The record. [volume] (St. Maries, Idaho) 1913-1918, 1914-08-25
Assessors Fight
TORetain Valuations
COMMISSIONS RECOMMENDS UNFAIR
Insist That The Report Of Cruisers Be Considered
By Board of Equalization

The northern Idaho timber
counties have declared war ON
the panhandle umber com Janies,
practically all of which are claim
ed to be subsidiaries of the Way-
crhauser lumber syndicate, and
having disposed of the prelimin-
airy skirmishes, they are in Boise
fighting their big battle before
the state board of equalization.
Clearwater county is bearing the
brunt of The fight Armed with
cruise book for five townships
showing the stand Of timber i'm
those townships and supplement-
ed by cruises made in other tim
Der counties by assessors, Clear
water county demands that the
decrease in valuation reccom-
mended by the state tax commits
sion, or a total of S2,528, ,2O7, be
not accepted by the state budrG If
equalization while the original
assessment by the county ON its
cruise be allowed to stand.
It is conceded that the timber
companies won the first skirmish
before the tax commission for the
decrease in timber valuations
that commission recommended
The timber companies, through
representatives, are on hand to
contest Clearwater and other
counties and to endeavor to Sc
cure the commissions recon-
mendatiOns.
Because they believe they are
entitled to have their original
assessments stand, the northern
Idaho officials have sent north for
reinforcements and expect at
least one of their leading attor-
neys of the panhandle to assist
them in their fight before the com
mission.
Evidence introduced i'm This
conflict results in startling dis
closures, showing that i'm past
years great timber stands of the
north have escaped fair assess
ment and the companies in many
cases have not made an accur-
ate cruise of their own holdings.
IL is asserted by county officials
interested that it can be shown
to the board that green white
pine timber has been underesti-
mated by the millions of feet in
the past and that the corpora
ions have escaped taxation on
this timber
The cruise made by Clearwater
county increases the assessed
valuation of that county approx
imately $3,OOO,OOO but the state
tax commission in its report fOI
this county recommended a de-
crease of almost that amount on
timber alone for that county
Now Clearwater county officials
insist on knowing on what ground
the commission bases its recon-
mandatory decrease and are in
Boise to prove that it should moi
be accepted by the state board oi
equalization.
Clearwater county let con-
tract TO M G.. Nease TO cruise its
timber, which contains, it is
claimed, the largest compact bod,
of white pine timber in the world
In fact it is one of the bigges
timber counties in the state anC
is often referred to because o.
this fact as the "Weyerhauser'
county because of its large tim.
ber holdings To make this
cruise. land in the county was as.
sessed i2h cents per acre. WheI
the cruise on five townships wa
completed at the expense of tn
county it showed over 400 pc
per cent increase in the valua
Y tions of timber as reported 70
1913 and over 700 per cent in
crease over the blanket assess
mnt made in 1914 of 1864 pc
quarter section. A big cruis
hook shows i'm detail the amour
of standing, burned over an
other timber in the townships, tn
altitude of each quarter section
the character of the soil, the siz
OF the trees, the number Of feet o