118 RBPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE 



to the standard fixed by law and to the satisfaction of the State forester, the 

 land may continue separately classified and subject to the special tax indefinitely 

 until the timber reaches the age of 70 years. 



When the timber reaches the age of 70 years there shall be an assessment 

 of the value of both land and trees, which assessment shall be repeated every 10 

 years (or oftener), and upon this assessment an annual tax shall be imposed at 

 the rate of the general property tax in the locality, but not to exceed 10 mills, 

 which tax shall continue until the trees are cut. When the trees are cut the 

 yield tax of 10 per cent shall be assessed. From the amount of the yield tax 

 shall be deducted the amount of the previous payments of the annual tax upon 

 land and trees since the trees reached the age of 70 years. If the amount of 

 such previous payments equals or exceeds the yield tax upon the timber cut, no 

 such yield tax shall be due. If after cutting provision is then made f9r planting 

 or otherwise satisfactorily reproducing the forest, the lands may remain under 

 special classification and taxation, as previously provided for "new forests." 



If the owner desires to clear off the timber before it has reached a profitable 

 age for cutting, he shall be at liberty to do so upon paying a tax determined as 

 follows : The value of the timber shall be assessed and a tax computed amount- 

 ing to 1 per cent of said value multiplied by the number of years since the forest 

 was classified and made subject to the special tax. To this shall be added an 

 amount equal to the total taxes paid upon the land alone during the period since 

 the land was separately classified, and this sum shall be the amount due from the 

 owner. The property shall then become subject to the ordinary property tax. 

 The same procedure shall be followed in any case where the owner fails to main- 

 tain the forest according to the standard set by the law as determined by the 

 State forester. 



3. Administration. Under this system the collection of all taxes on land and 

 trees except the yield tax would naturally be in the hands of local officers and 

 the revenue would go into the local treasury without further concern on the part 

 of the State. The yield tax, on the other hand, and the tax collected as a penalty 

 for removal of the land from classification or abandonment of the forest should 

 be administered so far as possible by State officers, presumably by the State 

 forester and the State tax commissioner in cooperation. The proceeds of the 

 yield tax and the penalty tax go into the State treasury, either to remain there 

 or if thought best to be distributed back to the towns and counties where the 

 timberlands are located. This distribution might be made according to any one 

 of four or five possible plans. (See Proceedings of the Sixth Conference of 

 the National Tax Association, pp. 385-389.) Your committee recommends, as 

 probably best suited to the conditions of most States, that the distribution be 

 based upon the areas of forest lands separately classified for taxation in the several 

 local jurisdictions respectively. 



In all cases the owner should be required to furnish a sworn statement 

 annually of the amount and value of forest products cut during the year It 

 might also be well to require advance notice of all cuttings. Large owners 

 lumbermen, loggers, saw-mill owners, and so forth, should be required to keep 



