The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1932-12-08
State Tax Study By u.
Professor Covers Big Field
Irregularity of Assessments Is The
Chief Fault; Major Changes
Urged


comings of the present Minnesota
tax system, which author calls
antiquated, are listed by Professor
Roy G. Blakey of the University of
Minnesota in study of the Mime
sofa in a study of the Minnesota
tax system, recently completed by
him, which is to be published inn
mediately by the University of
Minnesota Press. The study was
financed by the university's grad
uate school with part of the money
received by it two years ago from
the Rockefeller Foundation to
foster research. DR.. Blakeys book
is entirely non-political and strikes
out impartially at weakness in the
states present sytem of taxation.
Practically all of the money spent
on the book went to the costs of
field Investigations and clerical
work. The study of forest areas
and their problems was made by the
Federal Lakes States Forest Ex-
pertinent Station. In an introduc-
ton credit is given to many uni
versity people who helped produce
the manuscript.
DR.. Blakey favors an income tax,
a revised and more reasonable sy-
stem of taxing low grade iron ore,
and some amendment Of the Min;
nesota auxiliary forest act, said
now to be wholly imperative, ,to
make it practicable. He finds
marked irregularily in the assess
ment and taxation of both agricul7
tural and urban real estate, which
he attributes to the fact that most
assessors working in Minneota are
poorly qualified to do their work
and do not have proper public sup
port. Irregularity of assessment ex-
lists, he declares both within a CIV
en- agricultural area or urban conn
munity and as between different
agricultural regions and, different
cities and villages. Present funds
make it impossible for the tax
commission to supervise effectively
$500 part-time assessors "A
When income from the land ia
self is taken into. consideration, al
apart from the total income of thS
owner, agricultural lands producS
an income that is seriously deplets
ed, first by taxes, but more especs
tally by mortgage interest in the
case of lands that are subject to d
mortgage. In the case of rented
agricultural lands, taxes took 45.S
per cent of the actual income from
the land in 1930-'31. In the case of
owner-operated agricultural lands,
taxes took 34.5 percent of the own
er's income from the land alone, or
10.4 percent of his entire income
from land, labor and equipment
This was in the case of lands not
subject to a mortgage.
The author found that 60 per,
cent of their appraised value. Taxi
es took in that year, 1930-'31, ia
percent of the entire net income of
the owners of mortgaged land
operated by it's owners, while an
additional 10 percent was required
to pay interest on the mortgage.
Throughout the study it was found
that the mortgage interest lands
amounted roughly to twice the TAX
payments on the same lands. II
Among the sensational findingso of
the study was the fact that in the
case of a mortgaged farm that was
rented interest alone required
about 80 percent of the income of
the land alone, before payment of
taxes. r..
OF the assessment of agricultural
lands Professor Blakey states the
following conclusions: !
There is marked irregularity in
assessing, and this applies to all
angles of assessment, within dis
trict and between districts that are
compared. - Il
Almost universally, the more VAL
liable farms are under-assessed,
actually and by companion with
the lessvaluable farms. The value of
buildings and improvements seems
to influence assessments less than
the value of land. I.
{: Land owned by non-reidents of a
county are over-assessed by COM
parison with lands owned by a resi-
dent of the county. in which thew
lie. ..-.. :,
Most assessors are not well quail
fled to do their job, although they