Nogales international., 1930-08-01


nual State Tax Conference.
This action concluded two days
of exhaustive study of county tax
rolls Each county's tax records were
gone over in detail by the State
Commission, composed of Ed
Hughes, Frank Luke and NJ. A. Muir
ply, and county assessors and SUI
perviSors were called upon to ex-
plain the reasons for certain in
creases or decreases in their pro-
perty values as reported. Several
minor clashes occurred between var
ious county officials relative to op-
en- charges that certain properties
were not fairly valued and members
of the state commission frequently
entered into these discussions.
Maricopa county in general and
Phoenix in particular came in for a
good share Of criticism when it was
pointed out that many pieces of i'm
proved city property in Phoenix
were not assessed at their true value.
Similar charges were made against
several pieces of property in Tue
SON
Harmony At Close
These arguments were smoothed
out, however, and the tWo-day con-
ference ended with no hard feeling.
The closing session was honored
by the presence of three democratic
candidates for governor, Fred T.
Golfer, of Phoenix; Frank H. Ly-
man, of Phoenix, and Andrew Bet
twy, of Nogales. The latter made a
brief talk in behalf of House Bill
No. 1877, declaring it was one of the
finest pieces of legislation on the
statute books of Arizona. He offer
ed to answer any questions that
may be asked regarding provisions
of this bill, but he was not ques-
toned
Kirmball Attacks System
Senator Tom Kirnball, of Graham
county, was vigorously applauded
when he declared that farm lands
in this state are not equally asses
sed, and ne demanded that either
the values of Graham county farm
ing property be reduced or those OF
farm lands in other counties be in
creased up to the basis of those in
his county.
House Bill No. 1877 is alright, but
the administration Of it is all
wrong" declared James NJ. Smith,
assessor Of Graham county. Thad
Moore, assessor of Pinal county, took
issue with Smith, declaring the bill
provided for proper equalization OF
property valuations and that it was
working out fine.
Asks Cut For Cattlemen
Declaring he, wished to correct a
statement that had appeared in the
press, Dan G. Mckinney, Of Elgin,
president Of the Arizona Cattle
Growers Association, stated that in
1929 there were 338, ,959 head Of ner-
chantable cattle on hand in this
state and that 214,997 head were ex-
ported from the state during that
year. He branded as false the pub
lished assertion that 100000 more
cattle were shipped from the state
that year than were taxed. He re-.
quested that the State Tax Com
mission reduce the unit value of cat
tie to the 1929 basis, declaring that
many times cattle raisers are re-
quired to pay tax on cattle Eailed
at more than the actual market va
lue.
Valuation of automobiles was a
subject discussed at considerable
length. It was shown that under the
present plan auto dealers are tax
ed only for the cars they have on
hand January 1 and May each
year. They do not pay tax on
cars bought and sold from May l
to December 81, it was stated by
number Of county assessors present.
More Autos Here
The records showed that in 1929
there were in dealers hands in San
ta Cruz county 1893 automobiles, of
g unit value OF $365.41, or a total
valuation of S545,56 while in 1880
there were 1649 cars on hand in
dealers establishments valued at
$337.40 each, or total valuation of
$3.50, 1902, showing an increase of 156
cars and S1O,742 in valuation In
many counties decreases were shown.
Tax experts of the Santa Fe and
Southern Pacific railroad companies
and the Bell telephone and West
ern Union Telegraph company were