Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1912-03-18
WHAT THE STATE TAX COMMITS.
SION THINKS OF THE ASSESS.
ED VALUATIONS IN CHE.
HALLS COUNTY

edruleSS OF the name or the owner or
amount of his holdings, has been
formed in Hoquiam, and such inter
est is being manifested throughout
the county on this subject, that it is
proposed to form local leagues in
every city, town and country voting
precinct in the county.
That something has been radically
wrong with assessed valuations in
Chehalis county has been too we'll
known for many years to require re.
petition here. 1t took ten years OF
agitation to secure cruise of the
timber lands, which has been done
at a cost of over $4,000, and it is now
plain that for the average taxpayer
to secure benefits in proportion to this
great cost, he must organize and de.
mand it,
For the purpose of showing that
this movement is not the outgrowth
of few disgruntled agitators, or in.
stigated for the purpose of compelling
an unfair valuation of any class of
property, but with the sole object of
having absolutely ALL CLASSES OF
property assessed upon an equal ba-
sis, the following letter from the
State Tax Commission to the Hon
Phil s. Locke is published. Read it
and ponder. This is an official state
ment.
Hon. Phil s. Locke, Aberdeen, Wash.
ington.
My dear Sir:
We have your letter with reference
to taxation matters in general and
more particularly applicable to Che
halls County. In dealing with the
oE INV
ways confrOnts us-if We make the
explanation short enough to be inter-
esting, we do not cover the ground
we should; if we make it long enough
to fully explain the subject few PEG.
pie pay any attention to it.
The law requires this Board to
which are to be furnished each men,
Der of the legislature, and this we
have done three times since the or.
ganization of the State Board of Tax
Commissioners. If one per cent. Of
the members of the legislature ever
read even part of one of these re-
ports. it would be gratifying to this
Board but they are no different from
the people. The subject of taxation
interests the everyday man probably
twice in each year-the day that the
assessor calls upon him to fix the
amount of his assessment and the
day he calls upon the treasurer to pay
his taxes. There seems, however to
be somewhat of an awakening along
the lines of political economy. We
very much hope that such interest
will be taken, in the subject of taxa.
ton especially, as will bring about
q study of these important questions
to the end that the people may be
better advised and informed
Lossed.on Lands
The subject of the taxation of the
cut-over lands of this state has en-
gagged much of the attention of this
Board, and it presents so many diff.
cult questions that it is a hard one
with which to deal The fact that
large part of this character of prop.
erty is held by large corporations,
who decline to place the same upon
the market, is one of the difficult
phases of the question. These large
holders, of course, recognize the fact
that the time is coming when this
land from which the valuable timber
has been removed will be very large
asset in their business A philan-
thrOpic treatment of the question
would cause them to sell this land
at low price to bona fide settlers
and home-builders, thus aiding in the
development and upbuilding of the
state. But philanthropy has not us
ually been regarded as one of the
powers or duties enumerated in ar
ticles of incorporation.
The question with us, however, is
how are We to treat this property With
regard to taxation We can not tax
that held by the corporations at one
value and that held by the struggling
settler at another, and thus force the
large holdings upon the market But
1t does seem that some reasonable
means between the two extremes
could be found whereby just and
equitable valuation could be placed
upon such property.
We have on the assessment rolls
In this state, 3.540,165 acres of un.
improved land in the seventeen tim.
Der counties of the state. (This does
not include the counties of Stevens,
Spokane, Klickitat, Yakima, Kittitas,
Ferry and Okanogan, where there is
small amount of timber.) The as
sessed value of this unimproved land
which, We must assume, is nearly all
cut-over or logged-off land, Is 1884,
115,621.0O, or an average of 1854 per
acre. In its present condition that
seems to be a fair price, but the av
erage for Chehalis County is only
$3.50 per acre. 1t is argued. of course.
that this property Is not productive
and returns no income to it's owner
Much of it, however, If placed in the
hands of the bona fide home builder,
would ripen into the finest farms in
the state.
Under our present system Of taxa.
ton. it seems impossible to treat this
property other than as unproductive,
idle land, and to tax it accordingly,
but there is no reason why the log
ged-Off lands in Chehalis County,
where they are susceptible of agricul
ture or horticulture, should not be
assessed at as high value as in the
counties of Thurston, Skamania, Ska.
git, Jefferson, Island or Clallam.
The Remedy.
1t has long been the desire of this
Board that the system of taxation in
this state be changed. A careful
study Of the question convinces us
that just as long as we pursue the
present methods we can never have