Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1917-04-06
ASSESSMENTS AND TAXES

Among the most troublesome ques-
tons Of our governmental life TO-
day are those of taxes and assess
ments. They are closely allied but
often confused and much hard feel
ing is caused from misunderstand-
ing and not knowing the facts con-
corning them Many people with
good intentions try to explain them
| but because of their not having
thoroughly studied the questions
they misinform others and thus lead
them to wrong conclusions.
High assessments do not necessar-
lily make high taxes. 1t is true
some times that a person may have
piece of property valued at $500
and pay $1,000 of tax while the next
year the same piece of property may
be valued at $1,000 and he may still
pay $1,000 of tax or he may pay
either more Or less than the $1,000
the tax in each case depending on
how much money that taxing dis
| trict has to raise and also whether
| the ass ssments are well equalized
both years.
The state law provides that every
piece of assessable property should
| be assessed at full value, and it
would be better if all the property
| were assessed exactly according to
law. But if part Of the property is
assessed at rs per cent or so per
lcent of its full value then all of it
should be assessed in the same pro-
portion.
We are glad to tell Of the progress
and achievements of our county but
some Of these achievements have
| been made at the price of losing
settlers. We have been going at a
pretty fast pace in the expenditure
Of our money I believe a good
deal Of our money has been judi
ciOusly spent and that We have
gotten good value for the same; on
the other hand, I believe some of it
has been injudiciously spent and
that some of our districts have paid
very dearly for some Of their road
machinery, bridges, and some of
| their roads. When a district pays
$500 for a machine and the next
year disposes of it for $500, it is
not good investment and somebody
has to pay the difference; and our
people, not only the officers but
the individual citizens, should look
into these matters very carefully. We
like the good roads but We must
also remember there is a limit to
the peoples ability to pay. And
while we should endeavor to build
our roads where they will serve the
largest number of people, we should
not forget the individual settlers
who also need some kind Of a road
to get in and out, to and from their
homes.
The sentiment is quite prevalent
with most of our citizens that the
fault of our high taxes is the fault
of the assessor. Now generally
speaking the assessor has nothing
to do with high taxes or low taxes
if he and his predecessor have done
their work faithfully and efficient
| ly. Practically without exception
those towns have Jared the best
whose assessors have assessed near
est to full value and yet have
eQualized the assessments carefully.
Many of our people feel that the
property should not be assessed at
full value for fear it will increase
our state taxes. Some try to ex-
plain our high taxes by saying they
are caused by the state tax being
SO high. AS a matter of fact, dur
ing the year ending June 80, 1915,
Rusk county received from the state
$10,378 more than it paid to the
state and in the year Following it
received $14,558 more than it paid
to the state. So you see that it
is not our state taxes that are hurt
ing us as badly as We thought.
Nearly all of the people agree that
if everything were assessed at full
value, it would be much better all
around; but they are afraid the 9TH
er fellow and the other town is not
following that principle. Hence, it
is in some cases a sort Of con-
test to see which one can get the
lowest valuation On the property of
his town. This year we intend to
present to the assessors, a little
different system, one that will work
out better than the old system if
carefully followed and will be more
equitable; but it will call for
little more bravery and determination
on the part Of the assessor when
he begins his work Hence, any
one who is not willing to meet the
disapproval of many of his constitu