Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-02-05

Bismarck, N. D., Feb. 5.-w. G.
Roylance, the N~onpartisan league tau
expert, told the joint tax committee
h is,morning that the state would have
to collect much more In taxes during
the rext two years to carry out the,
administrations program.
III your. program goes through, the
people will pay the taxes, or the state
will own the land al, the end of. three
quiries from league members anent
the effect of the taxation program
H also declared that the state val
under no obligation to protect the
land spectators.
Carl Kozitsky. state auditor. again
appeared before the committee and
made strenuous objections to many
features of the program, especially
the le-classification act.
If. this ship zoe down by poor
laws, I'll go down with it," declared
Kozitsky. He said that c~onfiscation of
property would be the result Of the
legislative bureaus tax program.
Kositzky also declared that the peo-
pie will have. to raise six million dol
lars which now are called forsin legis-
lation bills. He criticized the assess
nent system. also, declaring, that at
an annual assessment instead of a BIZ
ennial assessment as provided in some
classes, would result in complications
of a f~ar-reaching nature.
Roylance charged that Kositzky was
e~ndeavoring to defeat the whole taxa
ton program by raising a mass Of OBJ
jections.. He said the auditor was not
attempting to cure defects in a bill,
but that his aim was to defeat the
whole scheme.
After declaring that these big, taxes
must be raised, hat the people must
l,foot the bill else the state will own
1.-THE land at the aend of three years
and that the state is under nc obliga-
ton to protect land spectators, Roy
lance said that the taxation program
would leave the state government
wide open" for two years.
The state goyArnment will be wide
open for two years in raising taxes
he said, but you have selected state
officials with great care and they will
move carefully. You must step care
fully for two years"
more to collect these taxes he con
tinued, land they may seem alarm
ing, but they must be met. The treas
urer needs an addition of $4,000 to
carry out these laws. Thirty-one thou
sand more will be needed by the audi
tor and the tax commission probably
will spend 100000 more to get the
koNSo ploN4NSN LAASSo wv
Appropriation bills for six million
dollars now in are double those of
last year" :
Chairman Fred Mees of the senate
tax committee insisted that the CLASH
tt1ication act, by which values, Of farm
lands are boosted from 100 to 900 per
cent owe present valuations, may tend
to the confiscation Of farm lands.
"Sixty-seven per cent of the taxes
are collected on real estate in North
Dakota based on a valuation of thirty
per cent" Mees declared. THE total
tax collected last year forNall purposes
was about eighteen million Of which
the state received about two million.
If the levy is the same by the state
under. these laws, the state can raise
about eight million dollars by taxation
on properties alone. We must have
more revenue, but it must be collected
equitably. We want the people to own
their lots. and farms, and not the
state. as we get no tax when the state
towns them. Personally, I want lands
in the state classification"
The classification act would assess
unused land at sixty per cent of its
value n used land at 100 per cent
of its value.