FOREST TAXATION IN THE UNITED STATES 143 
of assessment.*® However, it is impossible to make any generaliza- 
tion as to intentional unfairness and discrimination. Assessors as a 
class are doubtless as honest and public spirited as any other group 
of citizens. But the conditions under which they work, which were 
described in detail in the earlier part of this section, appear to place 
a premium on intentional disregard of the law and to impose serious 
difficulties in the way of the assessor who wishes to fulfill the obliga- 
tions of his office. 
A cause of inequality in assessment that is probably even more 
important than intentional disregard of the law is lack of expert 
judgment. The idea of having all property assessed by local residents 
arose in the day when there was little property to assess except farms 
and modest dwellings, the values of which were widely known. The 
demand upon expert judgment was small. The chances of obtaining 
expert judgment in the assessor’s office by the process of electing a 
local resident are not great. In some country districts the taxable 
wealth still consists of farm properties sufficiently alike to make the 
resident assessor with general farming and business experience fairly 
capable of handling the valuation problem. In some cases State tax 
commissions assess special types of property, such as mines or public 
utilities, and employ trained men for that purpose. In exceptional 
cases qualified appraisers are employed to assess all classes of property 
in a city or district. It is generally true however that the very 
important function of assessment is performed without benefit of 
expert judgment. 
Even with intention to carry out the law plus expert judgment, 
it is impossible for an assessor to do his work properly if he has not 
at his command adequate information. Such information includes 
tax maps, detailed data as to the character of properties in the 
district, records of real estate sales extendirs over recent years, and 
other statistical aids. As the assessor’s office is usually conducted, 
it is impossible to build up the proper records so that information of 
this type will be available. Such records cannot be kept where the 
work of assessing is done by part-time employees working for only a 
few months each year without clerical assistance or adequate office 
facilities. Sufficient valuation data are available only in those few 
assessment offices where the assessment district is large enough so 
that full-time employees can be used and proper records kept and filed 
under competent direction. Systematic compilation of valuation 
data in form available for use in assessment is quite exceptional, 
especially in rural districts. 
Inequalities in assessment, originally established as a result of 
inexpert, ill-informed, or intentionally discriminatory assessment, 
are often increased by the tendency to continue the same assess- 
ments by the copying process regardless of changes in actual value. 
It has been found that (17, p. a there is at least considerable lag 
between changes in value of a particular class of property and corre- 
sponding changes in assessment. Obviously, shifting of values 
between localities or classes, without change in an originally erro- 
neous assessment, will be likely to exaggerate the existing inequalities. 
Statistical studies have brought out the fact that the tendency to 
overvalue property of low price in comparison with property of 
38 See the following citations: (18, p. 587; 18, pp. 29-85; 42, p. 110; 49, p. 75; 68, Rept. 12, pp. 63-54; 69, p. 111). 
