546 MISC. PUBLICATION 218, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
method of obtaining full-value assessment. It is generally agreed, 
however, that such meetings must be in control of especially skilled 
and tactful assessors in order to avoid the accordance of undue weight 
to unintelligent or designing expressions of opinion (284). 
As has been stated above in this section, the assessor should prepare 
a map showing in outline every piece of real estate in his local district, 
together with its assessed value. This map should always be kept 
up to date and on display in his office, in order that any taxpayer may 
readily examine the map for the assessment of his own property and 
make an easy comparison with that of neighboring property with 
which he is familiar. Such publicity would instill confidence in the 
assessor and promote a spirit of helpful cooperation. 
ASSESSMENT ORGANIZATION AND PERSONNEL 
RESULTS UNDER PRESENT CONDITIONS 
The conditions under which present-day assessing officers are 
chosen and must work make it exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, 
to obtain good results. ‘The method of choosing assessors does not 
tend to procure the services of competent men; the compensation 
allowed and the time allotted for the work are usually inadequate; 
and the district to be covered by one man is often larger than can be 
examined in the allotted period. 
The rural assessing personnel as at present composed may be classi- 
fied somewhat as follows: (1) Men of good judgment and character 
who have been assessors for many years, take pride in their work, and 
develop a knack for getting at values, although without much sys- 
tem; (2) men of good or fair judgment, but without much experience 
in values, who are elected to the job of assessor because of the general 
respect in which they are held by their fellow citizens; (3) men of 
inferior judgment who obtain the job of assessor because no one else 
wants it or because they must have the work or become a charity 
charge on the township or county; (4) men who obtain the job of 
assessor because their employers, friends, or political allies wish them 
to do so for selfish reasons. 
Of these classes only the first is truly satisfactory. There are a 
number of these experienced and conscientious assessors, and it has 
been found that they do unusually good work insofar as substantial 
equality between taxpayers is concerned. Their assessment system 
takes account of the most important elements of value and avoids 
the stultifying flat-rate system in vogue among inexperienced and 
incompetent assessors. 
The second and third classes are those ordinarily found. The 
second class attempts to secure some degree of equality as between 
taxpayers but relies mainly on the preceding year’s assessment. With 
time and adequate compensation this class might do fairly good work, 
but the conditions of the office are against such a result. 
The third class relies almost exclusively on the preceding year’s 
assessment. Such changes as are made follow fires, timber cutting, 
new buildings, or new paint. 
The fourth class i is, fortunately, found but seldom. Where a com- 
pany or an individual has a strangle hold on the economic life of a 
given assessment district through the employment of many of the 
voters or otherwise, the assessor is sometimes the tool of this powerful 
