Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1912-07-19
MINI. .IAxC0MMIISSIOk
TWENTY-FTTH; ;ARTIOLE-EQUAIr
"a IzATtoN BY THE TAX COM ss
'is@< MISSION ; = q +. ts

Il F$a.A1te1 Ja9 county DO8rQ OF ,eQuauZ8-
ton has completed it's work the coun+
IT, auditor prepares an abstract Of a.
sessmeht Of property in each Of the
towns, villages and cities of the coun-,
ty, showing, inseparate columns, the as
sessed value Of land, the assessed value
Of structures; and improvements there
on and the assessed value of each
class Of personal property. i This alb
stract lis forwarded to the tax commits
sion on or before the fourth Monday
in August. -. .-.: .t:s: =, fs:@4I i.
, Prior to 1909; the. final equalization
of assessed values was vested in D.
state board Of equalization consisting
Of the governor, the state auditor, ther
attorney general, and one member from
each judicial district Of the state. This.
board was abolished in January, 1902
by act of the legislature, and the duties
and powers vested in it were transfer
red to the tax commission. Il =.
: At the outset of its work as a state
board Of equalization the tax commits
sion decided to get away as far al,
possible from the arbitrary method Of
determining values that had hereto
fore been followed, especially in rela->
tion to real estate. and to. substitute
some method that would afford o.
uniform measure of value for all the
counties of the state. go, --.
After careful study Of all known
methods it was concluded that, all
things considered, the so-called "sales
method'' afforded the most reliable
measure of true values that could be-
devised. This plan commended itself to
the commission not only because Of its:
apparent intrinsic value, but moro
especially because it was not, an untried
experiment. It had been used in, Wis
consin and. in some taxing district OF
other states with very satisfactory re-
Suits; -. .i...-f
Briefly stated, the "sales method -
consists in, obtaining from each coun-'::
ty of the state data showing all bona
tide sales Of real estate during given
period with the true consideration paid
for each tract or lot transferred and
the assessed value Of the same %
shown by the last real estate asses
ment. With this information it is a,
simple. matter to determine the per-
centage of assessed to true value. 49,.
The method is based upon the prop
osition that nothing else SO fairly
measures the true value of real estate
as the price actually paid for it in Z.
normal transaction, and by normal
transaction is meant, an owner WILL
ing but not obliged to sell, and 2 pur-Ss pl,
chaser willing but not obliged to buy:
It is the best measure Of value that
the commission has sheen able TO find,
because each sale made under such con.
2ditions represents the judgment Of at
least two minds-the seller and the
buyer-as to the true value of a given:
piece of property. It is universally
recognized by courts as the best evi-
dence of value, and in the final an.
alysis is, the basis of nearly all ex-:
pert opinions in: such matters. :
Having ascertained the actual con-
sideration in all bona fide sales Of
property in each town, village and city
of q county during given period, to-
gether with the assessed value Of tho
same, it is q simple mathematical cal
culation to find the average ratio: or:
per cent of assessed to true value. The
formula may he stated as follows: eM.eAs
the assessed value Of 5the lands sold 10.
to the consideration paid for them, 80.
is the assessed valuation, Of the r1ee1:
| estate,to jthei entire county TO the fun; fun
| and true value ztAereof.'' ~ :; s ,:1.*s
The next article. will show hoH the
data for. the, ,tyttsales method is agathel-
ed and what use is made. Of it. " ~ ::