The daily times. [volume] (Wilson, N.C.) 1902-1936, 1921-04-12
COUNTY BOARDS
BUSY LISTENING
TO RETALIATION
WORK BACK ON COUNTIES
The Authorization People
Can Take Their Troubles to
the County Commissioners
and the County Board of
Appraisers. Power Hearing
Has Entered on Last Lap.
WORK BACK ON COUNTIES
(By Max Abernethy)

(by MAX ADSrn0Lly)
Raleigh, April 12.-Republicans
laying the groundwork in 1921 of
their next quadrennial tussle with
Tar Heel Democracy expect to feat
ure what they term the grand fall
down of the Beckett retaliation tax
system.
That they will have but little diff
ficulty in proving from the stump
that there has been general dissat-
isfaction among the rural voters to
the law is and will be freely admit
ted. In the last general election it is
probable the 100000 votes which
came from the Republican ranks in
Carolina represented virtually the
differentiation sentiment. There
was plenty of grumbling from the
majority party, too, but it was smoth-
cred up in the party plea. The
strongest opponent of the law in the
Democratic ranks, Josiah William
Bailey, spoke for the party during
the late campaign, made it plain that
he was opposed to the system but
urged that the same hard-headed
Democrats who made the law be al
lowed to change it. They did.
When the General Assembly gath
cred here in regular session on jan
uary last there was lots of senti-
ment in the air which indicated that
revaluation would be done to death
Had the Republican party not in
sisted that this be done before Nov
the law would have been better. But
there was lots of differentiation
talk, and it came from the Demo-
cratic members.
Before the legislators adjourned
the Machinery act of 1921 authorized
the county commissioners and the
county board of appraisers to meet
Jointly as a county board of review
in the one hundred counties of the
State ''to determine if the value of
real property as heretofore appraised
and assessed in the county as a
whole, is in excess of the fair value
of such property at the time of meet
ing of such board" This turned the
work back to the counties. 1t also
meant virtually the repeal of RevaI-
uation, which the Republican has in
sisted upon.
The following extracts from the
Machinery act of 1921 permits the
county commissioners to hear and re-
ceive protests and complaints from
injured them:
''The board of county commission
ers and the county board of apprais-
ers and review, heretofore appointed
of 1919 shall meet jointly in each
county on the first Tuesday after the
first Monday in April, 1921, as a
County Board of Review, to deter
mine if the value of real property as
heretofore appraised and assessed in
the county as a whole, is in excess
of the fair value of such property at
the time of meeting of such board"
Under the law the chairman of the
board of county commissioners shall
be the chairman of the board of re-
view. The board shall make proper
inquiry and investigation into exist
ing values of real property, as COM
pared with the assessed and apprais-
ed values thereof in the several cities, !
towns and townships of the county; |
and if it shall find that the assessed
value of such property is in excess
of the actual value, it shall find the
average percentage of such excess In
the county as a whole or in the sew
eral cities, towns and townships ana
shall report it's findings so made to
the State Tax Commission not later
than the goth day of April 1921.
The Southern Power Company
petition for an increase in its hydro
electric power rates in North caro-
CONTINUED on Page 81