The Eureka sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1902-current, 1912-01-13

AT tne opening scs.lOn OF tue STATE
Board Of Assessors at Carson last Mon
day, Governor Tssker L Oddie made
the following statement:
Taxation 10 the fundamental business
proposition Of any form Of government.
To conduct civil government; to main
tain Law and order. and 6 carry on Co
operative institutions for the general
welfare requires money. and that money
is properly raised only BY taxation. IL
il is = Just government. the burden Of
AVIATION must be equitably distributed
No man should be compelled to pay
more than his proper share of < and
no man should be permitted to pay less.
These are axioms which no o will
dispute. Their application presents many
complex difficulties.
/ believe that Nevada is far behind
many other States in the solution of
the problem Of equitable taxation. Yet
/ believe that there is no other subject
Of such immediate importance 70 the
people Of this State as this.
We have an ad valorem system OF
taxation on all property in this State.
The tax rate is fixed by the State Legis-
lature and applies uniformly 20 all
kinds Of property, real, personal and
possessory. ANY inequality in the sys-
tenn OF taxation, therefore, must resolve
itself TO inequality in the sppraisement
of valuation upon different pieces,
kinds or classes of property.
Sixty per cent of the cash value OF all
the various kinds of property in this
State is popularity supposed to be the
msnt purposes. Il is q matter of COM
mon knowledge that while residence
property in the towns and cities is gen.
orally taxed up TO this basis, as well the
realty and improvements Of small prop
erty owners In many instances, very
little other property in the State is any
where e so highly appraised The
testimony of the assessors at the meet
ing of this board held on January 10,
1910, showed a range of appraisements
of from three per cent to so per cent Of
the cash value. and it 10 probable thrt
the valuation on close Investigation will
be found to vary within wider extremes
than this, or { as low as two per cent
at least on certain classes Of property.
Il is interesting to note the effect on
the taxpayer Of such variations in as
sessment valuations Not everyone has
given il due consideration, n fsw have
worked it out by the proper method Of
computation.
Let rs assume, for purposes Of illus
tration, that 800 is required to be
raised by taxation, and that the real
cash value Of the property which must
be assessed is $4,000. Let us further
suppose that this $4,000 worth of prop
erty may be classified as follows:
Residence property, actual cash
value iUo
aEm property oCtuhA O1su saAuc @ONo
Railroad property, actual cash
value ...................... 1000
Industrial business property, act
ual cash value oUO
Public utility property, actual
casn value AVO
Stock range and live stock prop
erty. actual cash value ........ 1900
Total actual cash value. 49,. $4,000
Now if this $4,000 worth of property
be assessed at its full lash value in each
instance, a tax rate of 81 on each 500 of
valuation would produce the 800 rsve-
nue. required. II the basis Of valuation
be 60 per cent Of the cash value, 3 rate
of sL662s on each 500 valuation will
| produce that amount Of revenue In
zach instance the amount Of taxes the
owners OF each class Of property would
pay, and which nav be termed the jus
amount each class should pay, would
be as follows:
The residence property would pay . 10
The farm property would pay 20
The railroad property would pay. 40
The industrial business property