Williams news., 1915-12-30
CONCERNING TAXATION
Phoenix, Arizona,
 December 20, 1915


 iect of Taxation is receiving more than ordinary consideration from sources at this time, which is exceedingly gratifying to the. State Tax Commission, and in answer to the many inquiries re- ceived for information from all over he sta te, I would request that you give publication to short resume of the subject at this time.
 It is well known fact that prior to statehood Arizona's tax laws were a joke. No uniformity of valuation existed between the several counties and each assessor used his own judgment and was a law unto him. self.
 Such property as telegraph, tele- phone ard express property paid only one per cent of their gross pro ceed each year Mining property was valued at one-foarth of its annual gross product and the tax rate of the county applied.
 The property of private car lines (now paying. some $25, 100000 per year) entirely escaped taxation. No trre equalization was possible, owing to the fact that the Territor- ial Board was prohibited from eith- CT raising or lowering the property valuations in county, except as a whole. Former Territorial admin strations felt the inadequacy of the tax laws and endeavored to effect changes, but with little or no success, so that when the Territory was ad- mitted into the Union as State the total valuation of all the taxable property situated therein, was less than one hundred million dollars and this too under law calling for the full cash value.
 One year prior to this, the County Assessors of all of the Counties, real izing the futility of attempting to assess property under their jurisdic- tion at it's full cash value when other was either escaping taxation entirely or else being assessed at a fraction, formed an Assessors, Asso- citation and resolved to work for a complete revision of the tax laws and the creation of centralized authority known as a Tax Com mission. This was taken up at the first session of the Legislature and wi h the assistance of MT. G. P. Bullard, then Attorney General, a bill was drawn creating Tax Com mission and Board of Equalization and giving it such powers as was possible under the Constitution.
 It was early ascertained that un der our Constitution, in this respect copied from the State of Montana, only supervisory powers could be granted the Commission.
 In order to remedy this defect and give the Commission unlimited power over all Assessors and Boards | of Levy, Mir. Bullard again kindly volunteered to draft an amend ment to the Constitution and take the stump in its behalf at the fall election ot 1912. This was done not only by MT. Bullard, but others as we'll, with the result that the amendment carried by the largest majority ofany question ever sub. mitted to the people. It was in answer to this almost unanimous demand of the people that the Tax Commission law now oh the statute books was enacted by the then Leg islature. This directly controverts the assertion made many times dur ing the Legislative Session last winter when the State Senate attempted to abolish the Commis- slon and echoed throughout the state ever since, to the effect that the Commission was bunch of tax doctors, foisted upon the people by Governor. without their consent and for which no authority existed i in the Constitution. The Tax Com.
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