Year: 1873

payer to consolidate rather than il


crease the number OF offices. TIL


necessary legislation should be pre-
! cured that would require the nun
! ber Of positions of a similar class t


be consolidated into one, especially i


counties where there are city frar
chises, so that in such counties ther


would need to be but one Assessor


one Collector, one Treasurer for couu


ty, city and perhaps school distric


purposes.
The Board was very considerabl,


delayed in. the work Of equalization
in the first instance by the inaccura


cies and incompleteness of the create


number of the assessment rolls, tht


correction of which occupied goo(


deal Of time aud attention, and in thu


second place the session was pro


longed by the failure on the part o
some of the counties in the transmits
sion OF their assessment rolls, severa


of which were not received unit


late in the month of October.


Additional rules have been formu-
lated for Assessors which it is hoped
may render their duties more intelli.
gible and secure greater efficiency OF
service,


Some of the County Boards of
Equalization have misinterpEeted the
law under which they act, and while
they were in session for the full peri
cd Of the term, they sat to hear and
answer complaints only, and did not
Examine and correct the assessment
rolls of their respective countless" or
"reduce the valuation of property as
sessed," where such action was neces-
sary as the law provides. Attention
has been called to this omission in the
performance of their duties with the
hope that hereafter greater efficiency
will be manifested on their part, for
without it the labors of the State
Board are largely increased and to
some extent rendered nugatory.


The revenue system OF the State is
very defective Its thorough amend
ment is OF the first Importance. The
necessity of the case is SO imperious
as to demand complete revision of
these laws as soon as possible. They
were enacted from time to time with.
out reference to the present system of
equalization, and the State and coun-
ty' Boards of Equalization seem to
have been created without regard to
the revenue laws, and consequently
difficulties are constantly arising to
retard and embarrass the action of
these organizations in the exercise of
their functions.


The powers of the State Board
should be enlarged or made more
definite. The number of its members
should be increased to at least five
one from each judicial district
which would have tendency to place
the Board in possession of increased
local knowledge for the moro salts
factory performance of its duties,
more certainly insure a quorum at all
times during its session, and in the
wider division of its labors secure a
much greater efficiency.


1t was undoubtedly the intention
of the Legislature, in making it the
duty of the Assessor to deduct from
the taxable property of the taxpayer
his Indebtedness within the State that
the indebtedness so deducted, in the
form of obligations to pay in the pos
session of the creditor, should be sub
ject to taxation as the property OF the
creditor. Ii otherwise, the law is IN
vidious and unjust, and should be re-
pealed, as many of our merchants,
having liabilities due elsewhere, are
precluded from the benefit of the law.
The Board have therefore directed
Assessors hereafter in all cases not to
deduct Indebtedness unless the names
OF the creditors are given. 1t was
compelled to this course as a
matter of right to the State and
to the taxpayer, as well as justice
TO those who are excluded from TAX
ing advantage of the law, and more
particularly because OF the enormous
amount of indebtedness appearing as
an offset to assessments. The aggre-
gate indebtedness throughout the
State, which taxpayers have the bene-
fit of amounts to S13,02I .145, while
the column of "money, notes and &C.
counts" where said indebtedness
should appear, aggregates only 49,.
030,672, which is too sufficiently sig
niicant of itself to need further com
ment.


The assessable property of the
State for the present year was re-
turned at S57,6S2,691, Deducting in
debtedness and exemption amounting
TO $16,9S2,532, the total taxable prop
erty amounted to $40,700,l59 The
result of equalization increases this
sum to S45,6SS,924 94.


With the exception of Multnomah
county, the assessments in the outside
or border counties were nearer a cash
valuation than in the counties situated
in the Willamette valley, which in
clude the more desirable and valuable
lands, because of cultivation and con-
venleDt means of transportation of
products to markets Of exchange
The assessments of agricultural lands
generally, with the exception Of five
counties, were so palpably below the
actual cash valuations as to make an
equalization, by an additional per
centage on the gross assessment,
matter Of the sheerest justice. So i'm
perfect and unfair have been some Of
the assessments, that lands for which
500 per acre have been offered and de-
clined, have been assessed at IS per
acre; and in no county in the Will
lamette valley, excepting Multnomah
county, have the agricultural lands
been assessed at any figure approx
mating cash valuation. Also sever.
al pieces Of personal property have