Bisbee daily review., 1907-02-13
THE MINE TAX LEGISLATION.

! THE MINE TAX
 LEGISLATION.
 When the legislature eonyenes
 again this week 1t is qnite likely
 thst the first bill Of great importance
 to come up for consideration wi,l be the bili infroduced by President Do
 ran os the council before the recess
 Exs taken, O. one of similar import, providing for the taxation of mining
 prcpe-1F in this territory in. the fu- tare Tks present laE has. proven
 to be 2 very unsatisfactory one, be-
 cause of the unequalIty of assess-
 nentz in the different counties. Un-
 der t there has been no system of ar. irving al yalees in the several coun.
 ties where the mines are located and
 under the IaE territorial board of
 equalization is not clothed with the
 power to make an increased assess
 ment on one mine in a county without
 increasing the valuation of all the
 mines in that county. All must admit
 that the efforts of the territorial
 board to increase the revenue by in.
 creasing the taxes on mines has
 worked practically to confscate a
 poor mine in order to raise the taxes
 on a rich mine. Such basis of tax
 ation should not be tolerated by any
 people. Still there are those who are opposing any material change in the present system, notwithstanding that it must be admitted to place an arbi-
 trary assessing power in the hands of
 the governor, through the territorial
 board. the members of which may be
 appointed and removed at his pleas
 ure. The acts of the territorial board
 last year and the year before have
 been contested in the courts and in
 case the acts are held to be without
 legal authority then the condition of
 mine taxation will go back to just
 what it has been during the lifetime of the territory. This it would seem should create an urgency for a new system for arriving at a just assess ment of the mining property in the territory.
 The full copy of the Doran bill has not yet been printed and distributed l so that one may not yet pass upon all | of it's provisions, but in principle it is correct. It provides for arriving at the value produced by a mine during | the year previous to its ass@sment and then makes it the duty'of the county assessor to place an assess ment against 20 per cent of the gross value of the ore to be arrived at by taking the average price of the metal as reported by reliable authorities
 The Tucson Star takes exceptions .o the bill because it provides for as- sessing only 20 per cent of the ore value; this may not be the correct figure which should be taken as a | oasis of value. but we are informed hat such a basis would materially increase the amount of revenue from he mines of Cochise, county over any, hing which has heretofore been pro ,osed; What, the people of the terri ory desire is that the mining proper y shall pay tax on fair valuation of heir property. We do not believei ! nyone desires that the mines shanl e 'discriminated against in this mat CT or that burden of taxation shall e made so great that it will deter nine development. Ii
 We all know that there is no class { f property in the territory taxed for iore than 50 per cent of its value 'aere may. be individuals. who do. bet er than this, but the rule win be I 1und to be that many individuals pay . valuation of less than 30 per cent the actual csEzh value of their prop U rty than those who pay on more than lat amount lC
 The question of just what per cent value should be taken for the basis Q assessment on mining property g 1ould be given a close examination i . 7 the committees who will have g aarge of the bill; to arrive at @ q icTough knowledge of the effect oil ie bill to our mines it win be neces- z iry for the committees to call in the F lining men of the territory and in cart to heart talk have them give i s lch information concerning the q; iR 'ct of the proposed law. If a mIi | q Ike shonld be made in. the rate of D Y cent of value which should be as d