540 MISC. PUBLICATION 218, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
relate to forest properties, are the result of imperfect administration. 
The obvious first step in seeking a solution of the problem is to investi- 
gate the possibilities of reform in the operation of the property tax. 
To what extent would the special problem of forest taxation dis- 
appear if the property tax were perfectly administered? What 
approximation to perfect administration is it reasonable to hope for? 
And what are the practicable measures which would bring the 
administration of the property tax as near as possible to the ideal? 
It is the purpose of the present section to seek an answer to these 
questions. 
THE PERFECT ASSESSMENT 
Assessment is the heart of the property tax system, and faulty 
assessment is in part responsible for the problem of forest taxation. 
Assessment is simply the appraisal or finding of value for purposes 
of taxation. The property tax system provides that, when assess- 
ment has been completed, the amount of revenue required be levied 
by means of a tax rate which will produce the required amount. 
The assessment, according to the spirit of the property tax, thus 
determines the share of the tax burden to be borne by each property 
owner. 
The Jaws of 42 States require assessment to be at full value, and the 
laws of the other 6 States require the assessor to find the full value of 
each property in order that he may apply the legal percentage to this 
value to obtain the assessed value. Therefore the improved operation 
of the property tax would require that the assessor determine the full 
value of property and then assess as he is required to by law. Any 
solution of the problem of forest taxation which involves the property 
tax or any modification of it requires the determination of the full, 
true value. The value of anything is the amount of money which 
would be given in exchange for it. The language of the statutes and 
numerous court decisions establish the fact that the legal definition 
of value is not different from this economic definition of value. 
That as a general rule the assessors fail conspicuously to carry 
out the legal requirement of true value assessment was demonstrated 
in an earlier part of this report (pt. 4). That, on the other hand, the 
task is not entirely an impossible one is shown by the experience of a 
number of American cities. In New York, Cleveland, and Duluth, 
to mention only three examples, there has been developed a scientific 
method of assessment. Very complete records are kept, covering 
each parcel of property, and a staff of full-time experts is employed 
in the assessors’ department. The methods of scientific city assess- 
ment are not entirely applicable to the assessment of rural real estate, 
with which forest taxation is concerned. The assessment of rural 
property is probably at its best in the agricultural counties of Wis- 
consin and in New Hampshire, although even here it is far from 
perfect. Local assessors in Wisconsin are subject to intensive super- 
vision by the State tax commission through its district representatives. 
In New Hampshire, State-employed assessors make a careful assess- 
ment of each property in several towns each year. Rural properties 
are thus reassessed periodically. Although the assessed values estab- 
lished annually by the locally elected assessors often depart greatly 
from the values found by the State experts in their reassessments, the 
periodic return to full-value assessment aids in maintaining a com- 
paratively high standard. 
