The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1907-12-26
BY ALLEN RIPLEY fOOTt.

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An intelligent vtudy Of the state
and local tax laws now In operation
In the several states will disclose the
TACT that these laws have been formu
lated with little knowledge Of or re
gard for the requirements OF economic
principles. In this respect Ohio Is not
more unfortunate than many OF the
other states.
The Golden Rule Of Taxation.
Never tax anyt ing
That would De of value to your state
That could or would run away, or.
That could or wo IL core to you"
Enc Enslev.
Article IL. Section 2. Ohio Constitu.
tion adopted 1851:
Laws shall be passed. taxing by
uniform rule all mopess. credits. in.
W tments In bon stocls. Joint
stock companies or otherwise: and
also real and personal property ac.
cording to Its true value IN nlpney. -
Those who formulated the eyistiie
constitution lelislated into Il this
rule of taxation which was at that
date. 1851, the lie in customary use
This rule binds the people Of 1907 TO
the knowle ige of the subject pos.
sessed by the psorle of former cen.
tpry who We're dealing with conditions
wholly unlike these exiting today. an
inelastic rule which deprives the peo.
rle OF all power to deal with present.
cay condi' ions as their intclligence
nay show them to he best. : Iegisla.
uon.. injected into state constitutions.
results IN ne government of the pres.
ent by the dead brFin of the past. n
permits no growtn in intelligence. It
PROVIDES for no cranges in conditions. !.
Having SUI cred from thfs evil, great
care should be exercised not to per.
petu3te II In any Amendment to our
constit ton that may new be submit.
ted TO the people. We shoIld recognize
the fact that we are not more capable
OF legislating for the people who will
i've in this stcte 80 years hence than
were those who lived here so wears
ago to legislate for u.s.
The Uniform Rule of Taxation, Ap.
piled to Real Estate.
The rule of taxation legislated into
the constitution of 1851 requires the
taxat,on or all property tangible and
intangible. at its true value In money
and AT uniform rate. This is the
rule OF the general property tax. a rule
that Is condemned by every well-in-
formed economic student; rule that
mas been tried and abandoned by the
people Of every civilized country ex-
cepting the American states.
The practical impossibility of as.
sesslng all property for taxation at it's
true value In money is due to the fact
mat value is not a concrete nor sta.
Bile condition. Any statement of value
. simply an expression of opinion. II
s not possible for those whose duty
I Is to value property for taxation 20 |
igree In their views regarding value. |
Nhether they are owners or assessors. |
hough every one of them may be alb. |
Iolutely honest
| have a watch The law requires
hat 1t shall be assessed for taxation |
! lis true value In money. How many
! you are competent to fix that value?
| you attempt to do II every one Of
ou VIII give Il different value. This
ccounts Tor the absurd statement of
ne value OF watches returned for tax.
tion In this state II illustrates the
Dsurdity OF employing a man at two
r three dollars per day to value all
he real and personal property within
taxing district and requiring him to
J, days. II exposes the egregious
oily OF requiring a small body of men
meet In Columbus once In fen
ears to euualiZe the value of all prop
rty within the state. and of making
heir decision biniing unon the state
pr ten years to come. What higher
remlum than this Is needed to induce
loners or assessors who can secure
ne greatest relative undervaluation
Or the real and personal property
laced on the duplicate of their coun-
VIII free the taxpayers Of their
ounty from the payment OF a CORE
bonding portion OF the state tax. not
,r one year only. but for ten. The
low tr..I. . |
the action OF assessors for
.xine districts within a county. and
individual taxpayers within taxing
lstricts: The shifting of the incidence
!. taxation, where some are undertay-
O.. causes others to be overtaxed.
his is condition that does violence
every requirement OF justice. To
emonstra how imrossihle It is to
nforce the uniform rule I'm taxation
y the methods that have been EN-.
loyed. have hal investigations
'ade- to show what success has been
rhieved. after fiftv-fve years of ex.
erience,. in Adams. Brown, Monroe
M montgomery counties. All trans
,rs OF real estate recorded In these
ounties for the year 1906 have been
ompiled. Those In which the sell.
lg value was not properly Expressed
ere excluded from the list. The
alue at which eac1 piece of property
as assessed for taxation has been |
ntered on the list in a parallel col
mn with its selling value.
This exhibit slows the average tax-
Die value OF real estate in these coun.
es to be the following per cent OF its
'lling value: Il
Adams .. 434 per cent
Brown - 502 ner cent
monroe ........... 367 per cent
montgomery ...... 371 per cent
Assuming that selling value Is the
ne value In money OF the property
I'D. this exhibit proves that In these
'unties from 49.7 per cent to 63.3
y cent OF the true value OF real es-
re eyaded taxation in 1906 by under
But this 10 not all that is shown in
IL exhibit. The statement OF an
'erage is an. acknowledgment that
ere were valuations below and also
'ove the average. To show the wide
riation In this respect, the two ex.
emes may be taken. In Adams coun- II
l9l transfers were assessed at an
erage .of l13 per cent OF selling
IlIa WhfIo fro N far. a.. A. 4