Mountain Home Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1915-1946, 1916-01-29


Mountain Home, Idaho.
Gentlemen:
AS you are aware, have at nu
merous times in the past taken III
with you the matter of the proper as
sessment of the lands of this County
and particularly the proper assessment
of timber lands.
AS County Assessor l am required
by law to assess all lands in the
County subject to taxation at their
true cash value.
The Assessors office of this county
had no records, information, or data
that will enable the Assessor to de-
termine for assessment purposes the
true cash value" OF the timbered
lands of this county
AS you well know, the major por-
tlon of Elmore County is rough and
mountainous country on which is
growing different varieties of timber
of varying density and the lines of
subdivisions are difficult to locate.
The only manner of determining the
value of timber lands is by having a
reliable cruise Of them made, which
cruise should show the quantity Of the
various kinds of timber on each sub
division.
The burden of taxation is unequally
distributed in this county as there
are large areas of timber lands es-
Gaping their just share of taxation.
| therefore recommend and request
that you take such steps as you deem
advisable to cause all of the tim
bered lands of this county subject to
taxation to be cruised in a careful
manner and reliable records of such
cruising furnished to this office for
the use and benefit of the assessor.
1t is absolutely necessary that
these lands be reliably cruised and
records of such cruising furnished
this office to enable the Assessor to
comply with the law.
Respectfully yours,
County Assessor.
This matter has been repeatedly
called to our attention by the Asses
osr and parties who are residents and
taxpayers of this county and we have
previously investigated the matter
of having the timbered lands cruised
and the advisabiility and expense of
same and also as to the best method
to pursue in case we determined that
it was to the best interest of the
taxpayers of this county to have the
lands cruised for assessment purposes,
and after due, and thorough inuesti-
CATION the board has found that
great wealth of this Country is in its
timbered lands and that said lands
are rough and mountaious and mac
cessable to ordinary travel and in
vestigation and further that the guam
tity and quality and kinds of tim
Der on the different legal subdivisions
varies so that the true cash value of
the landsvaries greatly and further
that the only way of learning and de-
termining the true cash value of these
lands is to have the same cruised
and estimated and reported upon and
further the board has investigated the
assessment rolls of this county and
from such investigation have found
that the timber lands in the county
are not being assessed and taxed |
at their true cash value as required
by law and that the facts contained
in the letter of the County Asses |
sor, copy of which appears above,
are true and that the assessor has no
records or cruise or data whereby he
can assess these timbered lands at
their true cash value and that the
said timbered lands are not bearing |
their just proportion Of the taxes,
but on the other hand are under val |
ued, and that the taxes of the coun-
ty are not therefore equal and uniform
on all classes of property as they
should be, and further that the said |
lands are not assessed at their true
cash value and the taxes are unequal
and not uniform on account of the
assessor not having reliable cruise
and ESTIMATE of the said lands and the
timber thereon, and further we when
sitting as a Board of Equalization are
required by law to enforce and COM
pell proper classification and assess
ment of all property required to be
entered upon the real property roll,
and to. raise or lower the assessment
on all parcels of property that are
not assessed at their true cash
value and we find and have found that
we cannot do these things for the
reason that we have no cruise or
estimate of these timbered lands, and