Jasper County Democrat, Volume 6, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 April 1903 — UNEQUAL ASSESSMENTS. [ARTICLE]

UNEQUAL ASSESSMENTS.

Jasper county not only pays a higher tax levy than any of her neighboring counties but it seems her assessment rate—of personal property, at least —is much higher than her neighbors, which would still advance the tax rate our people are paying from 10 to 25 per cent. The Democrat has taken pains to compare the schedule prepared by the assessors in this and other coupties in this section of the state, as the same have appeared in our exchanges, and we have found none averaging so high as Jasper. Commenting on this the Benton Review (Benton’s rate averages considerably lower than ours) says: “We have compared the list (Benton’s) with a similar one published in Jasper and Tippecanoe counties, and our people are rather favored as compared with Jasper and higher than Tippecanoe.” It will thus be seen that our people will also pay more tax for actual value of property -than either Benton or Tippecanoe. Of course, the law is that all personal property be assessed at its true cash a forced sale value—but this is never done

except with actual money. A bushel of com or oata, a {steer, horse, stock of merchandise or other personal propetty is worth no more in this county then in Benton, White, Tippecanoe or other counties, and admitting that the assessors of those counties are not coming as near to complying with the law relating to the assessment of personal property as our own, it is not right for oar people to pay more tax bjr reason of a higher assessment rate on the same identical property. Stocks of merchandise, as another example, are assessed at 60 per cent, of their value ii| Benton and 80 per cent in Jasper. There should be some way of equalizing the personal assessments all over the state. If the law was strictly adherred to and all property assessed at its true cash value, the assessments would be equal, but as we have shown herein, it is not, and thereby the people of our county must pay more taxes proportionately than do others on property of the same value.