WlNli'Tliiili I'll (I'll! Tin 



i W UST what is this 100 per cent 

 >> I property assessment law all 

 ■ about?" With a puzzled 

 ^1 frown the farmer directed his 

 vF question at an lAA tax man 

 he met at a county Farm Bu- 

 reau meeting. 



"The law itself is a bit involved, " 

 the lAA man replied, "but I will try 

 to answer your questions as simply as 

 {jossible. What is it you would like 

 to know about the 100 per cent assess- 

 ment law?" 



"Well, first of all, when does 

 it go into effect?" 



"It went into effect January 1, 1946. 

 It applied to the property assessments 

 and tax levies that were made in 1946. 

 As you know, taxes levied one year 

 are payable the next, so the tax bills 

 you receive this spring are the first 

 ones to be figured under the new legis- 

 lation." 



"Do the new laws make my 

 taxes a lot higher?" 



"The new 100 per cent assessment 

 laws do not increase or decrease taxes. 

 The amount of property taxes is de- 

 termined each year by locally elected 

 government officials such as school 

 boards, county boards of supervisors, 

 and road commissioners. The voters at 

 the annual township meeting also levy 

 taxes. The 100 per cent assessment 

 laws have not forced these officials or 

 citizens to levy either more nor less 

 taxes than before." 



"If the new law doesn't increase 

 my taxes, then why is my tax bill 

 so much higher than it was last 

 year?" 



"Well, costs of many local govern- 

 ment services have increased about like 

 prices of other things. It takes more 

 money to operate schools, to maintain 

 roads, and to keep county governments 

 going than it did before the war. Your 

 local officials probably had to make 



some increase in tax levies in order 

 to meet these higher costs. On the 

 other hand, some of your tax levying 

 bodies may have made larger tax levies 

 than was justified from the standpoint 

 of increased costs. In either case, it 

 was your local citizens and local offi- 

 cials who determined the amount of 

 your property tax." 



"Do you mean that the new 100 

 f>er cent laws haven't affected my 

 taxes at all?" 



"The new laws may have had some 

 influence on your taxes because they 

 changed the conditions and rules under 

 which your local officials operate. The 

 new laws do not cause these officials 

 to levy higher taxes, but in many cases 

 the new laws have permitted the offi- 

 cials to do so." 



"Under the new laws how much 

 more taxing power do these local 

 officials have?" 



"In general the taxing powers of the 

 local officials have increased 40 to 50 

 per cent. However, in school or other 

 taxing districts where the voters had 

 raised the maximum tax rate in an 

 election, the increase in taxing powers 

 usually is not more than five to ten 

 per cent." 



"But where does the 100 per 

 cent assessment come in?" 



"In a way it came in 20 years ago 

 when the legislature enacted a law 

 requiring all property to be assessed at 

 100 per cent of its actual sale value. 

 However, this law was never enforced. 

 The assessing officials in each county 

 fixed property assessments at any level 

 they chose. In some counties property 

 was listed for tax purposes at as little 

 as 15 or 20 per cent of its actual value. 

 In other countries property was as- 

 sessed as high as 60 to 75 per cent of 

 its real value. The new legislation 

 provides the machinery for bringing 

 assessments in each county up to an 

 average of 100 per cent of actual 

 value." 



"But our assessor says he hasn't 

 changed our prop>erty assessments. 

 He assesses property just the same 

 as before. Isn't he supposed to 

 use the full sale value in assessing 

 property?" 



"The local assessors and boards of 

 review operate just the same as they 

 did before the new legislation was 

 enacted. However, after they finish the 

 assessment the county clerk now raises 

 the property assessment to 100 per 

 cent before he computes individuals 

 tax bills." 



L A. A. RECORD 



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