Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1917-01-11
Brough Urges Radical Changes for
Bet'erment OF Conditions in State
pone



equals and no greater farce was ever
enacted than the farce comedy Of tax
ing realty, tangible personally, and in
tangible personally on the same basis
and at the same rates.
Second: The tex commission. sit
ting as a state board of equalization
has no power to raise or lower indi
vidual assessments CT order reassess-
ments by county assessors. Under the
law creating the commission it can
raise or reduce horizontally all Of the
property of class of property in q
taxing district. If it raises reel es-
tate in district so per cent it must
raise each tract so per cent; if it
raises the horses or mules in town
ship so per cent, the raise must apply
to each horse. This is not fair, for
there is not in any taxing district
in the state some unit in sore class
that is not assessed as lew as Der
cent or as high as so per cent of it's
true value The commission shonid
be authorized when it has made hor-
izontal raise of the properly Of the
district to reduce any individual as
sessment that the raise viii carry IT,
You'd it's proportionate value, or in
case of horizontal reduction i+
should be authorized to raise any in
dividual assessment that the redur-
ton will take below its proportion
ate value. With right of appeal CIV
en- the individual when the property is
raised, the taxpayer would be allow
ed every safeguard and the commits
sion could equalize as between coun
ties without unjustly Increasing the
burdens of individual taxpayers. | re-
specially recommend to the general
assembly the passage Of law con-
ferring upon the tax commission linn
tied power to .equalize individual as
sessments and full power to order re-
assessments.
Third: The tax commission has no
power to review and equalizc private
corporate property. Our present law
relative to the assessment of private
corporations is crude, Anticipated and
inadequate. Although our economic,
commercial and industrial conditions
have materially changed, the property
of private corporations in Arkansas,
industrial, mercantile, manufacturing
and miscellaneous, has been assessed
under a law that has not been sub
stantially modified for more than 25
years. 1t is practically o method of
se]f-assessment which is employed by
corporate officers.
Laws to Reach Tax-Dodgers.
|, therefore, recommend the pass
age of an act requiring the tax COM
mission to investigate, review and
equalize, by raising and lowering the
assessment made by county assessors
of all corporate property not now re-
CURED to be assessed by the tax COM
mission. Such acts are in force in a
number of states and have served to
effectively reach private corporate
can be accomplished by reasonable
ure to turn in a list of property that
would result in the penalty being col
lected, would appear to solve the ques-
ton.
| respectfully recommend to the
general assembly your earnest con-
sideration Of a bill designed to amend
the present law, so as to provide that,
if any taxpayer fails to list q value
on his property and file the list with
the assessor he shall incur minimum
penalty OF $40; but if the amount of
taxes on the property he has failed to
list exceeds $40, then a penalty of so
per cent of the amount Of such taxes
shall be incurred and this penalty may
be recovered by a civil action, to be
brought by the prosecuting attorney,
the prosecutor to receive fee of one
half of the amount of cash recovered
when this amount is less then 5000
and 10 per cent of all amounts in ex-
vess of $780, Under the terms of
this bill the prosecuting attorney will
not have the power to compromise or
settle any such penalty, either before
or after the suit is brought and shall
make no collection thereof except af-
ter judgment rendered. If the prose-
cutting attorney shall violate this pro-
vision he shall be guilty of malfeas-
ance in office.
Fourth: Our methods of reaching in
tangible personally need compre
hensive revision. Mortgages should
either be reached by flat filing fee
not to exceed one-half of one per
cent, when filed, in lieu of all other
taxes regardless of the time the mort
cages run, so arranged that the mort
geo., ya-hc~ than the mortgagor,
should pay the tax, as in Oklahoma, or
the Pennsylvania method, which has
been followed hv q number of states