The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-01-11
The Legislature and Tax
Reform.
|. The Land Tax.

INA, ,t tor tho equalization of the lanf
yiGa &, ";i i.cts tax sound in theory
revenue. iiu''tui IN ts
tox xnG problem Of reforming the land
Co Cor M mot ,pea simple The lands in U1c
more than s477, 600. 900: they are worth
ut least ss97.0OO, 900. once in Ave
in vnrS .neir value for taxation is de-
and the oy special land assessors,
LOT liEe years. The men who do the
assessing ss are appointed by the courts
No " mn, particular work. They may
Hkmieu IN assessment. they may be
utictly unframed. Once they arc nm
picmsc S IrSy do practically as they
wise them; no authority to require of
tnsmi anything more thun n perfume
Wnn, observance OF the law. If they
the tcN 70 OF oPe iha me law. they have only
nave no trained, responsible superior
., 70 Whom they may look for advice.
, riiyery iand assessor Is his own adj
TO assess lands at their full market
Nhiue. as required by the Constitution
md ny statute, he has none to support
nm IN overcoming local sentiment for
low valuation He is at the mercy
OF his nciGhbors
what happens is exactly what might
nn eTpscted. irresponsible. UNFRAMED,
unaided; unprotected, the land assessor
generally puts the interest of his To-
cality above tho interest OF the state
ana makes an assessment which In no
SENSE represents the true value OF the
properly assessed. In cities where
there is heavy demand for revenue
ana 1no where there is strong sentiment
Tor low tax rate, the assessor pen
orally values property at more Than
nalf OF it's fair market value: but In
The counties whore the calls upon the
,reasurS are few and where there IS
no sentiment for Il reasonable tax rate,
me assessor often values land at 60
per cent or less. In some instances
E famas nave been located by the Tax
commission assessed at about d per
cent. OF thcir market value.
Thus inequality is established. Ono
c cnat pays on valuation OF 10 per
cent, another on valuation of IS
Creek District. Norfolk county, nays
taxes on at least so per cent OF the
r cu ct value of his lands: the
n a,m'en IN Grayson or Floyd county
Lhe taxes of the former are, there
Iore. TOUR times as heavy as arc those
of the latter.
From this condition many Of the
ucpiorahlc failings OF our nnnncinI sys-
TEN follow. 1t is because of this in
,cnHnniity and their desire to escape
more than thirty counties arc a posi-
1--WE haoility to the State It Is be-
cause of this inequality that the State
,ns 10 maintain tax rate OF 30 cents,
~
20 cents. II is because OF this in
equality that ahc land tax. which
Shoui1 he the most valuable and pro-
20 per cent. of the revenue of the Com
monwcalth.
TO restate the case: Local officers arc
SuhJee, to local influence; local in
iiuencc demands Il low assessment: n
low assessment means burden on
other taxpayers: such burden means
,m1equality Inequality spells inJus-
:. Manifestly, the work OF the Tax
commission and of the Legislature
mctinE on tho recommendation of the
aaN commission. is to correct the evil
VIII make an honest assessment, AT a
uniform valuation. throughout the
commonwealth. IL this can bic done
the rest Is easy.
serious obstacles In the first place, the
asscssment must be made locally, IL
NOT by oihcers responsible TO the To-
cality Only such men. when trained.
are capable OF making an assessment
IN county: no others know the value
or lands. the comparative fertility or
farms, the thousand and one consider
atoms essential to assessment In
correcting an evil, therefore, the state
must proceed towards the education
OF It's local officers and towards n
Poncy winch VIII make them rospon-
siblc without removing them from the
people whose property they assess
-, Tho second obstacle Is thnt of money.
Ihe work OF assessment is most en-
ncnSiEc. Michigan spent almost $500
uoo In assessing her railroads.; New
York annually spends millions in as
sessing. Even If il We're possible to
assess through state officers, working
the entire State. the process would be
very costly. In the present condition OF
me states finance it is not possible
to inausnratc any system which will
require great outlay OF funds.
with the necessity OF reform and It's
direction obvious, and with the limi-
'aions Just mentioned. the Tax Com
would accomplish the desired reform.
the method which they have recon-
hended is simple and, as experience
mas =, shown, can be made most effective.
TWO Years prioi to the assessment
year every transfer of property re-
corded is 10 be accompanied by u
sworn statement showing the actual
valuable consideration involved in the
transfer. These statements. for oh
viouS reasons. are not made public.
nut are Kept by the clerk. When the
assessment year arrives the executive
unlcer Of the state Tax Commission
VIII go to ,hc county scat. examine
me transfers and find how many
the two years. He will also find out
what the total valuable consideration
was, and can thus secure an average
per acre In doing this he will not
transferred, but will make his csti-
mate solely on the value OF the bare
ianu. ~ the same time he will in
duirc into the character of the sales
recorded. II. for any reason he finds
mat the lands Sold during the two
!Hars We're III value and fertility.
above the average OF the county. he
shall record that fact. II he finds that
noon values have inflated the aver
age he sinai! take that fact into con
sidtration., IN the same way he shall
confer with the citizens of the county
and learn from them at what rates
lands arc selling
When this information Is in hand
u VIII be presented to the State Tax
Commission. met in special session for