Morris tribune., 1912-03-22
CORRECTING ERRORS
How Property is Re-Assessed by
Tax Commission.
VIIL-EQUALIZATION BY SPE-
CIAL ASSESSMENT.

In the preceding article the author
ltv vested in the tax commission, sit
ting as state board of equalization,
to raise or lower the assessed value
Of real and personal property was full
ly explained. In addition to these
powers, the commission may also
equalize assessments by causing a re-
assessment to be made of real and
personal property, or any class rof
personal property in any taxing dis
trict of the state Such reassessments
may be ordered on verified complaint
or by the commission on it's own mo-
ton, and may include all or any of
the real or personal in any district.
| When a reassessment of a district
is decided upon the tax commission
appoints special assessor and such
deputies as may be necessary to make
such reassessment. The special asses
sor and deputies need not be residents
of the district or county wherein the
reassessment is to be made, but must
be citizens of the state.
The special assessor proceeds to
make a new assessment of the pro-
perty ordered reassessed, and when
completed, makes verified returns of
the same to the tax commission. The
reassessment so returned is equalized
by the tax commission in order to
make it substantially conform with
like property in the same county, or
throughout the state. A verified copy
of the reassessment is then transmit
ed to the county auditor of the county
wherein such reassessment was made
and becomes the official assessment.
superseding the original assessment
made by the regular assessor. F..
Any person feeling himself ag-
grieved by an assessment so made
against him or any property owned
by him may appeal to the district
court Of the county in which such as
sessment was made. The procedure
in an appeal is very simple. The ag-
grieved party files notice of such APP
peal with the county auditor within
80 days after the making of such: as
sessment, specifying the grounds aup-
on which the appeal is made, and / it
at once becomes effective. The APP
peal is heard and determined by, the
district court in the same manner as
other tax matters are tried and :. de-
termined.
The. compensation paid special as
SCISSORS and deputies is fixed by ,ethe
tax commission. The expense. Of
making a reassessment is certified to
the state auditor and is paid out Of
the state treasury in the first in
stance, but in the end the district re-
assessed pays the expense. The state
auditor notifies the county auditor 4 Of
the amount of such expense and the
latter levies a tax on all of the tax
able property of the district wherein
such reassessment was made, and
when collected, it is paid into the
state treasury. :=~-~:> .c>7 "a.
The authority to cause reassess-
ments to be made is one of the most
| important powers, vested in the tax
commission. 1t permits the com
mission, when any considerable
amount of property has been omitted
from the tax rolls in any district, or
if assessed, it has been undervalued
or overvalued, to correct the injustice
by ordering reassessment of such
district. While differentiation or
generalization may be corrected by
equalization. omitted property can
only be effectively reached by reassess-
ment.