The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1929-09-13

4
But If warrants are issued on the
strength OF taxes due, the remaining
lands have to make up the deficiency
the next year with interest. The tax
rate climbs, more land goes delin-
quent Eventually handful of settlers
have to carry the whole load.
Already there are townships in st.
Louis county In which the total rate
is 100, 139, 140, 141 mills. In forty
organized towns the total rate is more
than 100 mills, while 81 organized
towns are still inside the 100 mill rate.
When local burdens become Excess
sive, resort is naturally had to the
countys resources. There are roads
to be maintained and built-coax the
county to establish them as county
roads. There are schools to be kept
and paid for-relinquish them to the
unorganized district. And If the re-
sources of the unorganized territory
are insufficient apply to the legisla-
ture for larger tax to be levied on
all the property in the county.
That Is natural, it may be entirely
fair. Certainly we look to the state
to relieve conditions when counties
through no fault of their own are in
distress and it may be the county
should come to the rescue of its local
units. But If 1t does take that turn,
property owners who will have to pay
the bills are interested in policies
which may in some cases lead to vir-
tual insolvency.
Exay, xryhay, kx,o s&oka %oI>ac I,1r<S
there are likely some burdens that fall
upon the county. When the state took
over 100000 acres in Beltrami-
chiching of the Woods, it was
stipulated that the counties must as
sumo the township or school district
debts against these lands, which
amounted in this instance to $4,000.
The states wish to be fair does not
go to extravaganza length. The state
will insist that the local communities
do their full part.
Wild Land at Loose Ends.
Settled land, unless it is smothered
in state lands and other land not
paying taxes, is not going off the tax
rolls. 1t is wild land that makes the
bulk of delinquency and forfeiture.
What is the owner of wild land to do?
What does become of wild land, of its
assessed valuation, of the taxes on it?
One thing sure If the tax is more
than the land will stand, the tax won't
be paid.
The owner of wild land that won't
meet its taxes-it is the wild land that
makes the trouble-haS four alterna-
tives, not counting the chance to let
go and drop it. One is to let the
taxes accumulate and then take adj
vantage of the law by which taxes
may be compromised for 20 to 80 per
cent of their face. At the time of the
forest tax inquiry it was shown that
nobody was doing that Systematically
and it does not appear anywhere as a
deliberate practice Or the owner may
convince the assessor or the board of
review that the valuation should be
is the first attempt made by any owner
who thinks his assessment is out of
line
Failing in that, the owner has the
right to take his case to court, when,
after three years, judgment is to be
entered, basing his defense on the plea
that the valuation was too high. If
|. the court Sustains the owners plea,
the delinquent taxes are hquidated by
the payment, without penalty or in
terest, of such reduced sum as the
court finds proper.
The inconvenience of that method
to the public, to the town board for
instance, is that for three years they
can't know how much will be paid of
the amount levied. In one important
case recently decided in st. Louis
county, the amount of taxes to be
paid was reduced from $4,000 to ST.
$50, a reduction of $22,750 for that
year or approximately $4,000 for the
three years during which payment
was held up. OF that amount some
$4,000 would have gone toward the
levies for local purposes and, as "a
organized towns were involved, they
got on the average $2,275 less than
they figured on when the levies were
made.
If they did not spend the money
till it was collected, the only injury of
course was to their expectations.
A fourth method has been provided
/ by the legislature, applicable to wild
lands which are worth more for forest
purposes than for any other use. The
lands so designated by the county
board, on application of the owner, If
approved by the state commission, are
to pay 10 per cent on the yield and
an annual tax of cents an acre,
plus fire tax of cents an acre.
The intention of the legislature was
to fix the largest tax that such lands
could pay Only two applications have
been made so far under this act and
it is evidently not well understood. It
is so little understood that no appli-
cations have been received for land to
be taxed as woodlots- notwithstandin
the provisions are more liberal than
for auxiliary forests.
It was hoped that nearly every farm
in the cutover country would have
woodlot attached This provisions of
cents an acre tax, the farmer being
his own fire patrol, with the exemp-
ton from the yield tax of wood used
on the farm, was supposed to make it
attractive. Indeed, if the terms for
the farmers woodlot do not prove eff
f1cacious, it is hardly to be expected
that owners of forest land will be at
tracted by the more exacting terms of
the auxiliary forest act"
If that act fails of its purpose, either
because owners are not interested, or
because the local authorities decline
to accept applications, the only alter