190 MISC. PUBLICATION 218, U. 8. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
this discrimination—the fact that much of the cut-over land is held 
by absentee owners, who find it inconvenient and costly to appear in 
protest, the fact that all cut-over land is overassessed and hence that 
there is no willful discrimination as between individuals, and the fact 
that the governing bodies are reluctant to reduce the assessment on cut- 
over land because it occupies such a large place in the tax base. They 
recognize that even a moderate reduction in the assessment of cut- 
over land would involve an appreciable increase in tax rate and hence 
an increased burden on the few scattered and not too prosperous 
farms. They are frankly trying to protect and preserve such settle- 
ment as exists. If these settlements, however, have no sound eco- 
nomic basis, this policy can hardly do more than postpone their collapse 
If the overassessed cut-over land is allowed to go delinquent, as is the 
case in increasing volume, it yields no tax at all, and carrying it on 
the assessment roll at a high valuation accomplishes nothing except 
to conceal the true financial weakness of the political unit. If ex- 
penditures are gaged to the levy, much of which will never be collected, 
the practice makes eventual bankruptcy all the more certain. The 
failure to adjust assessments to true values thus tends to conceal the 
true tax-paying ability of a politica! unit and stimulates overspread- 
ing at a time when retrenchment is needed. If all property were 
assessed as nearly as possible at actual value, no matter how high 
the tax rate might soar as a result, the true situation would be 
revealed. Then relief might be afforded through fundamental 
adjustments, such as political reorganization or a redistribution of 
governmental functions, and justice might be done to all. 
In times of depression, many owners of vacant lots, cut-over land, 
and other nonincome-producing land do not have income from other 
sources sufficient to pay the taxes, and they are obliged to let their 
land go delinquent. Of course they would prefer to sell at a sacrifice 
rather than to lose their whole equity, but the market for such prop- 
erty is exceedingly dull in such times. However, it is probable that 
there is very little land that would not find a purchaser at some price 
if the purchaser could be assured that the land would not be assessed 
at more than he paid for it, or assessed at any time in the future at 
more than it could be resold for; but he has no such assurance. Thus 
overassessment or the prospect of overassessment is a basic cause 
of delinquency. 
DECLINING VALUES 
Declining values are an indirect cause of delinquency, since they 
frequently lead to overassessment. ‘This is especially true if prop- 
erty is not revalued annually. In a time of falling prices, it is clear 
that undiminished need of revenue, reluctance to raise the tax rate, 
and hope that the decline in values may be only temporary, are strong 
influences operating against reduced assessments. The owner, on the 
other hand, may accept an insufficient reduction in assessment 
because he does not want to put too low an estimate on the value of 
property which he still has hope of selling. The continued over- 
assessment, combined with the unfavorable economic outlook for 
that particular class of property, is a strong inducement to delinquency. 
This explanation holds pretty largely for the increased delinquency 
in the cut-over areas of the Lake States in recent years. After the 
timber was cut from this land, it was either held by the lumber 
