El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-09-01
County Officers Could Reduce
Assessments Without p Punishment
Following the Letter Assessing
Full Vaue-LegaI Cases Are Quoted.
By GUNTHER LESSING.

T n behalf of number of my clients,
who are deeply interested in this
\ tax question, take the liberty Of
addressing you in order to comment
on the unjust position assumed Dy
Judge Eylar and the county commits
sioners in refusing to make a more
equitable valuation Of property in this
county, and thereby save the taxpayers
of this county approximately $4,000
per annum. If the county commits
sioners had followed the suggestions
Of Judge Jos. U. Sweeney, they would
merely have been doing what the su-
preme court of the United States has
held to be legal that is to say, equal
izing the taxes Of Ell PasO county
with the taxes of the other counties
Of the state of Texas.
desire further to call your atten-
ton to a purported interview by rep
resentative Richard F. Burgess, in
local paper, in which he is quoted as
having said that the taxpayers were
perfectly willing for the county COM
missiOners to reduce values at their
own risk, but they were not willing
to swear that their property was
worth less than the amount at which
it had been assessed 1t appears to
me that Mr.. Burgess, as well as the
county commissioners. is guilty Of re-
sorting to d Subterfuge, which is a
very poor attempt to explain why they
do not grant the relief the taxpayers
are asking, and to which they are en-
titled.
Denies Full value Contention.
The contention that the laws of the
state of Texas prescribe a full valu-
alton of one hundred percent On all
property, and that they would be vIo-
lating their duty by equalizing the
alton of other counties, is absolutely
untenable ana merely an evasion of
the question at issue.
If I understand the situation cor
rectly, it is something like this: The
laws of the state of Texas, like the
laws of most states, say that property
should be valued at 100 percent Of its
cash value! The county commissioners
have laid down the rule that taxpay-
erS may swear to valuation much
greater than the valuations of Oths4
counties, and have accepted this as
the proper valuation of such property.
1t therefore appears TO me that there
would be very little difference if the
commissioners would tell the taxpay-
.erS that they would accept so percent
valuation, as done by a majority of
Paso county on an equal basis. If the
commissioners have in the past said:
I'VE will permit the taxpayers of this
county TO say that 20 cents is worth
one dollar" would it be any greater
wrong to protect the citizens and say
fifty cents is worth one dollar?"
COunty's "MOraI Bluff
II they desire to carry out their
ply with the exact letter of the law
instead of begging the question. and
hold that one dollar is worth one
dollar2 The reason say they are
begging the question, and this mora
ity bluff is untenable, is because I
have found on investigation that the
highest legal authorities show that
differentiation is the rule all over
the United States This Undervalua-
ton is not fraudulent and is merely
the result Of an attempt to enforce the
mandate of the constitution to the eff
feet that all taxation should be equal
When We consider that there is no
certain, definite standard of values, ex-
cepung Of money and standard mer-
charitable articles; that many infIu-
ences affect the saleable value Of
SO as to make its valuation
a work Of great difficulty; and when
we consider that certain real estate
is more easily capable Of valuation
than other property-that the Mills
of correct valuation than a parcel o.
land in the valley; that real estate
can be more easily valued than per-
sonal property, such as a book or an
office deSk-then we can readily real
ize why it is that the courts uphold
the system of differentiation which
prevails almost all over the United
States; or, to be more explicit, why
the courts permit an assessor to state |
that one dollars worth of land is
worth fifty cents. 1t is for the pur-
pose. therefore, Of remedying as far
as practicable, these inevitable Unequal
tiles, that the exact mandate of the 1
statute is not followed.
The Constitution and Law.
The constitution says that all prop
erty shall be taxed equally, or words I
to that effect When cases Of dis /
elimination in assessments through /
under valuations are presented to the |
state courts, they are confronted with |
the dilemma of whether they should I
give effect to the paramount intent, ]
inherent in taxation; that taxes shall /
be equally levied; or whether they
should disregard the intent and deny !
relief because Of the statutory re- |
qu1rement that all property shall be /
assessed at its cash value. There are /
cases in Connecticut (63 Conn. 321). /
Arkansas, (Ark. 81, 461), Illinois, Kan I
sas and the federal reports, and most /
of the other states, which are clear /
cases, which tend to show that the pre- /
tended scruples OF the commissioner