and
the property itself, but also from the
fact that many large and wealthy COM
panieS carry on business extending over
a vast territory and embracing several,
sometimes many, states. The practical
difficulty attending tkeir taxation is wit
messed by the great diversity of legis-
latiVe measures now in operation in the
various states or the Union.
ANY system of taxation prescribed for
transportation or transmission COMPARES
which depends in part upon interstate
earnings or upon valuations of property
situate without the state contributing to
such earnings is at best unsatisfactory,
and will continue so until those earnings
and valuations are aScertained and ap-
portioned to the several states by federal
authority. 1t is impracticabe for a state
to ascertain such facts by Investigations
conducted by it's own agents. 1t there
fore depends largely and often wholly
upon the reports of the respective COM
panieS whose property is to be taxed.
Without impugning the accuracy Of such
reports, it is obvious that no state should
be wholly or, to large extent, de-
pendent upon them.
I'm framing the provisions of the bill
relative to the classes Of companies
above named, the commission has been
guided to a great extent by those
statutes of sister states which have been
reviewed and sustained by the supreme
court of the United States.
Banks and trust companies are treated
by the same provisions as their business
is so closely allied in many respects. The
provisions of the existing law, having
proved efficient in the taxation Of banks
they have been adopted by the commits
sion without material change
Although the commission was strongly
urged by prominent citizens to relieve
building and loan associations from tax
aticn, save as to slight extent, it did
not feel authorized, under the constitu-
ton, to adopt such course.
However beneficent the local society
may be and whatever the relationship
between the corporation and the member
the constitution requires as the courts
hold the taxation of whatever property
it may possess, and the bill makes provis-
ions accordingly.
Representative of street railway com
paries earnestly recommended the taxa
ton Of their property by what is known
as the gross earnings method. While con
ceding that such a method would not
conform to our present constitution the