I02 UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO STUDIES 



The power of a state tax commission to classify property for 

 taxing purposes does not mean the power to impose different taxes 

 on different classes of property as discussed above. 



While a state commission should not have the power to change 

 the rate, it may perform a very useful service by bringing about 

 more nearly uniform valuations of certain classes of property by 

 the assessing ofl&cers. This can be done by dividing property into 

 certain classes, and requiring the return of such classified property 

 with the amount of value placed on each unit of each class. For 

 instance, real estate should be classified by a central authority for 

 purposes of assessment. The committee on uniform classification 

 of real estate recommended the following classification to the Inter- 

 national Tax Association : 



1. Cultivated land. Includes meadows. 



2. Arable land. That not under cultivation, but capable of being plowed. 



3. Orchard land. All land covered by fruit trees. 



4. Timber land. 



5. Mineral land. That containing coal, iron or other minerals in paying 

 quantities. 



6. Quarry land. Containing stone. 



7. Oil and gas land. 



8. Waste land. All not included in above classification. 



This classification has the merit of increasing the attention the 

 assessor must devote to real estate, and it seems probable that the 

 valuations placed on land thus separated into classes will be more 

 accurate than those made by assessors not required to classify real 

 estate. Hence the state tax commissions by prescribing the classes 

 of real estate and compelling the assessors' returns to show the val- 

 uation of property in each class will greatly increase the uniformity 

 and accuracy of assessment. 



In the assessment of certain kinds of personalty, it is possible to 

 make use of a classification. Livestock may be classified to a con- 

 siderable extent. Horses may be classified as to age, under one 

 year, one year and under two, and two years and over. Similar 

 classification may be used in assessing other domestic animals, and 

 the result would seem to be a far greater approach to accuracy than 



