The Blackfoot optimist. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1907-1918, 1911-04-13

Attorney General D. C. McDcu GALL
is being solicited from every part of
the state for his views of the cash
value assessment plan. His reply,
heretofore, to all has been, ut is my
business only to tell what the Law is,
that it is the business of the assessor
to enforce the law, ard must arrive
at his own plan for so DOING
AT Rocatello, recently, however, he
entered more fully into the matter
as follows:
1T is up to the county assessors
to use their best Judgment in fix
ing the value for assessment purposes
Of all hnds. If they will mot go too
far in the matter, but raise values all
along the lie to something closer
the real value of property, it will
work out excellently.''
Upon being asked relative to this
same matter here, the attorney gen
eral declared t1hat what he meant by
assessors not going too far, was that
they should not become excited in
the general discussion of the increas-
ed valuation and go beyond reason.
What l MEANT declared the at
tcrney general, was that assessors
should net get hysterical upon the
subject. For instance, should it he
ascertained that some man. because
OF belief in the speculative value
OF a certain piece of hand should be
holding 1t for sale at, say, $10G an
acre with no offers AT such a price,
it wouldbe manifestly unfair to assess
such property at 800 a,n acre, for it
is evident that this is more than
the actual cash value
"Also,' he contI ued, sit may hap
pen that even when sales ARE made
at certain price, this sale price may
not represent the actual cash value.
There may be some unnatural reason
why the price paid should be either
too high or too low; it might be that
the purchaser, for some reason, was
to buy and was therefore
to pay more than the prop
erty was REALLY worth, or it may be
that the owner was forced for some
reason to sell and that the price he
accepted was less than the real value
What the assessors will have to
clio he finally declared, sis to 80 out
and use their very best Judgment as
men familiar with conditions and will
values, and fix such a value as in
their Judgment represents the real,
actual cash value of the property.
This is their business aud this is the
duty imposed upon them by the law
and so long as they perform this du-
ty as best they can nothing more can
be expected of them. The courts
have uniformly held that this is an
exclusive duty that they have to per-
form and that NO one can interfere
with them. 1t has even baen held
that where the county commissioners,
or board of equalization has attempted
to instruct assessors to assess GER
tain property at a certain valuation,
the SsSSeGSCr was justified in refus-
ing to place such value upon the
though he would, of course,
be required to assess it along with
other property The only power the
board of equalization would have
would be to equalize the value as be
tween that property AID other prop
erty in the county, and the only au-
Lhorlty to enforce the laws against
assessors is just the same authority
tht any other citizen would have
Tint CT making complaint against
such officer, and NO other.
The attorney general has been so
oeselged for legal advice since the
of the state board Of
equalization was made that taxation
must procee. upon full cash value |
oasis that he has been compelled to |
all halt. He has received hundred |
II letters, the total amounting PERTAINS |
nto the thousands from all ccl,ntv of |
lcers from all parts Of the state and |
lpon all sorts of questions. He has
ssued notice that the attorney TO
whom all county officers must apply
or legal guidance is the county at
crney for the county, unless that OF
lcer should himself desire advice in
which case he may apply to the at