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


number Of undivided interests.
If the county would itself assemble
these plats on a county map, showing
farm houses, delinquent lands, and the
relation to roads and schools, it would
be valuable and interesting.
Really such studies should be made
by the state. In Michigan and Wis
consin, similar studies have been made
by the university officers, in alliance
with tax officials and county boards.
And they are getting down to brass
tacks. 1t should not be left to volun-
tary organizations like the Arrowhead.
But in this instance. if we had not
gone into it, it would not have been
done at all.
st. Louis County Tax Facts.
All the data that has been gathered
in this inquiry maps. plats, tabula-
tons and so on-is available for any
one who wishes to carry 1t further.
Probably every township and school
district could profitably apply this in
formation to its local conditions. Ger
tainly the taxing districts are bound
sooner or later to shape their programs
to the facts that these studies dis
close.
There is no question about the
future of st. Louis county and the
entire Arrowhead country It's agri-
culture will develop, its forests will be
restored. it's mineral wealth will be
conserved. But it is usually cheaper
to see what is coming than to pay for
not having foreseen the inevitable.
In this report only few general
facts viii be covered.
There are 100000 acres in st. Louis
county, of which at the last report
3,264,000 acres were assessed for taxa
ton. There were at last report 1885,
600 acres of state lands paying no
taxes, and 100000 acres of United
States and Indian lands paying no
taxes. And there were 605,000 acres
delinquent, and paying no taxes.
! That is 100000 acres on the active
list and 100000 acres on the retired
| list. The difference between these
figures and the total area is fairly
well accounted for by city plats, right
of way tracts and so on.
The acreage of state lands which
pay no taxes is increasing. The total
unsold state lands in ST. Louis county
was 412,000 acres in 1924, it was 418,-
900 acres in 1926, it was 435,000 acres
in 1928, and it is more now. This
shows $4,000 acres of state lands that
were sold once and did not stay sold
but came back to the state. The tax
plats also show numerous sections,
formerly state lands, which are now
delinquent and liable to forfeiture.
This abandonment of state lands is
not in itself terribly bad showing.
But it does indicate the need of a
state land policy. And it may be re-
membered that when state land is for
feited, there is no 20 per cent settle
ment of back taxes; it is 100 per cent
shrinkage. The claims of the local
taxing districts are not compromised;
they are wiped out.
The area of government land is in
creasing by purchase. The national
forest lands pay no taxes but they do
pay Is per cent of the receipts in lieu
of taxes and in time this will equal
what might be expected in taxes under
private ownership.
Tax delinquent acreage is rapidly
increasing. According to the forest
tax inquiry it was $4,000 acres in
1926; it was 605,000 acres in 1928.
And though there is always more or
less payment of overdue taxes before
the land goes to forfeiture, the delin-
quency is increasing at the rate of
about 10 per cent year. At the cur
rent sale of forfeited lands, only 81
900 acres were taken up in the first
few days. Compare that with $4,000
acres of state lands alone forfeited in
four years. Compare it with 605,000
acres delinquent.
Judging by the experience of Michi-
gan and Wisconsin we have not come
to the end of that shrinkage of the
tax base. It runs to an extreme of
40 per cent in their counties. In st.
Louis county, 40 per cent of the area
would be 1900, 900 acres; or 40 per cent
of the area now assessed would be
over 1,250,000 acres. And when you
reckon the acreage now in stable
ownership, in farms and in mineral
holdings and in resort properties, and
deduct that from the total, and esti-
mate of million acres of wild land
that is now shaky in its ownership is
not at all extravagant.
The actual farmers are holding on
and mostly prospecting. The abandon
ed farms and delinquent farm lands,
as far as inspection has been made,
were owned by men who never got on
their feet. The real farmers are win
ming out They will stick.
The large owners are mostly hang
ing on-so far. In the forest tax in
quiry of 1925 it was shown that at
that time the delinquency was mainly
i'm the smaller holdings stone and
timber claims for instance that had
been stripped or that did not develop
values, or speculative purchases that
did not pan out and did not promise
to pay carrying charges. The home
owners were sticking and the big
owners were holding on. In Michigan
and Wisconsin there was the same
tale. The large owner hold on till he
saw it was no use; the little fellow
till he had to let go.
In st. Louis county it appears from
the records that the large owners have
not let go yet. In the purchase area
of the national forest, transfer of
lands to the United States is indicated.
In certain other areas the future is
problematical
Largely Local Problem.
From this point on it is a study of
details, of local conditions, of town
ships and school districts Superf1ci-
ally it is seen that there are towns