Albuquerque evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1911-1914, 1912-11-12

That a dcploFabis condition OF at
fairn In the taxatlon Hyatem exists in
this state; that under the present sys-
tenn Il 10 practically impossible TO rem.
eay these evlla: and that under.vaiu-
auon and omission of property are the
most serious troubles IN pointed ouS by
the state board OF equalization In the
pnbllshed proceedings OF the board
for september 1919. The following
summary viii be- Of interest 10 every
taxpayer In the state:
This board has spent a great denl Of
time not only In the examination OF
appeals brought before Il, but also az
TO conditions generally with regard to
the assessment OF property for thu
purposes Of taxation as disclosed by
the tax rolls, and rs shown In part by
evidence brought before us and by our
perAonal knowledge, and yet with tho
facilities ut our command we md our.
selves unable 10 apply general and ef-
fective remedies to most deplorable
condition or AFFAIRS. The responses
obtained from the majority nf asses
soTs In the stnte In answer To circu-
lar letter semi TO them by one OF Gun
members IN tho month Of June last. H..
Illustrates the imposslbility Of obtaining
sufficient Information 10 enable the
board 60 equallze assessments between
counties. sin TINT letter the assessors
were asked for Information az to the
basis OF assessment established in
their respcc ,vecounties. -Four assessors
d.,
led Ia their estimates Of the rate Of
assessment FROM - 10 - per cont Of
actual value: two declared that the
assessments were ~ fun cash value.
We have neither the time nor the
nancy To- make complete inveStRa-
don nor the statutory powers To rem.
edy many Of the OWLS. white We ara
convinced that there Is great lack OF
uniformity In the assessment OF prop
, Grty In the different counties aud
while We have authority under the
statute 10 equullze between counties
! either az whole or ns to classes OF
property, yet we have been unn ole "a
see our way tn making any orders In
that direction. with tho single eXcep-
ton Of the valuation, Of Grazing lands
, Jeci we call attention to the fact that
the valuation OF such lands. as shown
on the tax rolls, varies from an aver
hge Of 20 cents per aore In Torrance
county to the large valuation OF an
average Of f3.l7 Ia Dona Ana county
the average for the whole state beins
l1t cents per acre.
Tha, most sePiol,R troublea are in
the obvious differentiation Of prop
eTty and In the equally obvious Omis'
slon of large amounts Of property In
! the state.
The total net valuation, as shown hy
the tax rolls, Of all kinds OF property
In S72.t57,A5SO9,, while no well In
formed person would estimate the
actual value of property In New Mex
| leo at leSs than 1A50.000,000.
! The total number Of sheep shown By
the tax rolls IN the whole state II
l,tG9,09I, which lS an Increase over
the number shown last year, but there
Gun be- no doubt that there are 1T least
/ $500 900 sheep In the state, the CEN
aus Of 1910 showing 3,37O,92?. In adj
dition to this the average valuation "
only $3.50. 10 that the total assessment
of sheep can not b1 MUGS more thnn
one sixth OF the reul value Of all the
sheep In the state.
The total number Of cattio In the
state an shown by the tnx rolls II 3ss,.
SET, aL an average valuation Of Nl.sI
per head. while he census shows that