Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1912-10-11
TAXATION IN MINNESOTA
THE COUNTY ASSESSOR BILL
THIRTY-SEVENTH ARTICLE BY
TAX COMMISSION

The bill establishing a county as.
SCISSOR in each county, in place of the
1890 or more local assessors, which was
submitted to the last two legislatures,
and will be again submitted to the
next legislature, is too voluminous to
be here set forth in detail. Many verb;
al, but otherwise immaterial, changes
in the existing laws are necessary to
make them conform to the proposed
, measures, and most of the sections Of
the bill are of that nature.
The salient and most important
features Of the bill are as follows:
| LIST. The abolition Of the office of
local assessor Except in cities where
it exists by virtue Of special law OF
charter) and the substitution in its
place Of the office of county assess
or in each county. These county assess
"a e the first instance are to be ap-
pointed by the county boards Of the
respective counties at their regular
meeting in July 1913, and hold their
office until the general election in
1913, when, and every four years there
after, such assessors are to be elected
by popular vote the same as other
county officers are elected. But cities
which retain a city assessor under
their charters cannot participate in
the election of county assessor.
End. Such county assessor must be-
a resident of the county and must give
bond for the faithful discharge of his
duties.
3rd. Where necessary, and under
proper restrictions, the county assessor
with the consent Of the tax commission
can appoint deputies to assist him, not
exceeding one deputy for each 5000
Of the population of the county ex-
cluding the cities aforesaid. All as
SCISSORS and deputies are to be under
the direction and supervision of the
tax commission.
18th. The assessor must devote his
entire time to the gathering Of infor=
nation and data for and to the making
Of his assessment. He cannot hold any
other office nor engage in any other
business.
5th. He is to receive a reasonable
salary which is based both upon the
population and upon the area Of the
county. It may be said generally that
such salary will be little less than
the present salary of the county audit
or or county treasurer. The compensa-
tion Of deputies is to be determined by
the county board.
Such are the--1most important pro-
visions of the bill. It is believed that
such an assessor, secure in long Of
fetal term with a reasonable salary,
being free from local influences and
not Intimately connected or associated
with the persons whose property he is
to assess, will be able to make fair
er and better assessment for each town
and for the county as a whole than
can be made under the existing system.
Devoting his entire time to the work
of his office he will be constantly
gathering the facts and data upon
which to base his assessment, and will
familiarize himself with the property,
real and personal, of his county and
with the values thereof. Real estate,
farm, and city lots can be mapped and
plated; the character Of the soil and
the nature of the improvements fairly
ascertained, and valuations made ap-
proximating accuracy. Tangible per-
sonalty can be similarly inventoried
and classified. With few years ex-
perience such an assessor, if man OF
ordinary intelligence, will become an
expert in valuations, and every taxpay-
er will have the satisfaction Of know
ing that his property as well as that
of his neighbors is assessed according
to it's merits, and not as matter OF
favoritism or mere guess work:
AS before stated, the object Of the
proposed bill is not to secure high
er or lower assessment, but fair and
uniform assessment. The important
thing is that all taxable property be
put upon the tax list; that it all be
measured by the same yardstick and
} valued upon the same basis so that
one man s property shall not be over:
valued and another's undervalued; :;
} that he who has been paying too much
tax shall pay less, and he who has been
paying too little shall pay his full
share.
7'Aas.;;:jjs.- ;js--