The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1911-07-13
PAYS MORE
THAN SHARE Of
TAXES IN COUNTY
Railroad Official Finds
That Mitchell is
OSer
GAIN IN FARMS
Average Increase of 81 ar
Acre in Values Shown
By Transfers

By Transfers
That property-owners OF Mitcheli
are paving much more than thei.
proportionate share of county ant
state taxes is the discovery made i'm
~cidentally in Mitchell by T. a. Pol.
leys, tax commissioner of the Chi
cago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Oma.
ha Railway Company, of st. Paul,
Mimi.
Mr.. Polleys has spent several
days in Mitchell collecting materia
which he will use in his argument,
before the state board of assessment
in an attempt t secure a lower
valuation of the property of his rail-
road. He will present figures show
ing that other property in the state,
as valued by actual transfers, is as
sessed at a lower percentage than
the railroad property.
Following is the statement made
to The Republican by Mr.. Polleys,
summarizing his discoveries in this
country:
Based on the land sales that have
occurred in the first half of 1911 ir
Dawson county, the average value
per acre Of lands in the county TO.
this year is computed to be $59.45.
as against S55.44 per acre in 1910
The gain in the past year has been
$4.01 per acre. The ratio of assess
ed value to 1911 true value of acre
property in the county is 17.6S per
cent.
In the city of Mitchell, based on
1872 transfers filed during the last
twelve months, the ratio between
selling value and assessed value OF
lots is shown to be 29.74 per cent
This means that a thousand dollars
worth of Mitchell real estate pays
two thirds more state and county
taxes than a thousand dollars worth
of farm land in the county.
Big Variation in Assessments.
"Of the 1872 parcels of Mitchell
real estate considered above, II were
assessed at less than 20 per cen @.
their full value; 80 between 20 and
% per cent; so between 80 and &C
per cent; 10 between 40 and so pei
cent; and IA were assessed at moro
than so per cent OF their full value"
Aside from the fact tnat the city
is paying considerably more than its
share of taxes in Dawson county,
this statement shows two other in
teresting facts. One is thai the av-
erage value of farm land increased
almost eight per cent in value dur
ing the last year., an amazing gain
when the high figure already reach
ed is considered. Again, it is
shown by the above figures hat the
assessment of Mitchell property
shows wide variation, ranging all
the way from less than 20 per cent
of full value to more than so per
cent. This means many are paying
too little and many too much taxes.
The assessment is supposed to be
inc third of actual value. The av-
erage of 29.74 is below that per-
centage, but tie average in the coun-
try, of 1853 per cent of the actual
value, is only about half what it
should be.
1888 Transfers Tabulated.
In making up his farm land fig
ures, Mr.. Polleys considered the
transfer of 7O,171 acres in Dawson
county in 2S2 sales. from Jan. /,
1908 to July s. 1911. The average
sale price for the county for that
period was $51.2O, as compared with
the 1911 average of s59.45. Fol-
lowing is the record by townships,
the first column showing the average
price per acre for the full three
ear and a half and the second col
umn the 1911 average price per acre:
For Full For 1911
Period
1iome. .$4s.7s s56.4S
Tobin 4S.f7 56.4S
Raker 1917 46.37