The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1892-1907, 1905-12-23
SOME TAX FIGURES.

Auk himself NAA- NiAE1AlNAAa AZ AeaAA ~
is the subject Of comment over the
state and one hears many reasons,
based largely on the personal interest
or political vision Of the person at
tempting to explain to the people
why they are taxed until the burden
has become almost Undesirable.
Some Of our republican county ex-
changes, whose editors believe it to
be their religious duty to swear by
every thing that republican official
does, no matter what the cost, claim
that it is because the railroad and
other taxes of corporations are tied
up in litigation. This excuse is east
ly answered by the statement that
Then we hear anothsr excuse that the
county is developing and we must
have new roads and bridges. This is
true, and many swallow the excuse
without going further into the facts.
New roads and brigdes are necessary,
at the same time the assessed valua-
tion Of the county has been increas
ing more rapidly than the real ueces-
sity for these improvements. A mum
Der Of other excuses and explana
tions are offered for the excessive
taxation of Kootenai county.
The undisputed facts a. we gather
them from the records OF county and
state are these, and no one who will
look the matter up can dispute them;
in fact we challenge contradiction
with any semblance of truth: To be-
gin with, the county assessor made
the statement, and his deputies reit-
Grated it; the records Of his office
prove its truthfulness, AMI 1t was
that be intended to make a raise Of
twenty per cent in the value Of
all real estate In Occur d'Alene. and
the same ratio was closely followed
throughout the county. Whether
this was justified or not We leave to
the man who pays the taxes; bat II
made an increase Of just that much
in the amount of taxes paid by the
individual. This was followed By
an additional mill added By the
board Of county commissioners to thC
general levy, which meant still an
other increse.
We come now to the action Of tbs
state board Of equalization and 6uc
from the printed records Of its pro
ceedings, page nine, that the assessed
valuation of all farm lands in KOc
tenai county was raised twenty hvt
per cent. On page ten We examiu,
the table Of ad justmsnts and see tina
all lots and real estate in the town
of this county we're raised ten pc
cent, making in the case of farm
cent, aud Of lots an increase OF thir
ty-hve per cent. Add t. this an in
crease of ten per cent On all improve
vments on city and town lots 50
page ten Of proceedings Of the stat
board and We have one more tel
per cent added to the burden in tn
towns, or a total Of forty five pc
cent on real estate and improvement
alone.
On page thirty Ave of the report G
the state board we ind a table Of az
sessed valuations after the board be
completed its work. The total Ealu
alton of Kootenai county exolusiv
of railroad, telegraph and telephon
lines, as returned By Assessor Flint
after he had raised values to a poir
where be considered them big
enough, is 81, 1927, 3O1.1n 10 Whic
the state board added 1921 ,055. 9
and deducted $50, 12l, making a to
al increase of $27O, 934.9O. Add
this increase a special levy of on'
half Of one per csut which the boar
made to cover the wasteful sxpeI
ditures Of the state administratiC
and you have some idea Of how 1t
that your taxes are 80 high.
The assessed valuation OF railway
and telegraph and telephone lines
Kootenia county is twice that Of al
other county in the state and when
Is added to the valuation Of all 9TH
property. makes a total OF -, 9O4
$50. 10. With this big valuation fro
which tbs taxes of the county are d
rived it is bat question of takir
pencil and paper and figuring Of
that there is something radical
wrong somewhere, and after you ha
done this II you wish to continue Il
disease in an aggravated form. iu
keep on voting your party ticket b
cause some Office seeker tells you
Il a display of loyalty. When va
ers become indepndent enough
vote for Ghe man, taxes in old Ko
tenai will be lower.
These things are facts which vi
be disputed and oontortsd by Z
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