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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 6, 1953)
State Capitol News . . . Pridefully Point to Lower Levy By MELVIN PAUL The Frontier's Statehouse Correspondent LINCOLN—For the first time this summer events dropped this week to the usual slow hot-weath er pace at the statehouse. With Gov. Robert Crosby scheduled to be in Seattle, Wash., for the annual conference of state governors, and with many other officials taking their vacations, the barrage of news—which had mostly been connected with tax assessment problem—tapered off. But this summer saw one of the most widesweeping events in recent state history — the announcement concerning ad justments of county by county assessments. After six days of closed ses sions, the five-man group an nounced adjustments which in one swoop increased the state s total assessed valuations by $473,432,970. This was done by: 1 Raising town real estate val uations in 70 counties, cutting them in 10, and accepting the assessments of 13 counties. Some counties were boosted as much as 200 percent over last year. 2 Increasing farm land valu ations in 48 counties, lowering them in Id, and leaving 34 count ies unchanged. 3. Boosting the assessments of business inventories—-stocks oi goods merchants had in their stores on March 10—in all but 10 counties. Some counties were boosted 10 percent in this cate gory, others 20, or 30, or 40. 4. Hiked valuations on house hold goods and personal equip ment in all but seven counties. The boosts were either 50 or 100 percent jumps. Effect— Every county had to change valuations on at least one item. Some counties such as Adams, Cass, Dakota, Deuel, Dodge, Ham iliton Hooker, Keya Paha, Logan and 'Saline which made a big effect to raise valuations but ap parently went too far got de creases in the town real estate I category ranging up to 19 percent. Although some counties were check of the valuations placed on several counties showed they were between 43 and 45 percent of what the state tax commis sioner’s office figured was 100 percent. Taxation this year of course, is on 50 percent of value. Illustration— To explain just what the per centage increase meant, Govern or Crosby gave this illustration: Taxpayer A owns a $10,000 home in county X. Comparison figures by the state tax commis sioner’s office show that assess ment of towfai houses in thiat county has been about 35 per cent of actual value. That means taxpayer A has paid taxes on about $3,500. So to reach some where near the 50 percent mark called for by the new law, the state board boosted county X valuations by 30 percent. This is $1,050. Added to $3,500 it means that taxpayer A will pay taxes on $4,550 for 1953. (Note: This is still below $5,000 and that is what Crosby meant when he in 7 Bisted the boosts were conserv ative.) Although the western cattle counties were given some con sideration because of declining land values, they got the biggest jump for the most part. That is because their assessments have rarely been changed since the rock bottom depression days. City real estate also got boosted in most places. This is because most counties farmers have been paying higher taxes in relation to the value of their property than have their city cousins. Explanation— Along with its announcement of county adjustments, the state board issued a statement. It said, “We have complited with both the letter and the spirit of the law to the extent that available information has made it possible ... It is neces sarily on the basis of assessed av erage values that we must equal ize among the counties and the different classes of property. The law does not permit us to equal ize within a county among the owners of a class of property, nor can we even equalize among the towns in a single county.” The board's statement admit ted that equalizing on the basis of average has been "extremely disappointing" in most counties. That's because "the county officials in those counties have not equalized among their in dividual taxpayers ... In most counties it would be easy to find two citizens owning the same value of property where the assessment of one of them is two or more times greater than the assessment of his neighbor. "Of course, in this circumstance the highly assessed citizen is paying double or more the taxes that are paid by his neighbor,” said the statement. It continued, “Even more glar ing injustices have been dis closed to- us in the areas of busi ness inventories and of house hold goods and personal belong ings. In the same town one busin essman may be assessed at the actual value of his inventory of merchandise and another on the same street may be assessed as low as 10 percent of his actual inventory. Even on the basis of average assessed values the in equality among counties is fan tastic: For instance, in some coun ties, the average schedule for non-exempt household goods and personal equipment is as high as $127.50: in others as low as $11.68.” Advice— The board statement then thundered, “In the name of sim ple justice the local county offic ials in most counties must begin their duties. Again, in fairness, we recognize the officials of a small number of counties who have discharged their duties in a commendable way.” The board said it had strong recommendations in connection with the increased burden on real estate. “Because much personal pro perty literally escapes taxation, we strongly suggest a severe program of law enforcement. There is no excuse for the fla grant omission of personal pro perty from many schedules. Be cause of the extreme unfairness to those who make honest per sonal property returns, we sug gest that criminal prosecutions be initiated this year against as many as possible of the worst violaters.” For citizens the board hammer ed away at a point its members have made many times: “Assessed values do not cause taxes. Assess ed values simply determine the sharing of taxes among the citi zens. Taxes are caused by the spending of public money by officials. If you are interested in reducing the tax burden then you 'is a citizen should express your self at the budget meetings of the school board, the city council, and the county board. The budgets that are adopted determine the amount of taxes that will be collected.” The board said that in counties where its orders increase val uations, the local governing bod ies must, of course, reduce tax levies accordingly.’’ The state board then pointed out that although it had increas ed the state’s total valuation to $6.741,838,926—of which half or $3,370,919,463 will be taxed—the year’s 6.98 mills to a 1953 figure of 5.75 mills. And that includes two new levies—the University of Nebraska medical college quart ermill levy and the teachers re tirement fund half-mill levy passed by the 1953 legislature. This new figure means a tax saving of $1 23 on every $1,000 worth of P'operty. The board said citizens and of ficials should work together to see that mill levies drop this way in those counties where valuations were boosted. Uhl in Japan Marine Cpl. Norman L. Uhl (above) of O’Neill strolls toward the marine barracks at the Yokosuka naval base. The Japanese influence is apparent. Corporal Uhl attended O’Neill high school prior to entering the marine corps. His mother, Mrs. Elise Uhl, lives at O’Neill. Circle C Show, Garber Featured Parade Will Launch ’53 Hay Days ATKINSON—The famous Jan Garber orchestra and Circle C ranch show from Chicago, 111., will feature the main events of Atkinson’s hay days celebration Monday and Tuesday, August 10 and 11. One of America’s top dance bands on radio and television, Jan Garber’s orchestra will play for the Coronation of the 1953 hay king and queen Monday night and for the dance following the coronation performance. Tuesday night will be the spe cial attraction of this year’s hay days featuring the Circle C ranch show. This show has been ap pearing on radio and television' with the WLS Barndance and the WSM Barndance in Chicago. They have a star-packed cast of 12 which will present five fast moving acts of western music and entertainment. The stars include the Sun Valley Boys, western band; Hal Thorsen, emcee and cowboy singer; Lucky Caroline, petite cowgril soloist; Arizona Jack and Texie, roping and bull whip artists; Jack Baggett, fam ous western comedian; and John ny Powers, accordion soloist. Hay days at Atkinson is the scene of the biggest annual pa rade in north Nebraska. This year’s parade on Monday after noon at 1:30 will have marching bands and over 80 floats compris ing a spectacular pageant unfold ing the story of “Nebraska—99 Years of Progress.” There will be baseball games both afternoons. Atkinson vs. Oakdale Monday afternoon at 4 o’clock and Atkinson vs. Bassett Tuesday afternoon at 2 o’clock. Both games will be a battle for a 60-40 purse. Before the Monday afternoon game, a 75-piece ac cordian band composed of Martha her accordian students will play a half-hour concert. 5 Inches Rain Received in Week AMELIA—This community re ceived about five inches of lain the past week. Sunday evening, July 26, a small twister struck Amelia and nearby. Branches were tom from trees in Amelia. At the home of I Mrs. Bertha Sammons a large tree was torn down, falling across REA lines, and a windbreak was also torn down. During the week Amelia had a severe electrical storm. Some horses .and cattle were killed and several* stacks of hay wjre burn ed. Other Amelia News Mr. and Mrs. Duane Miller of Chambers were Sunday dinner guests at the home of their daugh ter, Mrs. Forest Sammons and family. Mr. and Mrs. Ed White return ed home Friday from a visit with relatives at Greeley, Colo. Mrs. Jennie Adams returned to her home in Atkinson Satur day after visiting with Mrs. Julia White the past week. Rev. J. L. Jay was guest speak er at the Amelia Methodist church Sunday morning. Several from here attended ihe first quarterly conference held at Chambers in the afternoon. Mr and Mrs. Art Leach of Om aha visited at the Ed Jungman home last week. Mrs. Kaipn itees nets uccn en joying a visit from her sister and husband, Mr. and Mrs. Har ley Deems, of Charles City, la. Mr. and Mrs. Tom Doolittle were guests Wednesday evening, July 29, at the home of their son, Art Doolittle. It was a birthday supper in his honor. Pat Ken nedy and Art Waldman were also guests. Mrs. Gloria Landrum and Sally came from Omaha Friday eve ning and Sally will visit her grandparents. Mr. and Mrs. Blake Ott for a week or more. Mr. and Mrs. Bob Blackmore and Luanne visited his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Blackmore, last weekend. Miss Zoeyllen Gilman spent Sunday afternoon with Leone Fix. Mr. and Mrs. P. L. Strenger and Marian came from Omaha the early part of the week to visit the' Lindseys. Mr. and Mrs. Peter Consentino, Sharon, Peter, jr., and Deanna of Omaha were guests last week at the home of Mr. and Mrs. El mer Oetter. Mrs. Oetter and Mrs. Consentino are cousins. A large crowd attended the auction sale at the Amelia hall Friday evening. Mr. and Mrs. John Cearns and son, Donnie, and cousin, Dale Cearns, of Scottsbluff visited over Sunday night with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Fry rear. 1 The Cearns had attended a fam ily reunion of the Cearns families I at Ray Ceams of Atkinson on Sunday. Mrs. William Fryrear was in O’Neill Friday. Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Hiatt and family and Mrs. Viola Travers were dinner guests Sunday at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Pierce. Henry Travers and son, Harold, visited Mrs. Henry Travers at Norfolk Sunday. They all plan ned to attend the races at Wayne. Jay McConnell, son of Mr. and Mrs. Howard McConnell o f Emmet, is spending a leave here after completing his boot train ing at San Diego, Calif. On Fri day he will leave for Norman Okla.. where he will be stationed’ His wife, the former Ellen Butter field, will' join him there about a week later. DRS. BROWN & FRENCH Eyes Tested—Glasses Fitted Broken Lens Replaced in 24 Hours Other Repairs While You Wait Complete X-Ray , , - - i - O'NEILL DRIVE IN Fri.-Sat. Aug. 7-8 Allen Ladd & Irene Dahl “Desert Legion” A technicolor feature of ad ventures of the Foreign Legion. ADDED SHORTS Sun.-Mon. Aug. 9-10 Gary Cooper & Grace Kelly with a big cast. “Hi Noon” The third academy award for Cooper in an outdoor .action feature. NEWS & SHORTS Tues.-Wed. Aug. 11-12 Joyce Holden - Glen Roberts with a big cast. “Girls in the Night” A shocking story of our teen agers in the cities. ADDED SHORTS Thursday. Aug. 13 Family Night An all-star special cast “Untamed Breed” If you like action, scenery and a good story—B HERE. Bring ’em all—$1.00 per car. Congratulations! 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