• 



Figure 2. — Percent of landowners and areas held, in different size classes of individual holdings. 



Since these data were gathered, the trend to large 

 ownerships has been increased, as a result of the 

 acquisition of forest reserves by pulp and paper 

 companies that have recently located along the 

 Atlantic coast. This move has also stimulated pur- 

 chase of forest lands by lumber, naval stores, and 

 other forest industries. 



Taxation 



Law enforcement, administrative supervision and 

 maintenance of public properties, tax assessments 

 and collections, and other important local govern- 

 mental functions are vested largely in county 

 authorities. This tendency for localization of gov- 

 erning authorities accounts for considerable vari- 

 ation in the tax rate on real estate throughout the 

 area. In Craig's study it was found that in the 

 coastal counties timbered land as well as cut-over 

 land was classified as "wild land" and that the 

 average county-wide assessed valuations ranged 

 from $0.75 to $2 per acre. Average taxes on this 

 wild land ranged from 2 to 6 cents per acre per year 

 in the various counties. In the more agricultural 

 counties of the uplands, timbered land was assessed 

 from S3. 75 to $6.75 per acre with taxes of 10 to 22 

 cents per acre; cut-over land was assessed from $2 

 to $3.50 with taxes of 6 to 9 cents per acre. The 



range of average assessed valuation of improved 

 farm land among these nine counties was from $2 

 to $8 per acre with taxes at 4 to 23 cents per acre 

 per year. On the whole, however, the taxes on 

 forest lands in south Georgia are low, compared 

 with those in other States. 



The amount of tax delinquency varies gready 

 among the counties. The Southern Region office 

 of the Forest Service estimates that in 1934 over 2 

 million acres, or about one-sixth of the total land 

 area of the 57 counties, was in tax default for 3 

 years or more. This period, 1932 to 1934, coin- 

 cided with the depression, and the situation dis- 

 closed must be interpreted accordingly. Twenty- 

 eight counties had less than 10 percent of their 

 area with taxes unpaid for 3 years or more, 15 

 counties were 10- to 24-percent delinquent, and 14 

 counties were 25 percent or more delinquent. The 

 more serious delinquency occurs in 2 groups of 

 counties — 1 along the northwest boundary in an 

 area of deep sand, sparse woods, and poor agri- 

 cultural land, and another farther south in the 

 naval stores area of the flatwoods. Although de- 

 linquency reduces seriously the local government 

 revenue, the land rarely reverts to the county or is 

 lost through forfeiture, since it is generally redeemed 

 at a later date. 



12 



