The enterprise. [volume] (Harlem, Mont.) 1899-1926, 1914-03-26
letter From Commissioner Atwood

| In view of the fact that MI. Fox.
| he county assessor has been mis-
| representing the attitude of the Board
| i commissioners in regard to tue
! assessment, | take the opportunity
ilered 10y the columns Of The Enter
prise to give the public few facts
regarding the controversy which has
,risen between the Assessor and the
Board.
| In the first place the Board Of Com
mission have no authority over the
| Assessment other than adv isory until
:, it meets as a Board of Equalization
in July. Any order which might
emanate from that source would be
positively without force. The Board
nas not given, and never intended to
give Mr.. Fox amy ord rs regarding,
valuations. 1t is a Weli-knoWn fact
| that Valley county did not have last
year, and never has had, a Just and
rquable assessment under the present
occupant Of the assessors office, and
we called Mr.. Fox before the Board
to try, il possible, to arrange some
thing that would approach, more
nearly, an assessment which would
be just TO every body and to all classes
of property. We proposed to MI,
Fox certain valuations of land and
livestock which he did not receive
kindly, aud which he did not follow
in making out his schedules only in
SO fa" as it suited his convenience.
Now Mr.. Fox proceeds to make q
schedule of city and village property,
more or less fantastcsl, which he
proposes to use in the assessment,
and reports that it was done by the
order of the Board of Commissioners,
and [ wish to repeat in this connec-
ton that the Board has never given
or intended to give Mr.. Fox such an
order. Mr.. Fox, and Mr.. Fox alone,
is responsible for all such valuations
Now. in regard to the milk COW
controversy, I personally urged Mr..
Fox to list milk cows at fifty dollars
per head, which he absolutely refused
to do, except in my own case. He
threatened to assess my COWS at the
price desired-tifty dol]arsper head.
Now I understand that Mr.. Fox is
making the statement that the reason
there are no milk cows listed is be-
cause | have a few COWS, and would
not consent to such list being made.
Now brand this statement as Il de-
liberate and unmltigated falsehood.
In regard to last years assessment
and the resulting actions Of the Board
of Equalization | have this to say:
The Board, of which I am the only
remaining member. found such CLAIR
ing inequalities on the rolls as hand
ed in for our consideration that it was
impossible to let the matter through
without changes. We found the land
of Valley county, irrespective Of To-
cation, kind of land, or market value,
assessed at $3.50 per acre, while banks
we assessed at the full value of their
capital stock and net earnings. We
found case after case of work horses
assessed as range horses, while hotels
and business blocks were assessed fol
more than the cost of erecting them
To substantiate these facts any tax.
payer has only to refer to the tax
rolls of last year In regard to the
raise OH horses-both range and work
horses-Mr. Fox himself suggested
the raise, and the board simply agreed
to it. am we'll aware that we made
mistakes, and to avoid the possibility
of such mistakes in the future was
our reason for calling a conference to
agree on the main features of the
assessment.
Mr.. Fox refused absolutely to per-
nit his deputies collect road and poor
tax, thus losing to the county hun.
dreds of dollars which might be ap.
piled OH our roads. And why? Be.
cause the law did not compel him to