The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-12-09

estate must. therefore. be made In the
| year 1870, and II the general assembly
proposes to make changes In the laws
now In force which relate to this re-
/ assessment, II must be done at the SEES :
| sion which will cohvene In January,
! 1918, because section 437 of the Code
las amended by act approved February
IS, 1910, makes IL the duty of the cir
/ cult courts of counties and OF cities
| of the second class. and of corporation
| courts of other cities. or the judges OF
| said courts in vacation, on or before
! the first of January, 1920. to appoint
| the assessors to make the reassess-
ment.
| Costs tsate Too Much to ASSESS.
"The last reasscssment, viz: that
| made in 1915. cost the state ss2.oo3.0o,
| a considerable expense when 1t Is con-
i 'sidered that the state derives only a
tax of ten cents on each 800 OF as
sessed value and the counties and
cities derive their chief revenue from
| ievies imposed upon real estate. II
would seem 1t would be fair for the
general assembly TO place the principal
cost of making the assessment upon
| the counties and cities because they
derive almost the entire revenue aris-
ing from the reassessment.
"yyhetller or not the general assem-
I bly, continues the system now pro-
vtdfng for the reassessment OF lands.
that In, an assessment made by as
SCISSORS appointed by the courts. II
would be OF great assistance to those
charged with making the reassess-
ment to have the general assembly
outline specifically their duties and the
manner In which they shall discharge
them; especially TO indicate how they
shall determine the values they are
called upon to FIX. The present law
on this point is vague and the indf-
yfdual views of the. assessors vary very
materially. In this connection / VIII
call attention to section 1Ss OF the
constitution, which provides:
Except as hereinafter provid-
ed, all assessmentssof real estate
and tangible property shall be at
their fair market value. to be as
certalned AS PRESCRIBED BY 4
LAW.
Apparently the trainers of the
constitution make It mandatory upon
the general assembly TO prescribe by
law specific directions TO the assess
ing officers how to ascertain the values
TO be assessed. If the general assem-
bly, viii lay down a guide. the result
will be more uniform assessments
throughout the commonwealth.
A Guide TO Assessors
The general assembly. in laying
down a guide fer the assessment of
real estate. should, in my opinion,
bear In mind that a considerable acre
age of the country consists of scrub
timber, cut over timber, guilfes
swamps and rocky hilisides. and
mountains tother than mineral lands)
not tillable; therefore. such land is
non productive and yields no income:
nevertheless. under the Law 1t must
he assessed and taxed, and whilst such
lands have practically no value upon
the market. their acreage. being part
of a tract. operates to reduce the per
acre value OF the entire tract. To H.
lustrare;
"A FARM Of 800 acres, composed OF
zoo acres of tiliabie land worth 50 600
per acre and loo acres OF land. such
as ls described above. worth dollar
per acre, would be assessed at - 100,
Gran average t.f- I = 8 per acre, ex-
actiy two-thirds of the value per acre
which would have been assessed had
all the land been tiilabie and all been
worth $40 per acre: In pther words,
The average assessfn eft per acre rs
reduced thirty three and one-third per
cent because OF the conditions men
toned, and the frequent criticism OF
lands, i have no doubt. is due to the
overlooking these important and es-
sential facts"
Investigate Prisoners Support.
Asked what other recommendation
Of Significance he is making Mr..
Moore answered he is recommen
the general assembly inquire. into the
advisa htlity OF amending thu law pro-
Tiiingl FER 4ise board Of prtaoaers- In
Jail so that. IN view OF tae largely in
creased prices Of food the sherl6fs or
counties. and sergeants of cities Will
not suffer loss from boarding prison
ers at the rates fixed by the present
law, and II suggesting that the general
assembly procure the information req
uisite to Ak the proper rates under eX-
listing conditions.
He Is also bringing TO the attention
of the general assembly the fact that
for the assessment Of ffduciary prop
erty the commissions paid examiners
of records almost equal one-ffth of
the state taxes assessed upon values
OF such property ascertained by those
officers: and he is bringing TO the at
tention OF the general assembly the
fact that the state only receives ten
cents on the 500 assessed valuation OF
boat property, the valuation OF such
property now required to be ascer-
tanned by examiners OF records and
shows that the entire state taxes real
lied are absorbed by the commission
paid by the examiner and that in ad-
dition the state pays com ission to
the commissioner OF the revenue for
extending the tax on such property,
the result being that under existing
law the state pays more for the as
certainment of the value OF this prop
erty by examiners OF records and the
OF the taxes thereof by the
commissioners Of the revenue than
the state realizes in taxes.
Give Localities Their Due
He is also bringing to the attention
of the general assembly correction of
the law respecting the local taxation
of capital which now requires its as
sessment at the principal office rather,
than at the locality in which the can't
tai is actually employed. so as to do
justice to the localities by providing
for the. taxation of capital where 1t
il actually employed rather than
where 1t in constr actively employed.
He is asking the general assembly
TO revise in its entirety the present
law providing for taxation of inheri-
tances SO as to make clear the pro-
visions of taxation with respect to in
heritances and to make equally clear