Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1914-05-05
FIXING VALUATION
state purpos


assume to place values they usurp
an authority not granted by law,
yet they sometimes do it. That is
lust what the executive council did.
The Freeman Tribune is not in pos
session of the figures showing the
increases made in valuations by the
executive council, but everybody
knows they were heavy. The coun-
Gil did not make an effort to equal
ize, but proceeded to make increases.
For instance: The valuation re-
turned by the assessors of county A
averaged $50 per acre and by the
assessors of county B s55 per acre,
county C $50 per acre, county D $40,
county E $42, county F $50 and
county G SIS. Here is an average
value of 1914 per acre in these
seven counties. In equalizing these
values the council should not ma
terially increase this average. It is
the duty of that body to accept the
Judgment of the assessors and the
boards of supervisors, then make
honest effort to equalize. The value in
the county showing an average of
$40 should be increased and the
value in the county showing valu
alton of SIS should be reduced and
when the council is done with the
job the average valuation should
still be $53.14 per acre, or as near
that as possible. The executive
council did not proceed thus. 1t ig-
nored the assessors valuations and
used it's own judgment in determin-
ing what property in the various
counties was worth. The result was
a wholesale increase all over the
state, there being but three or four
counties in which the figures return
ed by the counties themselves were
not materially increased. This is,
wherein the executive council trans
cended it's authority and undertook
to take the fixing of valuations out
of the hands Of those authorized by
law to fix them and place them in
the hands of a commission sitting
in Des Moines for the purpose of
merely reviewing and of equalizing.
This is the milk in the cocoanut, the '
vital spark in the kernel. This is |
what Judge Lee had reference to
when he said in his letter an
nouncing his candidacy:
"The people are, and rightfully
so, jealous of their right to tax
themselves and will never consent to |
the delegation of this, one of the
highest functions Of government, to
any board or commission, and this !
power should never be usurped. I'm
der our system the executive council
of the state has the power to equal
ize assessments by reducing those
that are comparatively too high, and
raising those that are comparatively
too low.
Our people never intended to
confer upon it the power to raise
so as to increase legisa-
tive appropriations, or the amount
to be raised by statutory levies in
excess of the limit fixed by law, and
it has no right to do so. A reason
able limit should be fixed by statute
on levies that may be made by local
taxing bodies"
II the executive council is going
to take it upon itself to ascertain
values, paying no heed to the values
placed upon property by those au-
thorized by law to perform that du-
ty, what will become of the right of
the people to tax themselves? The
legislature passee a resolution for
4 one mill tax for a certain purpose,
having made calculations upon ex-
sting values of the sum needed.
Then comes along the executive :
council and instead of equalizing as
sessmen ts-shaving off and adding
the average substan-
tally where it was before they be- ,
ran their 1ahOrs thew make heavy