Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1914-07-20
RAILROADS ARE
BIC TAXPAYERS
IN NEW MEXICO
Total Valuation Approximately
Hundred Millions; BernaIiIIo
County Leads in City Lots
and Improvements,

Santa Fe, July l9.-That the rail
roads serve a good purpose besides
furnishing transportation, is mani
fest from the 1914 assessment re-
Z turns in the office of the travelling
auditor. They pay more than one
third Of all the taxes in the state and
some counties would have slim pick
ing were il not for the railroad AS
sessment. There are several counties
in which they pay almost two-thirds
Of all the taxes and quite number
OF counties in which they pay one
half of the taxes. Valencia county
has the biggest railroad valuation,
S7tG5,977, then comes Dona Ana
with $6,650,667; Grant $3.50 01,
Guadalupe SG.075,739; Luna $6,020,-
529; Colfax S5,6S9,0l1; Torrance 81
a33.45O: San Miguel S4.543,00S
otero $4.OG5.s15: Mckinley $685.
GO: Lincoln S3.233.040; Socorro 3d.
122.451; Santa Fe SS,079,326; Mora
S2.57O,931 Quay $2,566,4S5; Curry
S2.42t.734. Union $2.2f0,616; Roose-
Welt S1,942,614; Bernalillo Sl,795,-
242. Chayes $1,7S1,S50 Sierra ST..
G90.S47: Rio Arriba 81 SOS. 400 Ed
DIV $l.466.730 Sandoval S1,410300,
Taos S669,20O and san Juan S404,-
600.
In addition, the railroads pay taxes
on certain coal and other lands as
we'll as other property, so that the
total valuation is near the 100000
90 mark.
City Property Next.
Next to the railroads, ii is the
farmer and the city and town real
estate owner who bear the heaviest
burden in New Mexico. City and
town lots with their improvements,
are valued at $41, 147,4 All, and farms
and their Improvements at $3l, 09S.-
3fg. The farming lands cover 2,I66.-
6Gg, but more than one-half Of these
are dry farming lands. On the other
hand, in counties like Luna. the as
SCISSOR seems to have counted as
farming lands only the lands actual
ly under cultivation for next to Union
county Luna has the least area of ag
ricutural lands of the twenty-six
counties returning only 2,297 acres.
less than two miles square. Union
county reports only 1858 acres Of
agricultural lands, although fully
100, 600 acres Of dry farming lands
are under cultivation in the southern
part Of the county AS the assess
ment figures will be taken as official
at the San Diego exposition and
elsewhere, much injustice, if not harm
will come to counties like Luna, San
doval Mora and Union who have
JAILED so flagrantly to return their
wealth.
BcrnaliliO County Leads.
BernalillO county leads with the
valuation Of city lots and improve
ments, $685. 14 or more than one
nall of its entire assessment. Chaves
is second with S3,S15,475 or only
about one-third as much as Berna-
{ Milo San Miguel is third Colfax
fourth, Eddy fifth. Santa F'e sixth,
Grant eighth, Dona Ana ninth, Luna
zenith Curry eleventh and Otero
twelfth, all the other counties hav-
ing less than a million dollars valu-
alton under that classification, Rio
Arrlba not having any town lots or
improvements at all, Sandoval only
Hsi56l ana Taos only $S1, 49S, all
me others having above $4,000.
Agricultural Lands.
Similar disparity is shown in the 7
returns Of agricultural lands, for
atnoush Curry leads with 550,7S1 I
acres Of agricultural lands, which I
seems strange. it is Dona Ana that T
nas the highest valuation of agricul- I
alal lands and improvements, So, +
aeoVil, or almost $50 per acre for I
US META acres elassed as agricul-
s ssl. Chaves is second with $4,309,-
81 LOT its 51,666 agricultural acres
anu improvements or more than $50 F
p psn acre, Eddy is third with $3,6S3,-
~ Tor ll5.63S acres; Roosevelt
a2uftn with $3,126,G1S: Curry ST.
IIs','lz San Miguel $2,205, 996 San
T r SzO9l 100; Colfax $1.7S1,254;
s ',p,rahce $l675.224. and Bernalillo
,h,u ny, all the others being less