The Raymer enterprise., 1919-11-27
TAXES FoR 1920 WILL
Be HIGHER SAYS HAMA


giving seasoa. bat we guess you are
all ea.aetiag II an way, SO We crib
the .silowing information from the
Greelef Tribune of a recent date:
Yes, taxes have been advanced
for net year. Dcth the valuation
and the mill levy have increased,
fni the amount derived from taxa
tion fer the running expenses OF the
ccurty VII be lsrRer. but even at
that. tae increase in the amount
paid and the valuation have not kept
pace with increases in the price OF
other commodities for the past few
years, nor has the increase in the
percent of taxes increased in proper
tion to the increase in selling price
of land for the same period" said
County Assessor r. r. Hanna in ex-
planning the tax situation in Weld
county, as finally decided upon by
the board OF county commissioners
and the state tax commission.
The assessor then proceeded to
demonstrate by figures where the
tics for 1919 which are payable in
1920 are reasonable compared to in
crease in price o. everything else.
The percentage in icrease of taxes
paid has not kept pace with the in
crease OF everything else, including
the selling price Of land.
However" continued Mr.. Hanna,
this does not apply in the case OF
personal pfoI err. This property de-
creases in value each year, and the
mill levy increases. but the actual
amount of money paid the county
and state remains about stationary.
even cl the decreased value of the
pc y. in the face OF the increas-
ing levies who suffer. But this is
not the fault of the assessor. He
values the property lower and lower
each year, and the board Of county
commissioners figures up its budget
and how much money II needs for
all purposes. and fixes the levy. Then
the assessor figures the amounts and
extends the taxes and sends out no.
tice to the property owners. That
is all this Office can do" said the as
SCISSOR.
As an example Of this, a man
whose personal property was assess
ed at $4,000 one year with a levy Of
6 mills. paid tax of S12. Next
year this same property has depreci-
ated in value to s1,700 and the mill
levy is raised to mills. This forces
him to pay a total of s11.90 in taxes
The same property is assessed at
sl,400 the next year, on an S1s mill
levy, which produces the same
amount of $11.90 taxes for the coun-
ty. Finally the property is reduced
to sl,100 valuation and the levy
raised to 10 mills. Now the man is
paying $11 taxes on valuation of
but s1,100. BY this method the man
who started with personal property
valued at $4,000 has depreciation
OF 5000 on that property, while his
taxes have been reduced but $1.00.
However. this works the same with
realestate which increases in value
along with the mill levy, except that
the increase in valuation of the prop
erty increases to greater extent
than the increase In taxes. Start on
a piece of land assessed at $4,000
with six mills levy. This forces the
owner to pay total tax Of $50. Now
increase the value OF the land to $12,-
900 and the levy to seven mills, and
the money paid In taxes amounts to
sS4, Another increase in valuation
to $4,000, which is about the aver
age increase Of property assessments
this year over those of three years
ago. and the mill levy is increased to
eight mills. You pay total Of $120
In taxes. Here you have an increase
Of so percent in the valuation of the
land and but 33 l-3 percent in the
tax levy BY this figuring Mr. Han
ma demonstrates that highter val
uation and mill levy is profita-
BILE investment for the property own
er.
Mr. Hanna then gave some very
interesting and enlightening figures
regarding taxes for 1919, which are
payable in 1920. The county will
collect In 1920 a total OF $974,331.-
95 more than was collected this year
on the 1918 assessment This is
from all funds, state. county, school,
towns and irrigation districts. The
greatest increase is in the irrigation
district taxes, which shows an ad-
vance of 3S2,700.S5, or the differ
ence between the sum OF $146,324.-
81 raised lin 1918 and s529,025.76
which will be raised this year This
Is due to the fact that the Henry