The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-10-08

 ON J. I. ALLEN Harsh Report on Assessor of Lamar. ABSURD ASSESSMENTS" Examiner Sedberry Declares
 County is a PensiOner. l Property owen.. Have Been Allowed
 to Fix Values and Laws Were
 vioiated--Good Report on i Covinston.

| Examiner Sedberry declares that AS sessor Allen is sadly deficient, that his assessments are absurd ana that he has just been elected for another full term and as there is now no need for him to fail in his duty in order to secure votes, it Is hoped he will proceed | to raise values in the county to some- | thing like what they ought to be. No fault is found with the methods of bookkeeping practised by MT. Alien but his main deficiency as stated by | the Examiner, is in allowing the pro erty owners to dictate the valuations on their lands and other holdings The reports of Captain Sedberry tells of an admission on the part of the assessor | that the value of the property assessed | has been fixed by the owners them | selves. The Examiner adds that "of course, they can be relied on to make | it low enough In all cases" | Disobeyed the Law. | MT. Allen also admits. according to Captain Sedberry's report, that he has omitted the formality of administering l oaths to property owners before accept | ing their lists of valuations. This is | made mandatory on the assessors by law and the Examiner was surprised to | find this dereliction before he knew Of the low valuations in the county of | Lamar.
 The difficulties of getting a compe- tent tax commissioner in Lamar Coun- ty are commented on by the report There Is no commissioner in the county and it is represented that a good one is badly needed.
 | Captain sedberry charges Lamar County. towards the conclusion of his report, with being "a pensioner upon the bounty of the State.'' Figures are given to show this fact The amount of taxes received into the State Treasu- ry from the county in 1904 is subtract ed from the amount of school funds paid by the State to the county added | to the amount of the pension fund dis | tributed therein and an excess of $4,350 against the credit of the county is l shown.
 l Full Report of Examiner.
 The report of the Examiner on the tax assessor is in full as follows:
 Tn obedience to instructions receiv- l ed from the Chief Executive office, I have examined the tax assessment books of Lamar County, Alabama, as prepared by Mir. I. T. Allen. tax as- sessor for the county for the year 1904. and find the same so far as the me- chanical part of the work Is concerned to be correctly made.
 T further find that the valuation of property in the county Is so far below 
 assessment, seems almost absurd. The average assessment of value of lands In the county is only $1.75 per acre. when it is almost universally conceded that the timber on a very large por- ton Is worth three or four times that amount, and the valuation of personal property in the county Is assessed in about the same proportion. l noticed in very many Instances where horses and mules are assessed at prices that seem to me positively ridiculous Some of them being valued as low as $5, $20 $25, $30 and $40, when 1t is well known fact that most of them are worth many times that amount.
 Owners Fixed Values. | "I called attention of the Assessor and other officers to this matter and they all agree that the valuation is far too low but seem to think they are powerless to increase It. l talked freely with the Assessor, MT. Allen, and tried to impress on his mind that the fault was largely his own. He ad- mitted to me that the value of the property assessed was fixed by the owners themselves while the law re- ouires him to fix value at its actual value in money, having due regard for the character of the lands or other property, the value of Improvements its location, etc, and he is also re- Qu1red by law tO duHlHiSleE ofdIly tHe oath to each and every tax payer be- fore accepting his list of property and fixing the value thereof.
 "The Assessor himself admitted to me that the formality of administer ing the oath was often omitted. The trouble appears to be that the Asses sor neglects to perform his plain duty in this respect and permits the prop erty owners to fix values themselves and of course they can be relied on to make 1t low enough in all cases.
 County Needs Assessor.
 Tt is perfectly plain to my mind that the County needs an Assessor with enough firmness and decision of char acter to do his whole duty regardless of what others may say or think about it. and let the consequences take care of themselves. I am fully persuaded the Assessor is good man but he is sadly deficient in the qualities men, tioned. He is too much afraid of pub lie opinion to properly discharge the important duties of his office. What is the cause of this lack of firmness. I am unable to say He has just been reelected for another full term and as there is now no need for him to fail in his duty in order to secure votes, it is hoped he will proceed to raise values in the County to something like what they ought to be. He has promised to
 
 seen with what success.
 There is now no tax commissioner in the County and I am informed it Is a very difficult matter to get a compe- tent person to accept it. A good one Is badly needed. There are thousands of acres of land in the County assessed at $1 an acre and some at even below that figure.
 Lamar Is a PensIOner.
 "I have brought to the attention of the Assessor and other County officials the fact that the County receives from the State a large amount of money in excess of taxes paid as more fully ap- pears in the statement below. Tho school fund and amount paid to pen sioners in the County Is. in round mum bers, $4,350 more than the entire State tax received for the past year, hence the County of Lamar is actually pen sioner upon the bounty of the State. surely this ought not to be. I append statement below. Respectfully sub mitted.
 Assistant Examiner of Public Ac-
 counts"
 The statement of MT. Sedberry is IS follows:
 Amount of school funds paid by
 the State to Lamar county.S S,s00 , Amount of pension fund distrib-