The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1911-02-27
TAX SYSTEM TO
Be :.OvERHAULED
Each County to Have Deputy
Commissioner.
NAMED BY STATE BOARD

Representative Edwards Has Drafted
substitute For His Taxation Meas
ure--Provides New Methods Of
Listing Tangible and Intangible
Property and Places Responsibility
equarely Up to Governor. Who
Must Approve All Appointments.
& Columbus, o., Feb. q. - Represen-
tstiye Edwards of Cleveland will this
Afternoon Introduce substitute for
bis taxation measure The new bill
provides for county tax commits
slouer. in whose hands will be placed
the assessment and appraisement Of
all property, real and personal, tan
kible and intangible. He will be APP
pointed, not elected. The state com
mission will appoint him and hx his
salary, and he will serve no stated
term, but remain in office at the
pleAsure of the commission. which
may discharge him at any time he
fsils in his difficult task Of listing all
property In the county at its true
value In money.
: The tax commissioner will be Off
cially styled deputy state tax COM
missioner and his appointment must
be approved by the governor. So the
new comptroller of local assessments
will be cog In centralized taxing
, system, having at its head the gov
. srnor, who will be held responsible
by the people for honest appraise-
ment, as he both appoints the state
tax commission and approves its ap.
pointment of SO county tax commits
ploners.
Governor Harmon has cast the die
for an appointive state deputy. in
stead Of an elective county apprais-
ing board OF three members, as is
provided in the original Edwards bill.
His main reasons for the preference
are that II 10 not easy to secure ex-
perts by election, and that an ap-
pointee OF state board would be
more apt to be proof against local
pressure TO wink at failure to list
ks0bNaNys ANPuidAiAg OlAtn
potent than high qualifications for
the work to be done, in an elective
campaign. and a candidate might be
popular with certain voters Just be-
cause II was known he would be
guilty OF laxity in assessing property.
The house taxation committee will
start working on the new bill tomor-
L.. n a
have II reported back in time to be
passed next week at the same time
as the Smith I per cent bill. To be
OF any avail this year the bill must
be q law before April, when the mu-
nicipsl and. township assessors elect
Cd in 1909 will go TO work If not dis
placed.
The Edwards bill provides corr
plete system of assessment. and does
away with city boards Of review and
with elected assessors, who have but
Q limited time in which to do their
work. II Is recognized that to get
all personal property on the dupli-
cate will require constant application
OF EFFORT. year In and year out.
As In the original bill, the substi-
tute includes new methods OF getting
at personal property. including hold
ing up OF inheritances until the
states claim for back taxes has been
satisfied, and provision for multiplying
transfers Of mortgages and negotia-
BILE paper which has not been listed
for taxation.
With a budget commission to ap.
portion and reduce levies, and pro-
vision for elections to raise the rate
for hve-year periods in cases of me-
cessity, Representative Smith, as the
spokesman for the state admnistra.
tion. lelieves the 1O-mll limit VIII
work out.
That result will be helped by con
tempiated swelling Of the tax list
With millions of intangible property
which has gone untaxed. He told the
Business Mems club OF Cincinnati
that there was over slOO,OOO.OOO OF
property In that city which could be
added TO the duplicate, and showed
them Just where 1t was.