Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-10-26
STATES TAX METHODS.
Talk by Commissioner Corbin Before
 Meriden Business Men.

State Tax Commissioner William H. | Corbin of Hartford was the principal
 speaker before the Meriden Business | Mems association at the Colonial club in that city the other evening, taking
 for his subject, 'The Methods of Tax
 ation in Vogue in Our State.' During
 his remarks he said
 "Connecticut is unique in it's meth
 ods of taxation. The state stands
 against any form of double taxation
 the supreme court has declared
 against. Connecticut is the only
 state having a tax on bonds, securi-
 ties and choses in action. This tax
 is five mills. payable for five years,
 after which the securities are exempt.
 Another unique feature is the tax on railroads and bank stock. The rail-
 road tax is one mill on the market
 value of the stocks. This is known as the Connecticut system and Is unique in this state. The bank stock
 tax is similar. It is 1 per cent tax after which the stocks are exempt in the hands of the holders and are not listed.
 Connecticut at present has no state tax. Other states have, but our in- come has been sufficient for expen- ditures. The generosity of the legis- lature may necessitate such a tax, but this is not certain.
 'The general theory of Connecti- cut taxation is that we tax everything. This is based on the idea of equality in the constitution This does not suit everybody, but it is fair.
 "The assessors are the most i'm portant officials of the towns. They establish the grand lists. In many towns they are elected with the un- derstanding that they are not going to do much aside from copying the old list. In other towns the asses sors are doing honest work and nu- merous towns are electing the best men for longer terms of office. I am of the opinion that better men should be elected and they should serve long CT terms and be paid sufficient sal aries to enable them to spend enough time to do their work thoroughly.
 "A study of the figures shows that the assessors of forty-seven towns. or 2S per cent. claimed an assessed val uation of 100 per cent. Seventy-thrce towns claim between 75 and 100 per cent of a fair market value Thir- ty-seven towns claim between 50 and T5 per cent. Five towns are frank enough to admit a valuation below 50 per cent. The assessors of six towns give no definite figures as re- quested. Those of Rocky Hill. East Haven. Milford and Newtown made no report after repeated request. The assessors of Wethersfeld de- clined absolutely to make returns as desired. as did also the tax collector of East Lyme.
 While many of the assessors re- port that they have revalued a large portion of the property in their towns. the answers seem to indicate that most of the assessors copy the list of the previous year and make little ef- fort to determine the value of the property by their personal observa- ton. Manufacturing plants seem to he listed at lower valuation than other property. varying from 25 per cent to s0 per cent of fair market value. and many towns take no ac- count whatever of material and man. stock on hand.
 'The taxation of manufacturers is a very hard one to treat publicly and officially. There is only one way to settle this question. that is by the rule of the state. which is to assess them at their full valuation according to the statutes. I think all self-re- specting manufacturers are willing to pay their share of the expenses oS the town in which they live. They are willing to have their property assessed at it's full value but they want to feel sure that everybody else is assessed in the same way. This is really the feeling that everybody l has. All good citizens are willing to pay their share of the town ex- penses if they are sure that everybo,ly l else is doing the same"