The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1920-12-30
DALTON LEAVES HIS MARX.


The retirement of Joseph E. Dalton as AS
SCISSOR of incomes for Kenosha county is mat
ter of general regret. Mr.. Dalton has given
thirteen Of the best years of his life to the tax
problems Of Kenosha county and it can be said
that he has not given it in vain He has
brought order out of chaos in the matter of
valuations in the county and no matter who
comes to his Office he is going to be forced to
adopt a rule of fairness in assessments which
has been made popular by Mr.. Dalton.
Mr.. Dalton was not a tax expert when he
came to the office of Supervisor of Assessments
years ago. In fact he had been keeping
country store and he had not given a lot of time
to the study of tax problems. He leaves office
one Of the best known experts on the question
Of taxation in Wisconsin and one whose advise
has been sought by men in high places in
connection with the tax system Of the state.
That Mr. Dalton did not know about tax sched-
ules he made up with fund of common sense
and common honesty and he put these two ele-
ments into making plans for the valuation of
property in Kenosha county. He recognized
where determinations were being made and
sought to correct them He was one of the
first advocates of "fulI value" assessments and
a constant critic against any plan which brought
unfair or false values. He went before the
assessors year after year and demanded that
they follow the law in making valuations rather
than follow old customs of old assessors who
had worked at the job before them. He tried
to teach assessors that horse and wagon was
worth just as much in the town of Bristol as
it was in the second ward in Kenosha.
Mr.. Dalton carried his fight for fair equali-
81 70 r.Nf
the county board and while it took several
years to get the county board to lay aside petty
methods of dividing the tax burden, in the end
common sense and common honesty won and
thanks to the efforts of Mr.. Dalton the equali-
cation of the taxes of the county has for years
been on the basis of true value assessment re-
CARELESS Of the values returned by town and
city assessors. Mr. Dalton knew how to lower
a schedule as well as how to increase one and
often he lowered schedules in order to make
taxes equal.
His common sense methods for assessments
of real and personal property were later applied
to the assessment of incomes and as result
Kenosha county has been known as one of the
most fully assessed counties in the state.
Mr.. Dalton has left the mark of common
sense and common honesty on the tax system
of Kenosha county and it is certain that as a
result of his work the county will go right along
on this system. 1t is most important that the
man who is named to succeed Mr.. Dalton be a
man who is able to carry forward the work
he has started. The taxing board of county
is its most important board. The manner in
which it does it's work largely dictates the
fairness of the distribution OF the tax burden.
1t has been largely one man task in the past.
There is no doubt but that the new Income
Assessor will have the cooperation of the other
officials but he must have the ability to COM
bne common sense and common honesty to
property direct the work.
Kenosha county owes large debt to Mr..
Dalton. 1t hasn't paid him salary anywhere
near what his work was worth and as is the
case with most public officers Dalton feels that
he must give some time toward organizing his
own business. He conducts it along the lines
of common sense and common honesty too and
it is certain that under his management it will
have large measure of success. !.