Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1929-12-05

Asks Fairness in Tax Rate
Discussion

VIZ wi tN'IR "a a ~
tors, they will soon start yelpine
about the increase in taxes in thi.
County. They point with pride to the
present increase in taxes except t.
place the fault on the county officials
Away back in the history of this
County it was customary for the Of
fcials to assess every piece of land
that they could possibly find some
firm or person had some tangible
title to. even tho it was many times
merely a homestead filing. They as
sessed and taxed hundreds of In
dian allotments which was not sub
ject TO taxation. The specific reason
for this was to increase the assessible
an taxable valuation of this County
so that it would be rated with enough
taxable property to place it in a class
where the County officials could
command a larger salary, employ a
lot Of extra help, as well as providc
for a County auditor with his host Of
friends en- the pay roll. A check on
these titles q few years back caused
hundreds Of assessments to be drop
ped from the tax rolls, but the back
taxes were not cancelled.
Lately many of these Indian land
claimants have caused these back
taxes, which appeared as an asset to
the County, to be absolutely cancelled
and erased from the assets of the
County. This alone was sufficient to
increase the present taxes by leaps
and bounds.
Another feature which is over
looked by many is the fact that pos
sibly two hundred thousand acres Of
land here upon which L. S. Patents
had been issued has, or is about to re-
vert to the County for unpaid back
taxes, in many instances dating
back ten or twelve years. Many
times such back taxes and penalties
amount to fifteen hundred or two
thousand dollars a half a section.
Hundreds of town lots which have
been assessed for S25 to 500 each
also came in this category. The
county was practically compelled to
take them over for back taxes.
The County Commissioners have
used their best efforts to sell all
this land and town lots, in many in
stance selling for a fraction or what
the taxes were, just so as to get this
property back on the assessment roll
and have it bear its equitable burden
OF taxes. However, the County TODAY
W possibly more than 10000 acres
OF land which is exempt from taxes
and which the County is at the pres
ent time unable to sell. In the mean
the balance Of the property own
erS must assume this share of the
cost OF maintaining our county, and
1t is not to be wondered at that taxes
ar bound to increase by leaps and
bounds. If conditions here were what
they have been in 1926-27 or 1928.
the County would have been able to
sell this land quickly, but the sale
a month ago was almost a frost.
About fifty farms were offered for
sale and only five or six disposed Of
IN November another block of such
acts were acquired by the county.
and the story is not half told vet.
RICH now Eng Torstenson is en-
ployed at a special salary approved
oy the board of County Commission
ers Tor the purpose of acquiring sew
eral hundred tracts more land that
VIII have to be taken over by the
county by tax deed. The more land
the County acquires the greater will
% the increase in taxes of those who
live here
FUNDS must be raised through taxa
tlon TO pay current expenses. The
county land is exempt from taves
and the residents who own land
must meet the difference. Before
TINS tax deed work is finished if will
increase the taxes possibly so ner
per cent or more than what it is RIGHT
now, unless the County is able to sell
TINS land to someone who will take if
over and start paying taxes on #
1t never has been income producing
but appeared on the tax rolls and
only made the valuation Of the coun-
ty larger, decreasing the needed lew.
but all the time the warrant indebt-
edness of the County became heavier
and heavier.
When the papers start hammering
the present County officials please be
fair, don't let the burden be placed
upon the present officials entirely, as
it is a condition hat would have hit
any group of officials, no matter
what their political faith or complex
ion might have been. 1t took a GER
tain length of time before tax deed
matter could arrive at such a point
as it is now and will continue for
some time to come. And the pro-
perty owners who pay their taxes and
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