Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 January 1918 — Governor Flays Indiana Tax Laws; Worst In Union, He Says [ARTICLE]

Governor Flays Indiana Tax Laws; Worst In Union, He Says

Indianapolis, Jan. 14.—Indiana has the worst tax laws and the worst administration of its worst tax laws of any state in the union, according to Governor Goodrich, who made an address at the annual conference of the state tai board and county asfrom over the state which was held here. He said: “Governor Ralston appointed, a committee to investigate conditions, and it was found, for example, that the property of one county of southern Indiana had been assessed 80 per cent of its value, while the property in Lake county had'been assessed at 30 per cent of its value. This meant that one county was paying four times more in proportion for the support of the state than Lake county was paying. That was the situation that the commission appointed by Governor Goodrich found. The commission found as many different systems of assessing as there were assessors. This commission’s report contained several recommendations to’ the legislature which the legislature forgot all about. “There is nothing more certain than that there has been a vast increase in the value of property invested in corporate wealth, and yet the value of corporate wealth for taxation has been increased less than any other form of property. This is natural because it is out of the assessor’s line of experience to be able to fix a value on large property interests.” •

The Governor cited an example where the assessor of an Indiana town had appraised the property of an industry for taxation at $75,000, and investigation had shown that the property was valued at $1,500,000. “Now, while the owners of this industry,” he continued, “were paying taxes on less than one-tenth of their property, the men working in that "factory were paying on from 60 to 80 per cent of tax value of their property. The result of the present system is a gross injustice to the public in all parts of hte state.” The Governor made it clear that he has not given up his fight for an excise law, under which corporations would be required to pay a special tax for the privilege of doing business in the state. He said there was need for such a law, and that corporations that enjoy protection and rights under the state law should be required to pay for them.