The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1921-02-14
Equalizing the Tax Burden;
Five Million a Year
Chapter vi.

| CndpLer vi.
II anyone thinks the stockmen are
the only ones who are lodging their
taxes they have another think COM
ing. There are firms that are doing
business in Blackfoot within half q
dozen blocks of the courthouse that
are not paying a cent of taxes. There
are firms in Blackfoot that are not
on the assessment roll; there are
firms in Blackfoot that have started
in business within the past year or
so that were assessed good ana
plenty and there are other firms that
have been in business for twenty or
thirty years that are not assessed
at all. One firm has been in bust
| ness for third of century and has
not paid any taxes since Mr.. Malcolm
was in office.
1t is an endless amount of work to
hunt out all these things from the
! record and anyone who undertakes IT
will be likely to make mistakes. A
business may be established by an in
dividual and conducted in his own
name for few years, after rev
years he may take partner ana
change the firm name. 1t is liable
to be assessed in any one OF two or
three different names. 1t is like run
ming something down in the tele-
phone directory You may hunt for
everything you can think of and 1t |
might be there under some other
name that you did not think or
Anyone who undertakes to lnvestl-
gate and report upon the tax ques-
ton invites disaster in making any
positive statements about it. That
is probably one of the chief reasons
WHY nobody has undertaken it in this
county and because nothing has ever
been done about it, is likely the rea-
son why the assessors office has be-
come the most loosely administered
department of the county govern
ment.
In the last chapter we reported
upon the stockmen of the county or ;
made a partial report on what lot OF {
them were lodging their taxes. The
stock business has been running high
but has come to disaster in the great
that is taking place. The ]
average stock man probably could
not pay his taxes now if he had to {
20 to Jail for it, but that does not
Justify him for committing the crime
Of lodging his taxes and if he had t
done his duty like people are ex- {
pected to do, our county warrants t
would probably not be discounted
now. The school teachers would t
probably be getting full pay and lots
If other matters would be running I
n better condition. t
The Tax on Garages
For several years the garage men g
lave been making lots of money; q
ust at the present time business is T
hull. We made investigations to see 7
low the garages are being taxed and 8
ound that some of them are not be- f
ng taxed at all Ted Green con- q
Iucted repair shop in the Millick s
uilding, one of the best corners of
he town, and the assessor has to T
ass the place every time he came to
own. Ted went out of business s
ONE time during the year and we O.
re unable to find anything on the h.
ecord to indicate that Ted was as n
essed or that he paid cent of taxes. 81
On West Bridge street near the q
ost office is large garage occupy il
lg a whole floor of the All-Cut q,
uilding. 1t has been known as the al
ervice Garage and the DeHart O,
[otor company operated all thru the nj
ear 1920 by ]. B. DeHart, managing
re sales department and different r
ersons managing the repair depart &C
tent. A diligent search of the at
scords fail to disclose any assess O,
lent or tax paid on it. Further Fl,
own the street was vulcanizing il;
nd repair shop operated by Alma m
reen, an institution that was
lrned out late in the fall and we A,
III to find that he was assessed or he
xed ar
On North Main street is the Bing- wi
I'm Motor company occupying one ma
the fine locations of the town, has tn
zen in business three or four years tn
I'd we could find no assessment and =
, tax paid by the Bingham Motor ~
mpany. If any of these people
we been assessed or if they have
i'd any taxes on those institutions
3 would be glad to pass the infor-
alton on to the public when we are
own the record. The other garage
sinesses of the town have been as
ssed according to the statement
ven below: Ju