DRAINAGE DISTRICT ASSESSMENTS. 59 
prevents the exercise of such judgment does not accord with the 
intent of the law. 
There are several ways in which this plan may be worked out, and 
the following brief discussion of one way is given. 
As the first step in the determination of the amount of benefit 
to be received by a tract receiving complete drainage from the pro- 
posed improvement, it will be necessary to determine the value of the 
land before and after drainage is obtained. It is equitable to take 
the market value of the undrained land as a starting point, while 
the value of the land when completely drained is comparable with 
the market value of lands in the vicinity artificially or naturally well 
drained. There are cases where the market value of undrained lands 
should not be used. For example, it is frequently found that where 
the cost of drainage is known the undrained land is held at a spec- 
ulative price equal to the value of the adjoining drained land less 
the cost of drainage, thus including in the price the benefits to be 
derived by drainage. In such cases the value of the undrained 
land may be determined as the value before the drainage movement 
was started, or it may be computed by capitalizing the annual earning 
power of the undrained lands. It should be borne in mind that fer- 
tile soils are of more value when undrained than poor soils, so as to 
give the owner credit for any advantage in this respect. The exact 
method to be followed must be determined by the facts and conditions 
in each case. 
In considering lands which are partially drained, either naturally 
or artificially, before the construction of the district improvement, 
if the market value of such lands is not known or is speculative, 
they may be first valued as though undrained and an addition to 
their value made in the amount of the capitalized annual profits 
due to their drainage facilities. 
The value of the reclaimed lands can usually be taken as equal to 
the market value of the adjacent highlands, not including buildings 
or other improvements and bearing in mind that reclaimed bottom 
or swamp lands are often more valuable than adjacent high land. 
In large districts it may be well to establish basic values for dif- 
ferent types of land to make sure that the assessors' ideas of value 
do not change as their work progresses. Such basic values should 
be changed in considering individual tracts in such manner as con- 
ditions warrant. 
The difference in the value of the land before and after complete 
drainage will generally comprise all benefits which the land will re- 
ceive, including those due to improved agricultural conditions, in- 
creased accessibility, and improved health conditions. 
When the difference in the value of the land before and after com- 
plete drainage has been fixed, reductions will become necessary as it 
usually is not possible to drain completely all land in the district. 
If the land be such that tile drains at regular intervals are necessary 
to give the tract complete drainage, and such tile drainage systems 
are not to be installed by the district, a reduction must be made in 
the benefits. This reduction should be equal to the benefit which will 
result from such additional drains. While the reduction is ordinarily 
based upon the cost of the additional work, it must include a sum 
sufficient to make the total equal to the benefits to be derived from 
