Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-09-06
Meeting Of County Officials TO
Take Up Matter at Request
OF Heginbotham.
VALUATION INJURIES STATE
Comparison Made With Conditions
Obtaining in ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Favorably Impressed.

Frank Heginbotham. county auditor.
has begun a campaign for an increased
assessed valuation Of Utah and a meet
ing OF the state and county officials
together with the state board % equal
ization will probably be held next
month. when the county auditors meet
to adopt a uniform system Of book
keeping The matter has been laid be-
fore Gov. william spry. David Matson,
state treasurer: Jesse u. Jewkes, state
auditor: Charles S Tingey secretary
OF state; John A. Grosebeck. county
treasurer. and Amos Gabbott. county
assessor. and they are favorably i'm
pressed with the proposition.
Mr. Heginbotham says that the state
is not assessed at one-fourth Of its real
value and Utah IS harmed 10 a great
extent on this account Utah now
shows an assessed valuation Of about
siss.OOo. 900. while the government
shows valuation in Utah OF $780,
ooO. 600
At the request OF Mr. Heginbotham,
the clerk Of the state board Of Wyo-
ming sent a letter 10 him giving him
in detail the work Of the board during
the year II was shown as result
that the valuation Of wyoming IN
creased three times over the previous
year The assessed valuation In 1905
was s67 5S0,O5l In 1909 the assessed
valuation was S1s6,l57.274 In COM
menting upon the tax conditions In
wyoming the board stated in its re-
port
"Our system as II exists is 30 years
behind the times and IL is time that a
stem i'm advance IS taken to adopt ana
work out a system that will combine
and contain the good features OF our
more enlightened neighbours system
that will be a credit TO a young ana
growing state. a system that VIII IN
duce the capitalists looking for Invest
ment TO seek our protection and be one
OF US. a system that will attract the
attention Of the homesteader and the
man OF small means 10 cast his lot
with ms and become n useful and In
auential member OF the body corpor-
ate. and to combine all classes ana
factions into one great and harmonious
state.
This board respectfully submits the
foregoing for the consideration Of the
legislature and trusts that sufficient In
terest in the subject Of taxation may
he aroused, that will at this session
place upon the statute books OF the
state a law that will be comprehensive,
lust and equitable. and secure for the
state n position well up among the
other states which have given this
subject their best judgment ana
thought"
III as the wyoming board states,
their system Of taxation is 30 years be-
hind the times. then the system In
Utah Is 50 years behind other states,
saws County Auditor Heginbotham Il
believe il win mean much to the state
as a whole when n change Is MADE
whereby the real valuation or nearly
So will be represented To the world
and the taxes reduced
Prom the figures shown by Wyo-
ming this year. that state will have a
larger valuation than Utah Wyoming
shows a valuation of SlS6, 1924, while
Utah will show scarcely more than
si75,O 900 In 1908 the valuation OF
All property IN Utah was something
more than S1ss, 900. 00O while tho gov
eminent showed valuation in Utah OF
more than $500 900 900 The valuation
Of Utah should be between half bill
lion dollars and S600,000O00, and !
hope TO see those figures presented to
the world in n few short years.
Whereas. the taxes for state pur-
poses IN Wyoming IN 1908 were 81
mills. the increased valuation OF $780,
900 900 forced a sponding redur-
ton In the taxes for state purposes 10
ALPHABETICALLY the same ratio as the
increase IN valuation. The same COM
dition would be found here, and the
state would not. therefore. have 10
worry about the probability Of going
over the 5000 00O.O 900 valuation mark.
when the tax must, by law. drop from
5 per cent 70 per cent There will be
an election on this matter next fall,
when the people win vote 10 amend
the state constitution. I'm that the re-
duction in the state tax be not reduced
until the valuation reaches 800, 00o. 600.
instead OF 5000, 100000 as at the present
time"
AR Heginbotham Is gathering data
from other states 10 show the cOndi-
ton existing there and win present IL
when the officials meet 20 discuss the
proposition This is In line with tho
can OF state Auditor Jewkes for a
meeting Of the county auditors To es-
tablish a system Of handling the taxes
en- that results can he attained with
out so much trouble and delay.