The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, November 20, 1930, Page 2

- Reker Sees Tax Reli Phebe. x: THE BISMARCK TRIBUNE, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1930 ARWERISHELD KEY | TO OPENING UP OF | STATES RESIURGES When Industry Once Develops It Will Share Burden With Farmer, Says Report TAXING CHANGES ARE URGED Commissioner Favors County Assessing Basis, Dropping Small Treasurerships Improvement of the Missouri river as a navigable waterway would aid in the industrial development of North Dakota: and result in the utilization | of the state’s natural sesources, ac- cording to the tenth biennial report filed with Governor George F. Shafer by Iver A. Acker, state tax commis- sioner. Mr. Acker called attention to the depressed condition of agriculture, which he held responsible for the heavy tax burden. “If the income of the people of this state were increased,” the report said, “taxes would not cause the hardship they are now causing. Substantial relief from the burden of taxation can be realized only when taxes bear @ fair relationship to income. Until agricultural prosperity is restored the tax burden will continue to be heavy. “North Dakota possesses natural resources which in time will be pro- ductive of great wealth. Her vast coal fields will undoubtedly be utilized to develop power or various manufacturing enterprises and her clay will be used for brick-making and pottery. Industrial development will come when population has in- creased and accessible markets have been developed. “Prohibitive freight rates now hin- der the development of North Da- kota along industrial lines because of great centers of population. The im- provement of the Missouri river as a OUT OUR WAY L THERS A LOTS O EY PLAnginy’ CAN oO’ CORN, BY IWAS 315 SAYIN ian = oe I WASN! ARGUIN'= GosH, BETWEEN ARGUIN' AN nS ~— You HO SAVE A CENT ON A TH’ STORE, SIX BLOCKS AWAY, TH cent , NOT 1F YOu DION’ HAVE NE By: Williams | 1saio,T DIFFRUNTS WORTH FAR SAID ANUTHING 1 THE STORE GET GOING I CREATE Gow T' .T Save’ HO” - Coz CENT, BECAUSE GET YOU STARTED TO OvuT HERE. SAVE THE tS MORE THAN, MAY SANE, To = You Now, BEFORE A SCENE | i} _| WATER AND SEWAGE: ! Program ‘details of the second an- ;nual meeting of the ,North Dakota | | sewage systems, to send a representa- RVER DIVERSION, ~ CONFERENCE TPG |Meeting of Men Who Operate | Municipal Plants Will Be Held at Grand Forks Dec. 8-10 water and sewage works conference, to be held at Grand Forks, December 8 to 10, were announced here today | by A. L. Bavone, secretary-treasurer of the organization and state sani- tary engineer. An outstanding feature of the meeting will be a short course con- ducted in connection with the school of engitieering at the University of North Dakota. Water and . sewage works superintendents, managers, city engineers and other officers of muni- cipal plants will be given an intensive | course in the proper operation of wa- ter and sewage works. Officers of the organization are) urging every city, regardless of size or of the extent ef its water and tive. = The first day will be devotet to the opening ceremonies, -a business ses- sion and appointment of committees, to be followed .by general discussions bearing on the Missouri river division Project and its effect on water sup-. Plies in the state; the Grand Forks water supply; proposed improvements, and public health laws relating to water supply and sewage disposal. On December 9, the session will. be devoted to talks by E. F. Chandler, ‘STICKLE |. & (Stickler Solution on Editorial Page) dean of the school of engineering, on | chemistry, on “Problems in sewage | “Fire protection; pressures depend-| disposal;” H. E. French, dean of the ent on sizes and looping of mains;” G.| medical school, on “What is Potable | A. Abbott, dean of the school of | Water,” and A. L. Bavone, on “Oper. Article Ne. 56 By WM. E. MKENNEY Secretary American Bridge League The play to the first trick very often | the distance of the state from th@| governs the success or the failure of ;Tect Play, could easily stop game. @ hand. Keen play is required by the declarer to go game in the following | Plays the eight, East the five. If the declarer were to play the deuce and allow the dummy to hold the, trick with the eight, his opponents, by cor- If the eight. holds the trick the clubs would be started from dummy, navigable waterway would aid in the|hand if he makes @ mistake on the|East would lay off until the third industrial development of the state. “At present