Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1918-03-13
COUNTY LISTERS MEET.
CONTINUED from Page One.)

highly developed methods that can
possibly result from the combined
knowledge of the student and the ad-
ministrator.
''The day has most surely come
when the lister must be educated for
the job, trained for service, honest
in his purpose and unbiased in his
Judgment. He must be willing,
ready and able to devote himself to
the bringing of equity, justice and
fairness into the administration of
our tax laws.
"You who have served for years
as listers know well that it is only by
experience that you have come to the
point where you feel that you can do
your work With confidence. You
realize that the new problems forced
upon man il lis first year or two of
office are hard to solve. You know
also that no matter how much expert
ance some OF us may have had, prob
lens are constantly arising every
year that are hard to solve. How
ever, the longer we serve, if we work
hard, the more efficient we become.
For the benefit of the newly-elect-
ed listers [ wish to call attention to
the fact that persons taxable only for
real estate, and male persons taxable
to file an inventory unless you notify
them SO to do in writing. But every
other person, that is to say, persons
who own real estate and personal
property must procure blank inven-
tory, make full answer to all inter-
rogatOries thereof, subscribe said in
ventory and affidavit, make oath
thereto, and deliver or forward the
same to the listers or to a lister of
the town in which such person owns
or possesses property which under
the law should be set to him or her,
on or before the Goth day of April.
Right here let me say that this law
applies to women who own property
exactly the same as 1T does to men
Who own property. If a woman owns
real estate and nothing but real es-
state she need not make an inventory,
but if she owns taxable personal
property, it is her duty as it is the
duty of every man owning taxable
personal property to procure and re-
turn an inventory as provided by law.
"Tou should refuse to receive an in
ventory in which the form Of oath
fixed by law is modified or changed,
and you should accept no inventory
which is not subscribed and sworn to
as required by law. In the second
place, an inventory, although sworn
to, is not conclusive, and you may dis
regard it wholly or in part, and pro-
coed to make an assessment as is pro-
vided by law if the occasion in your
Judgment so requires. You are not
obliged to advise the taxpayer as to
the value which you place upon his
property at the time you fix the val
ue. The taxpayer is to rely upon the
abstract Of the Grand List for his in
formation. The owners valuation in
no way binds you in arriving at the
valuation which you place upon his
property. You appraise it according
to your own best Judgment and the
notice to the taxpayer of the value
which you have placed on the proper
ty is to be found by him in the alb
stract which you have published.
of q taxpayer, who is required by
law TO file an inventory, refuses to
file one, then you must proceed to as
sess him in the manner provided by
law, but q taxpayer who undertakes
swear to or affirm such inventory, is
subject to a fine, rot to exceed 500.
When you find it necessary to reject
an inventory which has been filed
with you, please DO not undertake to
make out 2 new inventory for the tax
payer. This you cannot do. A list,
based on such inventory, is invalid,
because it is not the inventory of the
taxpayer, but YOUR inventory. The
only thing to DO in such a case is to
proceed to assess the taxpayer as
provided by law.
This is the year for the Quadren-
NAL Appraisal, and / propose be-
tween now and June 1 to distribute
a bulletin covering the making of the
Quadrennial appraisal, but while we
making the quadrennial appraisal
this year. it is your duty, under the
law, to appraise and set in the list
apart from the taxable real estate,
land sequestered for public, pious or
charitable uses. Such list should con-
tain the name of the owner, descrip- |
ton, and the amount of rental each
parcel or part, and the purpose to
which the rent is applied, and the
proportion of rent each owner of a
parcel or part of such land shall pay, |
and in the case of school lands, it |
must show the rent paid in an item
lied statement. [ call your attention !
to this because this law was mad /
vertently appealed at the time of the !
making of the last quadrennial ap-
praisal, and. hundreds of dollars, if |
not thousands, of revenue will be lost
to the towns if you do not do your
duty in this regard. This is no easy
task, and in many cases will involve |
searching of town records and will |
take considerable time, but it should .
not be neglected or overlooked, or left
until the last. I cannot urge you too
strongly in this regard because 1
know from the experience which I !
have already had that in altogether !
too many towns, these records have
been inaccurately made if made at all