The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-03-30
NOW WORKING
 IN BULLOCK Tax Commission is in Union Springs. TO MEET THE BOARD TODAY County Officers Must Watch All
 Transfers. vm Return to Montsomery Tonight .nd wni Visit Every county in
 state--Fast as Possible.
BY WILL n. STEPHAN.

BY WILL T. STEPHAN.
 Union Springs, March 29. Especial. ) 1.-The State Tax Commission has, for the time being. established it's nova ble headquarters in the capital of Bullock county, where tomorrow il will hold one of its advisory meetings with the tax officials of Bullock.
 The preliminary work was done to- day. Judge Mitchell and Colonel Harvey F.. Jones met the county off cers socially but the business of the Comm rsion went over until tomorrow morning when the members of the Court of Commissioners will gather at Df the cGuEty to confer with the Tax Commissioners.
 Mir. Powell. the associate member of the commission, who had been call- sd to his home In Greenville. met the other members of the Commission here. He and Secretary Loyd spent the day In going over the books of the Pro- bate Judge and the Tax Assessor. They were searching out recent transfers of real estate and jotting them down together with the tax value the own CTS had them put on the books at The memoranda which will be the product of the industry of Messrs. Powell and Lloyd. will be examined by Judge Mitchell and Colonel Jones and . . tL WILL DC the Butue .tO IuelT QuS5tiOuS and instructions to the revenue off cerE of Bullock county.
 Back to Montgomery Tonight.
 The members of the Commission will return to Montgomery Saturday night. They will he at the Capitol for several days. Tuesday the regular monthly meeting of the Commission will be held. The Commission will each month hold it's regular public meet ing on the first Tuesday of each month at the Capitol.
 Beyond this the Commission has no plans The State will be toured by the Commission and every county seat will be visited. This will all be done in due time. And in due time each Board of Revenue in the State will have it's conference with the State Tax Commission. The first tour will be preliminary in It's nature, trip taken by the Commissioners to enlist the sympathy of the Boards of Rev. enue in the equalization of the taxa tion of Alabama. The working out of this system. from the nature of things, contemplates the raising as- sessments more than the lowering as- sessments. for more assessment are too low than there are assessments too high.
 inc Commission, as Is indicated by the work 1t has so far done, and by the expressed views of It's members will not be hurried in the important work committed to its charge' Rome was no more built in day than q tax system could be altered In a day, where popular government prevails.
 The vital administrative work Of the Commission will be done when 1t meets as a State tax court. The Com mission is charged with the important duty of administering the various new xy1nfnh naEgAd nv the last Legislature. The Com mission will apply the Franchise Tax Act, the Intangible Assets Act. the (sroas Income Tax Act and several of the other ingenious revenue acts that were adopted by the Legislature.
 No C0nnfct in Work.
 There is no conflict between the work that is cut out for the state Board I. or Equalization and that Of the state state IST cT Commission. The state soar1 Gor 0i assesses the physical property of railroad. The State Tax Commission has the more difficult task of assess ing its intangible property. The Board of Equalization passes upon the as- easements of the actual physical prop ertv of common carriers and telegraph companies while the Tax Commission for its part passes upon the franchises. the gross income and other forms Of value which the Legislature made as- sessable.
 The Commission has not determined at what time 1t will hold meeting to discharge this duty. The physical por- fton of the railroad and telegraph nroperty will be assessed at the regu- lar annual meeting of the Board of Edualfzation at the Capitol next week.
 The Commission has not taken the position that all property in the State shall be assessed at its actual value. This impression has prevailed. but the Commission has not laid down that law. On the other hand, the Commis- sion has not committed itself to any policy of assessments lower than true values. This vital point was stressed at the Eufaula meeting of the Com mission, and 1t will no doubt be brought up at today's Bullock County meeting. It is the crux of the whole tax ques- tion.
 Judge Mitchell Illustrates.
 The Commission pointed to the law as it stood when the Barbour County tax officers put the question up to them But the local officials were given to understand that they were given some discretion In fixing tax values. To illustrate the position of Che Commission. when he was quoting from transfer figures, Judge Mitchell said:
 ''The price at which piece of prop erty sells is not necessarily the true value of that property. It might be bought by MT. A. from MT. B. because he particularly desired 1t for some special purpose. Mir. B. knowing that MT. A had to buy it or that he wanted it for some special purpose, asked and received a higher price than the prop srty was actually worth.
 The Commission is however urging and insisting on the tax officers keep ing close to real estate transfers. It