agriculture is the basic industry upon which every other busi- ness is vitally dependent. Merchants, dealers, and bankers in our towns and cities depend for their success upon the success of agriculture. Di- rectly or indirectly every business and industry in North Dakota is depend- ent upon the income derived from the sale of agricultural products. Observations made by Mr. Acker in his report included the following: ‘Taxes on farm lands are particular- ly heavy, because since 1920 agricul- ture has been in a depresed condition, and because since the enactment of chapter 230, laws of 1929, which clas- sified property for the purpose of taxation and required assessments to be made on a full value basis, farm lands have been assessed more nearly in proportion to full value than any other class of property. Income tax, cigarette tax and in- surance tax contributed materially toward the support of the state gov- ernment. The owners of farm lands pay 60 per cent of the property taxes in North Dakota, railroads and other public utilities 16 per cent, and all other property bears the burden of the remaining 24 per cent, bui that, in proportion to his investment or to}. Gross income, the land owner does not . pay more in taxes than railroads and public utilities. Would Drop Local Treasurers With the exception of South Da- kota and Minnesota, North Dakota had the highest ratio of property taxes to income to be found in a group of ten northwestern states. From 1913 to 1929 North Dakota general property taxes increased $11,856,673 to $30,016,754, or 153 per cent. Total acreage of land formerly sub- ject to taxation but now owned by the state or counties is 834,453.87. To maintain a proper balance be- tween expenditures for city, school and park purposes, educational ad: ministration and park administration should be intimately correlated with the city administration. The multitude of local treasurers should be dispensed with and the county treasurer should be made the custodian of all public funds of local subdivisions except in the case of the larger cities of the state. The gross bonded indebtedness of the state as of June 30, 1930, the re- (Per! port says, was $37,501,850. Of this total, $32,500,850 was in connection with the rural credits business of the! state. The net indebtedness in con- nection with Bank of North Dakota bonds as of June 30-was $802,503. The net indebtedness in connec- tion with mill and elevator bonds was $3,000,000 and in connection with mill and elevator milling bonds issued to provide operating capital for the milling business of the state, the net Gebt was $742,831. The total net state debt as of June 30, 1930, was $6.67 per capita. The total net debt of the state and of all subdivisions of the state as of December 31. 1929, was $36,418,352, which amounts to $53.46 per capita, Changes Recommended Suggested changes in laws affecting taxation, outlined in the report, in- clude recommendations that: Section 3298 of the compiled laws of 1913, regarding ‘tax ahkatements and tax refunds, be so amended that in case an appeal to the district court 3s taken, notice of appeal shall be mailed to the tax commissioner so that he may appear in court end be The abatement law be so amended that abatement refunds can only be granted in case of current taxes. Amendment of the law so that de- mand for refund of taxes must be gommenced for recovery within 90 days after demand, A law should be enacted providing that personal property taxes shall after assessment be a lien upon prop- erty capable of being identified as) having been specifically assessed, and that cuch property shall be subject ‘|dent 21 years of age and over; repeal j@vailable for highway purposes was ‘ending June 30, 1930.) first trick. Good play on the part. of | the opponent will defeat his contract. WORTH S—0-)-9-8 H— Be 0—5-9 C—K.)