NEED OF A STATE TAX COMMISSION IN COLORADO 



87 



Bureau of the United States. By comparing this estimated value 

 with the value as determined by the local assessors, the amount 

 and percentage of undervaluation in different counties becomes 

 at once apparent. It is clear that there is little uniformity in the 

 work of local assessing officers. This is revealed by the following 

 table: 



TRUE AND ASSESSED VALUES OF CERTAIN COUNTIES IN COLORADO, 1904* 



Estimated True Value of 

 Real Property and Im- 

 provements Taxed t 



Assessed Value of Real 

 Property and Im- 

 provements Taxed t 



Percentage Assessed of 

 True Valuation 



State 



Arapahoe . . . 

 Archuleta . . . 

 Boulder. . . . 



Denver 



El Paso . . . . 

 Fremont. . . 

 Jefferson. . . 

 Larimer. . . . 

 Las Animas . 



Pueblo 



TeUer 



Weld 



6,179,510 

 1,748,024 

 23,144,732 

 169,100,150 

 40,934,525 

 13,887,431 

 11,985,169 



14,653,005 

 12,534,710 

 35,869,676 

 25,993,120 

 25,095,752 



$214,519,074 



3,089,755 



379,181 



7,937,180 



84,550,075 



16,373,810 



3,644,995 



3,654,015 



4,884,335 



6,267,355 



17,934,838 



6,483,280 



7,721,770 



40.4 



50.0 

 21 . 1 

 34-2 

 50.0 

 40.0 

 26.2 

 30.4 

 33-3 

 50.0 

 50.0 

 24.9 

 30.7 



* Census, 1900, " Wealth, Debt and Taxation," p. 90. 



t Exclusive of railroads, street railroads, telegraph and telephone, privately owned waterworks and 

 privately owned electric light and power stations. » 



According to the above table, real estate is assessed at from 21 

 per cent to 50 per cent of its true value. This lack of uniformity 

 on the part of the local assessors is unjust to the residents of those 

 counties in which property is valued more highly. For example, 

 owners of real property and improvements having a true cash value 

 of $5,000 in Denver County in 1904 paid twice as much state tax 

 as the owners of the same amount of the same kind of property in 

 Teller County, and nearly 2^ times as much as those in Archuleta 

 County. 



Great variations in the valuation of livestock are easily discovered. 

 There is apparently no agreement among the local assessors as to 

 the average value to be placed on domestic animals. Each assessor 

 fixes this for himself. In the State Auditor's report may be found 



