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Page Eight 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



Champaign County 



Wins Tax Victory 



State Commission Orders Reassessment 



of Real Property In Champaign, 



Urbana and Rantoul 



AN ORDER to reassess real property 

 in the cities of Champaign, Ran- 

 toul, and Urbana in Champaign tounty, 

 was issued recently by the Illinois 

 Tax Commission. 



The order sets forth that the local 

 assessment officers shall proceed at 

 once to reassess all real property with- 

 in the township of the city of Cham- 

 paign, the township of Champaign, the 

 township of Rantoul, and the township 

 of Urbana for the year 1927. " Such 

 reassessments are to be substituted for 

 the original assessment of real prop- 

 erty for 1927 within these districts. 



This order by the Commission comes 

 following a presentation of inequalities 

 between farm lands and real estate 

 valuations by the Champaign County 

 Farm Bureau and the Illinois Agricul- 

 tural Association some time ago. The 

 Commission's statement reveals that 

 real property in the city of Rantoul 

 was assessed at 35 per cent of its fair 

 cash value, in the city of Champaign 

 at 26 per cent of its fair cash value, 

 in the city of Rantoul at 27 per cent, 

 and in the city of Urbana at 30 per 

 cent of its fair cash value. 



Denies Claim* 



The Commission's order denies the 

 claims made by a group of seven Cham- 

 paign county attorneys who appeared 

 in behalf of the taxing districts to de- 

 feat tax equalization. According to 

 John C. Watson, tax expert for the 

 Illinois Agricultural Association, the 

 average percentage of increase in valu- 

 ations should be about 34.6 per cent in 

 the city of Champaign, about 25 per 

 cent in suburban property in Cham- 

 paign township, about 30 per cent in 

 the city of Rantoul, and about 16% per 

 cent in the city of Urbana. When these 

 changes are made Mr. Watson esti- 

 mates that both land and city property 

 will be assessed on approximately the 

 same percentage of their fair cash 

 values. 



Inequality Shown 



The Champaign County Farm Bu- 

 reau, with the help of Mr. Watson, un- 

 covered facts revealed in the tax books 

 of the county showing that gross in- 

 equalities existed. The figures so ob- 

 tained were never successfully at- 

 tacked, and in two hearings the State 

 Tax Commission upheld this method of 

 arriving at the truth regarding as- 

 sessed valuations. 



In its order to the Treasurer of 

 Champaign county the Tax Commis- 

 sion statement said: "Therefore the 

 real property in said townships in said 

 Champaign county has not been as- 

 sessed in substantial compliance with 

 the law for the year 1927, and has 

 been unequally and improperly as- 

 sessed. 



Mutt tv^ est 



"It is therefore ordered by this 

 Commission that the assessments of 

 real property as returned by the as- 

 sessor or assessors within said town- 

 ships, and as equalized by the Cham- 

 paign County Board of Review for the 

 year 1927, be set aside and held for 

 naught, and that the local assessment 

 officers of said Champaign county and 

 of said taxing district do proceed 

 forthwith to reassess all the real prop- 

 erty within said districts and cause 

 such reassessment to be substituted for 

 the original 'assessment of real prop- 

 erty for 1927." 



The effect of the order will be to re- 

 duce farm taxes and cause a more 

 equal distribution of the tax burden 

 between farm and city property in 

 Champaign county to the advantage of 

 farm lands. 



. I. A. A. in 1927 



(Continued from page 3) 

 bers, started operations on April 1. 

 By . November 1 more than 6,000 

 policies in force and our Financial 

 Statement listed assets of $120,000 

 and after setting up reserves for all 

 liability including losses and claims 

 unpaid, the net worth of the company 

 exceeded $70,000. 



10. During 1927 the news of the 

 I. A. A. activities appeared in the press 

 of practically every State in the Union 

 as shown by more than 15,000 news- 

 paper clippings returned by a Clipping 

 Bureau. Inquiries asking for informa- 

 tion came from as far East as Jeru- 

 salem, in Palestine, and as far West as 

 New Zealand. In addition, our organ- 

 ization is kept before the public 

 through our official papers, the ILLI- 

 NOIS Agricultural Association Rec- 

 ord, and the Bureau Farmer, and 

 through a daily 15 minute radio pro- 

 gram broadcast direct from our own 

 office studio through the courtesy of 

 Station WJJD. \ 



11. We are especially proud to re- 

 port that the per cent of membership 

 dues paid up to December 1 was the 

 highest in the history of our Associa- 

 tion and last but by no means the least, 

 we are closing the year with an in- 

 creased membership of approximately 

 4,000. 



THE PLOWBOY QUARTET 



Frank G. Oexner 



22nd District Holds 



Meeting at Edwardsville 



(JT^HE object of these district meet- 

 A ings is to give the members an 

 opportunity to voice their wishes and 

 opinions regarding 

 past and future 

 policies of the 

 Illinois Agricul- 

 tural Association," 

 declared Frank 

 G. Oexner, I. A. 

 A. Committeeman 

 from the 22nd dis- 

 trict who opened 

 the recent district 

 meeting on Dec. 

 2 at Edwardsville. 

 Wm. V e i t h, 

 president, and E. 

 H. Isenberg, sec- 

 retary of the Madison County Farm 

 Bureau, acted as chairman and secre- 

 tary respectively of the conference. 

 About 75 turned out for the meet- 

 ing from the counties of Bond, St. 

 Clair, Monroe, Washington, and Madi- 

 son. Following a discussion reg^ard- 

 ing the advisability of organizing a 

 milk producers' association in the St. 

 Louis territory. Farm Adviser Foard 

 of Bond county described the lime- 

 stone project which won him third 

 place in the county adviser's contest 

 fostered by the American Farm Bu- 

 reau Federation. The campaigrn re- 

 sulted in bringfing 400 carloads of 

 limestone into the county. 



President Earl C. Smith discussed 

 national legislation and held an open 

 forum on the surplus control bill in 

 the afternoon. To perpetuate the dis- 

 trict meeting plan, Stanley Castle, 

 former I. A. A. committeeman, moved 

 that the meetings be continued. The 

 motion was seconded and carried. 



Freeport Officials I. 



Seek To I^alt Order 



Tax Commission Says Inconvenience and 

 Lack of Time No Argument 



THE city attorney of Freeport ap- 

 peared before the Illinois Tax Com- 

 mission, Tuesday, Dec. 13, to appeal 

 for a deferred hearing regarding the 

 order of reassessment recently issued 

 by the Commission in the city of Free- 

 port in Stephenson county. 



The Commission granted the request 

 and the hearing was set for Wednes- 

 day afternoon, Dec. 21. 



"Make it plain to your officials," 

 said Chairman Wm. H. Malone, "that 

 the plea of inexpediency, inconvenience 

 or lack of time in making the neces- 

 sary adjustment to comply with the 

 law will not be accepted. The law sets 

 forth clearly that all real property 

 shall be assessed on the same basis, and 

 if this law means' anything it is our 

 duty to enforce it." 



The recent order of the Commission 

 called for a reassessment of property 

 in Freeport where valuations for tax 

 purposes were much lower than in 

 other taxing districts of the county. 



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