The Duluth rip-saw. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1917-19??, 1917-05-19

City assessor Scott has been in
structed by the Minnesota Tax
Commission to re-assess and to
prepare a list of all unplatted
property within the corporate linn
it's of Duluth which properly
should be assessed at 40 per cent
Of it's real value instead Of 80 1-3
per cent, as has been done in the
past.
The command from the COM
mission puts the duty of deciding
how such real estate shall be as
sessed directly on the city asses
sor and, incidentally, it lightly
slaps some Of Duluth's "Hidden
Hands.
When the legislature was in
session four years ago, in 1913, a
bunch of Duluth's Fat Boys who
are highly efficient in conserving
their resources, went down to St.
Paul and induced the lawmakers
to so fix the statutes that Gun
plated" property should be as
sessed at 33 1-3 per cent of it's
real value and "platted' prop
erty at 40 per cent of it's real
value.
This little trick favored the
readers, not only removed iabil-
ity to pay taxes that may have
been lodged by favoritsm in as
sessments, but it gave one prop
erty the best Of it over another
used for the same purpose; it also
made an inferior property pay
higher rate, in many cases, over
another more favorably situated
but differently classified.
!, This little trick favored the
ron-r esident Spectator with
large tracts Of idle land and pen-
allied the actual resident who
used and improved his property.
The Taxpayers League, after
its organization, took up the mat
ter with the city assessor and the
Minnesota Tax Commission with
out satisfactory results. It then
prepared a bill, providing that
all lands within the corporate
limits Of cities of the same class
as st. Paul, Minneapolis and Du-
luth, should be assessed at 40 per
cent of their real value, whether
plated or unplatted.
Senator Charles E. Adams
! cheerfully met all requests to in
troduce said bill but expressed
the opinion that a recent supreme.
court decision gave all the relief
required and made any addi-
tional law unnecessary.
The decision was by chief JUS
tice Brown, rendered Dec. %,
1916, in a Minneapolis case, State
ex rel. w. S. Chase, relator, VS..
The Minnesota Tax Commission.
The syllabus stated, viz:
"1.-The expression, all un-
plated real estate as employed
in chapter 4S3, Gen. Laws, 1918,
refers to and includes land which
is adapted to and used for rural
or agricultural purposes, and not
TO land within the limits Of a city
or village, though not a part Of
the plated portion thereof, which
is used exclusively for urban pur-
poses"
This naturally would lead the
average man to maintain that any
and all lands within the corpor-
ate limits of Duluth would come
under the head of "platted"
lands, therefore, under the law,
subject to an assessment of 40
per cent of it's real value.
After it was too late to intro
duce the bill, senator Adams
changed his views somewhat, hon.
estly and sincerely, as a result Of
deeper study Of the matter. Leg
islative relief was out of the ques-.
ton, therefore, for at least two
more years.
The Minnesota Tax Commits
sion, by j. G. Armson,' late in
March, wrote the Duluth Tax
payers League that the commits
sion was in full accord with the
bill to change the law.
"The present classification OF
plated and 'unplatted' lands is
theoretically unsound and inequt-
able in application" wrote the
commissioner. "The original sug-
gestion of such classification was
not made by this commission but
by certain members Of the legis-
lature in 1913. No logical argu-
ments were advanced at that time
in s,,nnort nf the classification. 1t