Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-04-17
WORK OF THE EoUALIZERs.

Friday as 1t expected to do. 1t devel-
oped that the task of finding the total
number of acres returned for taxation
In each township, and the aggregate
value of the same, data absolutely nee
essary to the ascertaining of the as
sessed average value per acre was
greater than had been anticipated.
After the returns of several townships
had been cast up, and an average
struck, 1t was found that palpable err
rors had been made In the hurry and
there was no other way for 1t than to
take as much time as might be neces-
sarys. Accordingly 1t was decided to
leave the matter with the Loan & Saw
ings bank people, who had kindly Of
fered their assistance, and adjourn un-
til next Thursday when, necessary cal
culations having been completed in
the meantime, the remaining work Of
equalization will only be a matter Of
discretion and agreement.
AS has already been made clear, the
members Of the board are unit on
the equalization matter. There Is no
disagreement among them All real
iZe that taxation assessments hereto
fore have been more or less farcial, and
although 1t Is impossible to secure a
satisfactory adjustment now, still there
will never be a better time to start.
and they will give as good an account
Of themselves as they are able. They
are determined to equaliZe as far as
possible as between the different
townships and they are disposed also
to do what they can to remove the dis
crepancy as between town and coun-
try property. They are also anxious
that the other counties Of the state
bring their assessed valuation up to an
equality with York. It Is necessary for
York to submit to a raise In order to
get, to an equality with the other
counties, they are perfectly willing
for that; but all are anxious for fair
deal"
Mr.. Tom L. Johnson, representative
on the board from Rock Hill, and a
large taxpayer, is probably the best
informed man on the board as to the
whole tax question. He has been In
close touch with the subject for years,
and is an enthusiastic advocate Of the
proposition to adopt market value as
the only basis Of assessment for taxa
tions He understands that 1t will be
difficult to get the people as a whole to
appreciate the proposition; but thinks
that when Ii does come as II will have
to come after a while the levies' will
necessarily be lower, and there will be
greater inducement for the investment
Of outside capital In the state. Our
present system Of small assessments
and large levies, he thinks, Is the poor
est kind Of policy, especially when,s IL
kIA fo IaV rQs.
and the levies smaller, we could secure
even better results without costing
anybody any more money.
What we want to do" said Mr..
Johnson, discussing the matter in an
off-hand manner last Friday. Is to put
your own assessment up to figures that
will warrant US in the claim that we
are trying to do what is right, and then
send a representative to the state
board Of equalization who will insist
that the other counties toe the mark
with us. know that most Of the coun-
ties are far below our standard; but
they should be made to come up. Take
Marlboro, for instance. They have land
over there which never changes hands
at less than one hundred dollars an
acre, yet their average assessment
during the last four years has been
only one cent an acre more than ours
We were $4.57 and they were $458.
They would claim, Of course, that only
a small percentage of their lands are
valuable-that most of the country Is
swamp land unfit for agricultural pur-
poses But then can't we offer to give
them an acre Of gully washed, barren
or rocky mountain side for every acre
Of swamps they have? And why are
they not utilizing their swamps? Sim
ply because up to this time, they have
not found It profitable to drain them.
But Marlboro Is not the only county
thatis failing to bear her fair share Of
the burdens of taxation. 1t is so Of
numerous others. There are just plen-
ty Of cases I'm the eastern and lower
part Of the state where lands that went
begging at 50 and SO an acre are now
marketable at 500, $50, $50 and even
more an acre. / am not prepared to
say that these people have not taken
these facts into consideration In max
ing their returns this year; but II they
have not we must insist that they come
across. We must do all we can to Sc
cure justice at the hands OF the state
board Of equalization, and IL We cannot
secure justice there, we must carry the
fight into the general assembly. This
that depends upon II, Is the most i'm
portant matter now before the people,
and we must not fail to use every
means In our power to have Ii ADJUST
ed now while II looks like we have the
opportunity, and we must have 1t ad-
justed right"