Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1912-10-04
TAXATION IN MINNESOTA
THE REMEDY FOR UNFAIR AS
SESSMENTS- THIRTY SIXTH
ARTICLE

assessment Of property for taxation 10
not that the valuation be either high
or low, but that they be fair and
uniform; that all kinds Of property Of
like character and of equal value should
be assessed at the same value regardless
of the social, political, or personal
standing and influence Of it's owners.
It is self-evident that so long as the
present system Of local assessor is re-
tanned there cannot be any such thing
as fair and uniform valuation of prop
erty as between the owners thereof in
the same taxing district. The local con-
dition and influences which inevitably
surround and embarrass the local as
SCISSOR are such that no matter how
conscientious he cannot fairly and
impartially fix the valuation of the
property Of his neighbors, friends, and.
enemies. Do the best he can, either
favoritism or prejudice, charity or
overmastering influence warp his judg-
ment and initiate against the integrity
of his assessment.
It is most important that this local
or initial assessment should be as fair
and perfect as it is possible to make it.
It is the foundation upon which all Of
the taxes levied upon the valuation of
property is predicted. It directly con-
Germs the individual taxpayer, and is
intended to place him upon an equality
with his neighbors. If it fails to do
this he pays either higher or low
er tax than he should. The present
system not only fails to give, but is q
positive impediment to fair and uni
form taxation.
How can this unwholesome state Of
affairs be remedied? While an absolute
ly perfect system cannot be devised, q
great improvement can be made by the
enactment Of laws based upon the fol-
lowing principles, viz:
1st. The assessor should not be SUBJ
ject to the embarrassing influence al
ready mentioned. AS far as possible he
should be free from any relationship,
connection, or association with the per-
sons whose property it is his duty to as
sess.
End. The assessor should be per-
son who by experience and familiarity
with the various kinds Of taxable prop
perty has become, to some extent, an
expert in valuation. The better "post-
ed' he is as to the values Of property
the more competent he is to assess it.
3rd. In order to become such an ex-'
pert, and he can become so only by ex-
perience, his term Of office should be-
long enough to enable him to familiar
ize himself, with the character and
values of assessable property as II is.
bought and sold in the local markets.
4th. His compensation should be
sufficient to enable him to devote all
of his time, not for few weeks merely
but for his entire official term, to
gathering information and data which
will enable him to include all taxable
property in his assessment and to value
it on uniform. basis.
5th. With proper limitations he
should be amenable for the fairness and
thoroughness Of his work to some con-
trolling supervisory power in the state
which could correct any errors he might
make.
After long and careful consideration
of the matter the state tax commission
has become convinced that the most
feasible way in which to secure fair
and equitable assessment Of taxable
property is to abolish the office of
local assessor and to substitute in it's
place that Of county assessor. As
required by law the commission for
mulated and submitted to the last
legislature bills to that effect. In each
case the bills failed Of passage.