FOREST TAXATION IN THE UNITED STATES 193 
the specific project exceed one-half the true value of all the land after 
improvement in the district.” This limitation may be exceeded only 
in extreme cases and by unanimous vote of the landowners. 
The 1931 Legislature of Michigan also passed an amendment to 
its Bond Act, providing that in any 1 year cities could not sell special 
assessment bonds, the par value of which was more than 1 percent of 
the assessed valuation (sec. 2691), that the total special-assessment 
debt could not exceed 5 percent of the assessed valuation, and that 
no bonds could be sold if the tax delinquency exceeded 25 percent 
(sec. 2698). 
Much of the delinquency in any city, but particularly in those which 
have suffered from the collapse of a boom, will be found to be in sub- 
divisions which are unduly burdened with special assessments. Indeed, 
the chief cause of delinquency in the case of city property is perhaps 
the lack of rigid control of subdivisions and definite limitations to the 
amount of special assessments that may be imposed. 
The special assessments that involve forest land and become a 
factor in forest taxation are mainly those imposed to defray the cost 
of drainage projects. In the Lake States, and to some extent in the 
South, ambitious drainage projects have been undertaken in cut-over 
areas to encourage agricultural development. Had the expected 
development taken place the land might have been able to carry the 
burden of these assessments, but the hoped for development has not 
come. The cost of the drainage projects, together with the over- 
assessment which they have tended to encourage, has contributed to 
the delinquency of cut-over land. 
EFFECTS OF DELINQUENCY 
The discussion of delinquency up to this point has necessarily 
suggested some of the effects. For instance, one of the effects of 
delinquency is more delinquency. This is true both of short-term 
and long-term delinquency. If one taxpayer is permitted to pay his 
taxes late, others demand the same privilege. If the volume of taxes 
paid late is considerable, the Government must borrow money to meet 
its current obligations, and the interest cost, unless added to the tax 
bill of the delinquents, necessitates a heavier levy on those who pay 
on time. Chronic delinquency also destroys such pride as might be 
derived from a clean record and breaks down the morale of the tax- 
payers generally. On the whole, leniency in tax collecting is no 
kindness to the taxpayers but only aggravates the difficulties of 
final collection. 
Even if the bulk of the levy is eventually paid, with sufficient 
interest and penalties added to take care of the added cost of collection 
and interest on borrowed money, the delay and uncertainty is an 
embarrassment to the Government in formulating and executing its 
program. In fact it puts the Government at the mercy of the money 
lenders. A writer from Florida” said in 1928: 
Many cities in the United States could not function if there were not investors 
in tax liens who would invest at the tax sales. I know of several cities which 
could not have opened their schools this fall if the tax liens had not been sold 
’ during the summer. 
California, General Laws, 1931, Act 8490. 
#8 Michigan, Public Acts of 1931, no. 142. 
7”? From the following: FULTON, F. D., TAX DELINQUENCY. Prepared for use in the State of Florida, un- 
published memorandum. 
101285°—35 13 