-10.7-3 The Bidding At auction the bidding would South one no trump, West pass. Due be to the 30 honors in clubs, some play- ers with North’s holding will take out; with two clubs, but South will go back} to two no trump. At contract South would open the! contracting with two no trump, which North would carry to three. ‘The Play The three spot, his fourth best spade, is opened by West, dummy round, whenhe would win with the ace. He would return the jack of hearts, which the declarer would fi- nesse. West would return a heart, which the declarer would be forced to win on the third round with the ace. If he then led the ace of spades and a small spade he would be unable to get into the dummy to make the two good clubs. A small spade lead would be won by West’s king and the spade suit would be blocked. The proper play is for th> declarer to overtake the eight of spades with the ace, then play his three rounds of clubs, East winning the third round with the ace and returning the jack of hearts. Declarer would finesse, West would win and return a heart. De- clarer would win the third round of hearts with the ace. Now the small spade is led by declarer. If West wins with the king the declarer has @ sure entry in dummy. If West refuses to win, the spade is won in the dummy with the queen, the two good clubs led, and the diamond finesse taken, which gives the declarer three no trump. (Copyright, 1930, NEA Service, Inc.) to distraint, regardless of sale or transfer. The statute should specifically pro- vide for the assessment by the auditor of a building omitted by the assessor, or if the location thereof is not prop- erly listed, provided the property has not passed into the hands of an inno- cent purchaser. Neither the hail tax, nor any other Hen, should be permitted to hamper tax collections by hindering tax sales. Amendment of chapter 242, laws of 1929, so that after delinquent person- al property taxes have been entered and extended against real estate that if the real property is subject to liens; which are superior to the personal property tax, so entered and extend- ed, that it be left discretionary with the county auditor as to whether such rsonal property taxes shall be in- cluded in the amount shown in the notice of tax sale. School Tax For All 21 | Provision should be made for levy-; ing the school tax against every resi-| of the road poll tax as obselete; re- peal of the grain tax law, and pro- vision should be made for exception from taxation of all grain, hay and feed. Taxation of express property should} be changed to the gross earnings basis, with a rate of about 1 per cent of gross earnings. A law shoyld be enacted imposing a gross receipt tax on persons and cor- Porations engaged in the business of | transporting property and persons, baggage and express by motor vehicle over any public highway in the state between fixed terminal and over aj regular route, the tax to be in lieu of all other taxes; such a law should be enacted unless constitutional lim- itations interfere. $35,461,867 Levied “The grand total tax bill of the state and local government combined was $35,461,867,” the report says, “Of this total the amount available to the state grrenneny after disbursing state ald and deducting the amount! per cent of the grand total tax bill of the state for that year,” (Fiscal year state expenditure; and that 11.49 per cent of all taxes were spent for strict- ly state purposes including the main- tenance of institutions of higher learning. “The failure of assessors to assess property in conformity with tne 100 per cent basis required by our state constitution and laws is responsible for glaring inequalities in taxation among various classes of taxable property, among property owners and among taxing districts,” the report says. . Urges County Assessors “The failure of many municipalities to assess property in conformity with the statutory requirement of full value results in inequality of taxation, ‘as it causes farm property and other property assessed at full value to bear more than its fair share of county and state taxes. It is apparent that | assessors, in their. assessment of cer- tain classes of property, are wilfully disregarding the statutory require- inent of assessment on the ful! value basis.” Mr. Acker’s report said that “it is cnly fair to the assessors to state that since 1920 virtually no ‘market value’ has existed for farm lands.” Mr. Acker strongly recommended ; adoption of a county assessor system. “The county should be made the unit of assessment in place of the present local taxing districts,” he said. “Every state tax commissioner or tax commission is urging the need for centralization of property assessment under the control and direction of a county assessor, who in turn func- tions under the direction of the tax commissioner.” Would Apportion Utility Tax Discussing assessment and taxation of public utility ~ property. Mr. Acker recommended several changes | — in the statutes. “In order that there may be no question concerning the authority of ithe state board of equalization to as- sess the franchise and operating Property of electric, steam: heat, gas jand water utilities,” the