Albuquerque evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1911-1914, 1912-11-12


nearly the, same as IN 1sil, and less
than In 1910, an = Il n reasonably Ger.
tain that the cash value Of the atocks
OF merchandise In four or Ave OF the
principal cities In the state would very
greatly exceed THE total, We have no
deanlts statistics available on this
subject. but u v oar opinion that the
merchandiso in the whole state sub
Ject to taxation. at ~ cash value. can.
not be less than eib,eo0.0OO.
The tax rolls also ahow only 1867
is5 goats. s,SoS hosa end $685. OuTros.
numbers which are far below the ac-
tual facts, az the census OF 1910 shows
tS6. eco goats. t7,73l hogs and 1854
burros; tho average value. ~ shown
by the tax roll OF goats In il.9t. OF
hogs, SS.OS, aud OF burros S262.
The tax rolls show SS.ssC horses and
s,2IS mules, white the census OF 1910
shows i96,s7S horses and IV,tss
mules.
Tho tax rolls also show tho total
value OF law and medical books In the
state to be 152.7Sg.O0. Or iewelry and
gold ana silver plate 12i,36O.0O, OF
automobiles 9TB.eaO.OO, Of lumber
1GS.6i7O0. NJ hay and Alfalfa 1A.9SS,
of wool SASS. and OF coal S0tO. 90.
All Of the coal In the state assessed
for taxation Ia In Grant, OterO. and
Socorro counties, although It ~ pos
slble some coal may have heen aasess-
ed under the head Of mere handise.
The total amount OF money on the
tax rolls IL only pit9.7OO.BO. although
published hank statements always
show many millions Of dollars of In
divldual deposits.
We are unanimously Of the opinion
that Il II impossible 90 even hope Tor
anything approaching an adequate uni.
form valuation OF property for pur'
poses OF taxation under the present
system, by which tho work 10 left 10
local county officers. The existing law.
II II could be- efficiently enforced.
might produce satisfactory reSults, but
Its administration must be committed
Ia able and FULLY qualified officers. spe-
,citily selected for their udaptability
Ia this WORK. We, belIeva tho best
solution OF these troubles Ia To be-
found In commlttIngs the whole mat
ter OF assessment 10 some central state
authority with full power either to do
all Of the work or the valuation of
property In all paris Of the stGte, or
10 supervise each valuation down 10
It's smallest detEiisi We believe tbs
best plan would he Tor the legislature
20 create II state board Of aRseBROrs.
ruflcient Ia number to enable ltH
members Ia do all tho assessing 81
property Ia all Of the counties OF thI
state, and that no county officer should
huvs any Jurisdiction whatever In this
work. This would do away with tn"
necessity 81 county assessors or would
require their being reduced Ia the pa.
SitiOn Of mere local assistants Of the
state assessorR. II would 90 unfair to
tue present county aasesBOrs who were
elected last year a. deAtrOy their Of
ice, and probably II would be only
lust 10 permit them Ia serve the full
term for which they have been elected
tho office of assessor to be aOonShed
at tho END Of that time, the duties OF
the present incUmbentR being 40
changed as to put them under the con
troll OF the state nsScssors. such sthte
a. ,se ssots should bo paid a fair salary
sufficienS 20 enable them 20 devote
their whole ,ime "a tho work and no
mich asseasOr should ASSESS the prop
arty In the county Of his own resi-
dence, They could agree upon uni
form methods oi procedure and valu.
alton, No that the work would he done
In the same manner Ia every county In
the state, and the members should DO
reouIred 10 visit every precinct In the
county OF counties assigned to them
reupectIyely, aud t. famlllnriEe them
selves with every piece OF property
which could be found.
without some such revolutionary
change I'm the whole system we VIII
never have HntHlactory results. IN
former years the valuation OF properly
was AT a much higher percentage OF
Tenl value than at pTesant' a clear
evidence OF IT,, IN Ia be found In an
opinIon of the supreme court OF tho
| limited states In volume it1 nt pnS"
No tho case being that Of the Albu'
n,,Araue National Bank against Perea,
MO was sherlff and ex.ofIlciO cOllec'
TOR NJ Bernallllo county. The court
said IN substance, that the bank com
pIained that It's property was origin
| III ,aseased AT IN full value, while
II
other property was asssSssd at 20 per
cent thereof and that on appeal to tho
board Of equalization they obtained q
reduction. but only to SO instead OF 10
ner cent. Tho court ADDS that the law
rtouIred property 10 be oSaessed nj its
eaSh value. and that the hank was not
entitled 20 any relief II the general
aSr essment Of property IN lssS was ae
40 ner cent OF liz value. " ls obvious
that W. have been proHresainG In the
wrong direction, US at the present time
' nTopsrty ID not generally aSSesSed ~
, more than 20 per cent Of It's ea"h
value throughout the state.
II some such chanse - We recon-
mend is made by the legislature, we
are confident that tina assessed Valua.
ton OF property in the state would
within two years be NOT less than
SaSO 900 900, and would shortly there.
after approximate the true value OF
the prop.fty In tho slilie while the
la rates could and undnuetedly would
be- proDoftlonately dsorcased,
,T have been sOTnewhnt costlve
hot Doan'b ReEulsts give me juSt the
r1s.,ls 4 Aaaira. They cot mildly and