FOREST TAXATION IN THE UNITED STATES 637 
installments should be canceled, the property reappraised, and the 
death taxes levied upon a new base. In any case, if timber is being 
cut, the annual installment should be not less than the product of the 
tax rate times the value of the year’s cut. 
The use of a general severance tax on forest property, imposed in 
addition to whatever other taxes are borne by property generally, is 
not recommended. If it were not for the practical difficulties of 
administration, a special severance tax might be used for the purpose 
of exacting a proper contribution from “destructive operations, or 
from properties located in undeveloped regions. 
As regards the property tax and its modification, with which sub- 
ject this report is chiefly concerned, certain oeneral conclusions, 
mostly negative in character, may first be noted. (1) Assessments 
fixed by statute and specific taxes of so much per acre fixed by statute 
are not recommended. (2) Special methods of taxation imposed in 
accordance with a classification of properties based upon the inten- 
tions of their owners are not advised. (3) Special forest-tax laws 
should be of general application, without requirmg any unusual 
initiative on the part of forest owners. (4) Tax measures in favor of 
forestry should not be given the character of a contract between the 
State and the taxpayer for the sake of protecting a present law from 
amendment by a future legislature. (5) Special tax subsidies to 
forests are not recommended, either as compensation for regulatory 
requirements, which could better be provided by direct means, or as 
inducement to adopt particular measures of forest practice. 
It has been shown that it is chiefly the property tax which makes 
the taxation of forests a special problem, and analysis of the working 
of the property tax shows that its adverse effects are due in part to 
its faulty administration and in part to certain features inherent 
in its nature. The property tax has, throughout the history of the 
United States, been the chief source of State and local revenue, and 
in spite of its recognized defects it is likely to continue as an important 
source of revenue for most of the States and as the chief source of 
local revenue in practically all of the States. Whatever changes the 
property tax may undergo in the future, it is almost certain that real 
estate will continue to be subject to it. There is little foundation, 
therefore, for the hope that forest property may be removed entirely 
from the realm of the property tax. 
Foremost in the program of tax reform should therefore come 
measures for improving the operation of the property tax, to the end 
that all property be assessed at its full value as now required by law 
(or at such specific fraction of full value as is stated in the law). 
The most approved devices for arriving at sound assessment of taxable 
property should be introduced, such as maps, surveys, and sales 
data. Scientific methods of assessment, developed already in many 
cities and a few local jurisdictions, should be used in the assessment 
of rural property so far as they are applicable. Setting a minimum 
amount below which no person’s tax might fall would tend to prevent 
overassessment of the smaller properties. Cooperation with the tax- 
paying public and exercise of tact, judgment, and courage should be 
required of the assessing officials. 
The above-mentioned improvements in assessment practice can 
be expected only to a limited degree without thoroughgoing reform 
of assessment organization and personnel. It is recommended that 
