Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1913-06-21
TAXATION ARTICLE NO. 8.

The Tax Commission is trying to have
the assessment laws obeyed this year
and it is the hope of the Commission
that this article will make it clear why il
is to the best interest of those who have
paid the taxes in the past to hare the
laws enforced from now on.
The Bill of Rights of the Constitu-
tion (Art. VI, Sec. l9) declares all tax
es shall be equal and uniform, while
Art. NJ, Sec. 2, of the Constitution, reads
in part:
"All taxes to be raised in this State,
shall be uniform on all real and per-
sonal property according to its value in
money, to be ascertained by such rules
of appraisement and assessment as may
be prescribed by the Legislature by
general law, so that every person and
corporation shall pay a tax in proper.
tion to the value of bis, her or its prop
erty."
In compliance with the Constitution
laws have been in effect for years, which
hold that all property Except certain
exemptions) shall be assessed at the
usual cash selling price at the place
where the property shall be at the time
of the assessment. In other words it is
the duty of the Assessor to list all tax
able property and appraise it at what it
is actually worth right then and there.
If the owner is required by law to list
property, the same standard of actual
value applies.
The Assessor is the most important
officer of our tax system and justice or
injustice, as the case may be, is done
to the individual taxpayer according
to whether or not Assessors obey the
law.
Taxes are supposed to be borne in pro.
portion to ones ability to pay and un-
der our law property is considered the
best evidence of such ability, and so as.
sessments are made to find out how
much of the total tax each property
owner shall pay.
Suppose one man had visible proper.
ty, such as farm land and machinery
worth $4,000 and assessed as the law
requires, while another had invisible
property, worth just as much. Under
the practice of the past and in spite oi
the law that taxation shall be equal
and uniform" the first man paid more
taxes than he should. Why? Because
the Assessor found the land and tools
but usually has failed to find the invisi
BILE property of the second party and the
owner does not list it, as a rule.
Again, If the Assessor does his ap
praising according to some schedule o.
fixed values for each class of property
without regard to actual worth, here il
the result: One man owns 20 head o.
grade cattle and his neighbor has q
head of full blood cattle. While each
mans assessment is supposed to be th.
actual value of the property, their as
sessments for cattle haye generally showr
the same total value. The reason fo
this injustice being that the law has no
been complied with.
The only exemptions allowed In thii
state are: Real and personal propert,
of the United States, state, county ant
municipal corporations, property use,
exclusively for agricultural and horti
cultural societies, for school, religious
cemetery and charitable purposes, ant
not to exceed $25 worth of household
furniture and provisions for each indi
vidual.
! Article No. 4 will deal with Boards Q
Review and Equalization.