Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-04-13
The Tax Question.

their patrons.
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The Tax Question.
There has been a mighty stew about
tax assessments this year, and while II
is safe to say that the equalization
about which there has been so much
talk, and which has been the goal OF
the assessors, is still long way off, 1t
cannot be denied that valuations have
been reduced to a better average
standard than for a good many years
past. But 1t has been like pulling eye
teeth, for while many people continue
to claim that all they want Is equali-
zation, as matter Of fact, the real de-
sire of not a few of them is to escape
with as little taxes as possible. AS to
what their neighbors may be paying In
excess of a just proportion is matter
of not much concern to them or at
least il is fair to say that the average
man is more interested In the fellow
that is paying less than he is in the
fellow who is paying more.
But after all, 1t is nothing but the
same old selfshness of human nature.
There are lots of people who insist on
being distrustful of their fellows, and
when 1t comes to making returns many
Of these reduced the figures to the low
est possible notch, not that they object
to paying their fair share of the taxese
but for fear that they may pay more
than their neighbors. And when a whole
community, a whole township whole
county, proceeds along this line, 1t Is
quite natural that there should be work
cut out for the board of assessors.
The returns this year have been bet
ter and more liberal than usual. Every
body who is best acquainted with the
subject Is prepared to corrOborate this
At least some of the reasons are OBJ
vious m the first place, at no other
tax assessment period is a real estate
returaing year since the adoption of the
plan of returning real estate once each
four years, has the country been in a
more prosperous condition. In the
second place, no other comptroller gen.
eral has had the nerve to go into this
heavily loaded proposition at the right
time and make an honest effort to Sc
cure full and complete returns on ba-
sis of actual values. And in the third
place, so far as York county is con-
cerned. it has not previously happened
just at such juncture as that through
which we are just passed that the
county had a new auditor who was so
unsophisticated as to assume that the
higher officials meant just what they
said, and on this assumption make a
really persistent effort to carry out in
structions.
We do not mean to make or cast any
reflections on anybody. We are not In
that kind of humor just now. But we
want to state that in our opinion there
about this matter of making up tax
returns 1t has been common for
comptrollers general to give imperative
and specific instructions to auditors
and for auditors to give imperative and
specific instructions to individual cit
izens and for individual citizens, i'm the
face of all this to go ahead and return
"a part of their property at about one
fourth of its value. Then the auditors,
except in a few cases would say moth
ing. the boards of equalization would
say but little more and the comptrollers
general would say less than either.
That we fear, has been the case In a
great many of the counties again this
year; but not so in York. In the first
place the auditor has done all he could
to have returns made up as near to true
values as possible. and the boards
of equalization as a rule have devoted
themselves principally to raising the
lower returns toward the higher in
stead of lowering the higher returns
toward the lower and have given more
attention than usual to securing the
listing of property that had not been
listed at all, and putting all of it at
something like a respectable valuation.
The statement that the returns are in
better shape this year than usual, is
made on the assurance of several MEM
bers of the board of equalization. The
law provides that property be listed In
detail. 1t is specified that the infor-
nation same as last year" is not ac-
ceptabe. The taxpayers have been
told that for years: but many of them
insisted i'm making their returns same
as last year." and in most cases such
returns have been allowed to stand.
Assessors claim that when the town.
ship returns came to them for equali-
ZatiOr, great lunches of them were so
marked and not knowing what last
years figure, We're, they could do moth
ing. But this Year the returns were I'm
detail acres, figures, etc. and there
was q basis of equalization. ON many
of the returns, it is true, the makers
forgot or omitted to list numerous
buildings, mules, COWS, watches, pianos,
vehicles, etc, and these the ass rssurs
had but little time to look up; but TAX
en- altogether, there was quite an i'm
provement over former practices, and
the result generally is more creditable.
But with all this we do not want to
create the impression that the situa-
ton is ut all like it should be. In a
matter like this there is no need for
people to try to deceive themselves and
there is no need for us TO try to de-
ceive them. We have not yet arrived
at anything like equalization. While I'm
the case of hundreds of small tax
payers, and not a few large ones. stheir