will be able to identify the forest types existing 

 in their county and can disregard the others in 

 their setting of base values. 



"For tax assessment purposes five stand-size 

 classes have been established . . . 



(1) Sawtimber . . . 



(2) Pole timber . . . 



(3) Seedlings and saplings . . . 



(4) Poorly stocked . . . 



(5) Plantations . . . 



"The County Valuation Committee through 

 its Advisory Board on Timber and Forest Land 

 will be faced with a problem different from that 

 it faced with forest land valuation when it 

 comes to setting base values on timber itself. 



"Timber, like oil or mineral ore, has value 

 only because of the products that can be made 

 from it after it has been removed from the 

 ground, transported to a manufacturing plant, 

 and made into finished or semi-finished prod- 

 ucts. The value of timber can be said to be a 

 residual value — that is, the value of the finished 

 product less the cost of harvesting, transporta- 

 tion, manufacture, and a sum for profit and 

 risk. This value is commonly called 'stumpage 

 value.' " 



"The most important factors that assessing 

 authorities have to consider in setting base tim- 

 ber values are : 



1. Volume per acre 



2. Size of trees 



3. Species in the stand 



4. Quality of the timber 



5. Logging conditions 



6. Roads 



7. Distance from market 



"It is suggested that the Advisory Board tab- 

 ulate the base values in the following manner : 



Table of base timber values for 



county 



Class 



Stand-size Class 



Forest type 



Quality 



Saw timber 

 (per 1,000 

 board feet) 



Pole 



timber 



(per cord) 



I Softwood 



A. Above 

 average 



B. Average 



C. Below 

 average 



I A 



I B 

 I C 





II Softwood- 

 hardwood 



A. Above 

 average 



B. Average 



C. Below 

 average 



II A 



II B 

 II C 





Class 



Stand-size 



Class 



Forest type 



Quality 



Saw timber 

 (per 1,000 

 board feet) 



Pole 



timber 



(per cord) 



III Upland 

 hardwood 



A. Above 

 average 



B. Average 



C. Below 

 average 



III A 



III B 

 III C 





IV Cove 



hardwood 



A. Above 

 average 



B. Average 



C. Below 

 average 



IV A 



IV B 

 IV C 





V Bottomland 

 hardwood 



A. Above 

 average 



B. Average 



C. Below 

 average 



V A 



V B 



V c 





Note: Since stands of seedlings and saplings and poorly 

 stock stands are to be valued at a base figure per acre, they 

 are not included in this table. 



"In setting an assessed valuation on stands 

 of timber, the discussion so far has been con- 

 fined to stands in what can be called "average" 

 locations, that is, locations representing the 

 normal logging conditions, distance from roads 

 and distance from markets in the particular 

 county. It is immediately obvious, however, that 

 few tracts of timber can be estimated solely on 

 the basis of "average" location, because when 

 the assessor is faced with a particular taxpay- 

 er's tract of timber, he must modify this aver- 

 age value that he first places on it to account for 

 its 'accessibility'. 



"By the term 'accessibility' is meant the loca- 

 tion of the timber with regard to distance from 

 market, logging conditions, and the kind of 

 roads available . . . 



"It is suggested that 'accessibility' be rated 

 'Good,' 'Average' and 'Poor,' and that percent- 

 age adjustments be established in substantially 

 the following manner : 



If accessibility rated : 



Good Allow up to 30% increase 



in base timber value. 



If accessibility rated : 

 Average _ Allow no adjustments 

 base value. 



to 



If accessibility rated : 



Poor Allow up to 30% deduction 



to base timber value." 



65 



