Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1924-11-12
ASSESSORS HEAR

ASSESSORS HEAR
CONTINUED from Page one)
sided over by Hon. Clement S. Stet-
son Of Greene, president of the asses
sors' association and chairman of the
board of State assessors. and the
program consisted Of addresses by
Commissioner Washburn who spoke
upon Maine Agriculture" and SAM
uel B. Furnish, chairman OF the
Brunswick board OF assessors, whose
subject was Problems of Local As
SCISSORS
Commits sioner Washburn outlined
Names progress in its various lines
Of agriculture and discussed the sub
ject in q very interesting and en-
tightening manner. lie declared that
although the taxation burden of the
Maine farmer Is large, he is no tax
shirker, but is beginning to wonder
| II all classes of property are sharinS
equally in this burden. Soon the
Maine farmer will demand that all
classes Of property, both tangibles
and intangibles. shall share alike in
carrying this burden.
Many fine suggestions for solving
the knotty problems that assessors
meet every day in their work were
contained In the talk given by Mr..
Kurdish.
Nominating Committee Chosen
Officers of the Assessors Associa-
ton will be elected at the Wednes-
day session. President Stetson APP
pointed last evening the nominating
committee which consists OF w. ;.
| Toothaker of Phillips. William II.
| 1t 81 and George
| Linnillen Of Boothbay.
"ProbIenns Of Local Assessors
Speaking on the topic, PROBLEMS
Of Local Assessors" Samuel B. Fur
bish, chairman of the board OF as
SCISSORS Of Brunswick. declared at the
outset that he would not attempt TO
solve such problems but rather 30
make suggestions.
He told Of the difficulties that the
newly elected local assessor encoun-'
ters in his attempts to get at true
| and fair valuation OF property in his
town and Of the mistake that the new
assessor often makes in just copying
down the valuations on property as
they wree kept in the assessors
books for the previous year.
In making up the new valuation
! the assessor will find that trouble
looms up for it is "the grasping hand
of the assessor against the downtrod-
den taxpayer
The new assessor will find cases
1 where the valuation placed on prop
| erty owned by q wel1-to do man has
not been raised for years due per-
haps to that mans social standing, to
! HIS wealth, to hts friendship or poll
tical domination. Raise the valua-
! ton and witness the surprise eX-
pressed by that individual, said MIR.
| Furnish.
The speaker referred to the in
| crease in property valuation in the
suburbs Of as a city expands into
| those districts. The owner OF prop
| erty in the suburbs will admit that
his property would sell for more be-
cause Of the expansion Of the city,
but he will be lOath to admit that the
assessed value of his property has
changed. 1t is his claim that he was
over-assessed in the first place.
| Assessors often meet the problem of
| the man who says: why do you tax
me so much when all / have is my
house and automobile and both are
mort ga ged, when Mr.. Blank who lives
| next door does not own his house, but
has q fine automobile. is we'll of and
a director OF a bank and pays less
| than do" That leads us to the .qucs-
ton of taxation Of intangible property
which is held mostly in the cities.
| Mr.. Furbush said that an authority
has declared that less than five per
cent of the total amount OF money
derived from taxation. comes from
the source Of intangible property.
| Regarding the taxation OF automo-
biles. the Brunswick assessors have
| 110nfod nf oil
cars into classes. the first, including
| all cars whose factory price is below
$500. and the second class consisting
OF the moro expensive cars based on
the factory price. In the first class a
discount of 20, per cent il allowed
each year for. six years and after that
| time the value OF each car Is estab-
lished without regard to this rate OF
discount. never placing the valuation
OF any car that is registered under
500. Automobiles in the second class
are allowed discount Of 30 per cent
for four years before any change Is
made In the method of assessment
By means of q transcript from the
State license department, full list
Of the automobiles registered may be
! secured so that none Of the cars will
| be overlooked. .r
| Mr. Kurdish stated that some of the
defects Of the present system of taxa
ton are the inequalities of valuation
| which occur, differentiation, the es-
cape of some classes Of property from
taxation and the inability to get at
the bulk Of the intangible property
for taxation purposes.
| Commissioner r. r. Waslburn
The fact that Maine has the low
est rate of taxation per acre of farm
land of any state in the Union with
eight exceptions. was pointed out by
Commissioner Washburn, who dis
cussed the agricultural situation of
Maine.
| He said that because some of the
farms of the State have not been
profitable and because some OF the
young people have left the Maine
farms to 60 to other states, we have
become accustomed to look on farm
Ing a. o. decadent industry, but that
such II not the case. Agriculture IL
still the principal industry of Maine.
Thousands Of farm lands that have
been abandoned, never could have
been successfully operated and have
been given back to timber produc-
ton to which they were best suited.
There are still 5000 farms in
Maine representing $260, OO0. 900. md
they produce each year one half Of
their value, Commissioner Washburn
said. All Of this IL done without ex-
hausting our mineral resources or
dsstroying our forests. Today, 2JO.-
II