report said, ($4,074,648, which constituted 11.49|“the legislature should enact a law Providing: (1) A method of assess- ;Ment and a procedure which will en-| \pble the tax department to obtain in- | The report states further that the formation necessary to the deter- state levy constituted 10.52 per cent | mination of a fair valuation; and (2) of the total property tax levy; that}a method of apportionment of as- the state collected 24.09 of all taxes in sessed value among taxing districts. the state: thet the state retained!A sufficient appropriation to cover 19.52 per cent of all taxes for directithe necessary traveling expenses in % connection with field examinations and appraisements is imperatively needed.” ‘This year, the assessment of public utility property was increased to $11,- 863,199, the report said, an increase of 50 per cent over 1920. The as- sessed valuation in 1928 was $7,899,000, and in 1929, $9,901,199. Bank Stock Solution - Calling attention to the fact; that recent decisions -of the United es supreme court and of various’ state supreme courts have raised “a serious question as to the constitutionality. of present methods of taxing national bank stock,” the report recommends @ change in the present laws. “To avoid the objection of discrim- inatory treatment,” the report states, “the law should be amended to pro- vide that any individual or corpora- tion using moneyed capitel in compe- tition with bank capital shall be re- quired to file with the tax commis- sioner and with the county auditor a full and complete itemized sworn statement showing the amount of capital used in competition with na- tional banks. . “In order that there may be no! doubt or misunderstanding in this connection the report says, “it is rec- ommended that the legislature add the provision to our statute that the bank shall make returns of shares owned by nonresidents and pay the tax thereon as their agent. We con- sider this a matter of importance be- cause of the large amount of bank stock owned by socalled ‘chain’. or ;‘group’ banks incorporated outside of North Dakota.” ' South Dakota motorists paid a low- er tax: rate, $13.95 on more cars, 169,325, this year than last year, $15.63 on 161,000 machines. Colds | Don’t let them keep yeu Indeers | Get rid of your cold at once so you can fit out and enjoy ife. For 41 years | Grove’s Laxative | BROMO QUININE | Tablets have pro- vided the quick, | pleasant way to cor- rectly end colds, ry reputation Get a box at any drag store, 30c, and try it, ' Grove’s Laxative *-BROMO: QUININE Tablets AN WLED CL Experience has given us knowledge. [—~) We know wha‘ to do low te do it, anc vhat to avoid doin; n times of distress We leave no detai’ or the overeaved tc orrv about. We Understana Webb Bros. Funeral Directors Night Phone 30 or 88; Phone 56 ef Possibility in Improvement of Missouri BS ation and control of water and sew- age disposal plants.” At the afternoon session, 5. P Ravnos, Mandan, will speak on “Tne Municipal laboratory for water sup- ply control;” C. G, Blough, Grand Forks, on “Methods of customer bill- ing; account for fixed properties;” A. W. Gauger and Irvine Lavine, Grand Forks, on “Chemical engineering aspect of water and sewage treat- ment—modern methods of water softening;” and C. 8. Childs, Minne- apolis, on “Water treatment—sodium aluminate as a coagulant.” | A banquet and round table discus- sion is scheduled for the evening. Speakers at the final meeting, De- ;cember 10, will be: N. T. Bourke and | Alexis Diak, Grand Forks, on “Pumps and pumping machinery; internal ; combustion engines; steam power ma- |chinery; operation and costs;” W. 8. Koller, Grand Forks, on “Public health methods of insuring that wa- ter is potable; sanitary analysis;” H |E. Simpson, Grand Forks, on “Ground water supplies for cities;” A.C. Jan- zig, Minneapolis, on “Laboratory con- | trol of filter plants;” G, A. Johnson on “recent developments in the field of chlorination;” and A. L. Bavone jon “Disposal of creamery wastes.” Oak Park, Ill, has fixed midnight as curfew hour for midget golt courses KILLS 103 RATS | ON NEBRASKA FARM A Nebraska farmer killed 103 rats in 12 hours with K-R-O (Kills Rats Only), the product made by a special process of squill, an ing jient highly recommended by the U. S. Govern- ment. It is sure death to rats and mice but harmless to dogs, cats, poultry or even baby chicks. K-R-O is today America’s most widely used Tat and mouse exterminator. 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