Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-07-31
TRAMMELL'S TAX BILL
ADVERSELY REPORTED
House Ways and Means Com
mittee Turns Down Equal
izatiOn Act Repeal

The ways and means committee OF
the house of representa- at a meet
ing Thursday afternoon adversely re
ported the bill by Mr.. Trammell, Of
Harris. to repeal the tax equalization
act.
The action of the committee was taken
by vote of 20 TO IL, and after this
action on the Trammell bill the COM
mittee took similar action on similar
bills introduced by other members of
the house. each one having for its OBJ
ject the repeal of the equalization act.
An adverse report by the ways and
means committee on all the bills 20
repeal the equalization act will prob
ably means their defeat, as the adverse
report takes them off the calendar.
An interesting hearing preceded the
action of the committee. The time was
divided as follows: Twenty minutes TO
the opponents of repeal, twenty minutes
TO the advocates of repeal and twenty
minutes in conclusion TO Judge John
c. Hart. state tax commissioner, who
is in charge of the administration OF
the equalization law.
Representative Swift, of Muscogee,
one of the leaders in the passage of
the act and one of its strongest sup
porters, opened the argument against
repeal He declared that he would with
draw his opposition to repeal If he
could be shown a single case where a
taxpayer has been unjustly treated by
the operation of the equalization law.
He said If invisible property is escap-
ing taxation in any county it is the
fault of the local board of equalizers
and not the fault of the law.
Representative Pickett, of Terrell,
cited figures exposing the fallacy of
H.. Nba lfsrat i'm n NJ
works a hardship on farm land owners
In his county farm lands are worth
an average of $50 per acre, while the
average assessment for taxes is 81 per
acre.
Representative Burwell, OF Hancock,
who was speaker when the law was
passed, and whose deciding vote passed
the bill through the house, said the
people of his county held mass meet
ings to denounce him because they did
not understand the law, and that he
attended the meetings and explained
10 them the provisions of the law and
converted them to an understanding of
it's justice and it's fairness.
Representative Bale, of Floyd, led
off for the advocates of repeal He
claimed that the law has failed 20
eouaIize values between counties. Land
iONu COUNTY II dc1CSf'SN a. 49, -
acre. while land in Burke, the greatest
cotton county in the state, is assessed
at 81 per acre.
Representative Taylor, of Monroe,
claimed that the average Increase in
taxable values from 1900 TO 1914. prior
to tire passage of the law, was s26 ,OOO,-
600 a year. while the average increase
has been the same per year since 1914.
showing that the law has not increased
tax values more than they were In
creasing under the old tax system.
Representative Anderson. of Jenkins,
claimed that the law is bad and cannot
oe administered satisfactorily for that
reason.
Closing for the bill Judge Hart made
Il clear that he was not a party to the
pa ssing of the law. that he did not seek
the office of tax commissioner, and that
his opposition to the proposed repeal
is in no sense a personal matter.
He showed that the equalization law
raised taxable valJfes sS6,000.000 In
1914. the first year of its operation, and
that ii has maintained tax values since
the beginning of the war, when values
would have gone to pieces without it.
Such a comparatively small disturbance
as the Spanish-American war caused a
shrinkage of $4,000, 900 in tax values in
Georgia, and the present war. incompar-
ably more disturbing, would have caused
no telling what a collapse if the equali-
cation law had not held values stable.