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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 23, 1955)
o EIGHT MEDFORD (OMGOK) MAIL TRIBUNE Sunday Oeiobr 23, 1959 State Tax Commission Inept, Violating Lavs, . (Editor'! nol: Thm iisu of the taxation of orchard trees Is becoming a major one in Jackion county, with the dead line for tax statements to be sent out rapidly approaching, and All no settlement in sight. The following article was pre pared by leader of the Jack son County Fruit Growers league, and is signed by its president. It was prepared partly to set forth the league's position in the matter, and part ly as a reply to a letter by Tax Commission Sam Stewart, which was printed recently in the Mail Tribune.) The Fruit Growers League of Jackson County appreciates the opportunity to present its side of the orchard tree assessment controversy to the other tax payers of Jackson County. We believe all taxpayers should be interested in this mat ter, as it is very clear to us that the tax commission of the state of Oregon has concentrated in tne hands of three men dicta torial power which amounts to contempt of democracy and the rights guaranteed by the con stitution to all citizens, although the commercial orchards grow ers have been singled out for "the treatment" in this case, any other person reading this state ment canil next. Equality is Aim First of all, the assessment of property in Jackson county has been turned over to the state tax commission. This was done In order to bring equality of as sessment throughout the state. While this was done in good faith, it appears now to have been an unwise move as our locally elected officials who understand our economy have been reduced to bookkeepers and at the same time, for exam ple, the commission is attempt ing to assess orchard trees in Jackson county while trees in many other parts of the state are not being assessed. The law provides that the as sessors doing the appraising are to be qualified. The orchardists maintain the appraisers did not have even a rudimentary knowl edge of fruit trees or fruit grow ing. The commission admits the appraisal work was done from aerial photograph. Even an ex perienced orchardist would have trouble identifying tree species or varieties' and all other0 fac tors involved from these photo graphs. Dr. Blanch Quoted Dr. Blanch- of Oregon State college has been referred to as an authority for the basis of as sessment work on trees, in Jack son county by thstate tax com mission. His study was made on trees in Hood River and the Wil lamette valley. He advised the state tax commission that value of trees should be based on poor years as well as good years and the time and cost factor of get ting an orchard tree into pro duction should be recognized. Dr. Blanch has authorized the fruit growers league to quote him as follows: "No assessment on orchard trees would be a fair assessment unless a careful study were made of individual orchards, evaluat- ing varieties, production, loca tion, income and the many other factors affecting orchard val ues." This has obviously not been done. "Deal" Offered The tax commission offered the fruit growers "a deal" low ering the assessment very ma terially. The fruit growers told the commission that we would not be a party to such a deal. Our position is that we want an opportunity to test the law in the court," and if the court de cides we owed the tax, we only wanted to be assessed fairly. This is still our position. . The state tax commission has " recently had hearing officers in Medford. They have claimed to be various things, including the " Jackson county board of equali zation, the state tax commission, 613 EAST Fiberglass FURNACE FILTERS All Sizes Priced From .:.. 89 PLASTIC PIPE and Fittings t All Sizes From y2"to2 it or just hearing officers. These hearings were conducted, in most cases, in a very arbitrary man ner. The state tax commission claims they have heard this evi dence and made adjustments in about 50 per cent of the cases. In view of the fact that these hearings took many hours, it is nearly impossible that the state tax commission even heard this evidence, although the law states the taxpayer is entitled to be present, and to present his case before the board of equalization (in this case the tax commission claiming to be a board of equal ization). At any rate the state tax commission, acting as prose cutor, judge and jury, confessed that a large part of the work done by its appraisers was in correct. Laws Stacked Nearly anyone realizes that the laws are stacked in favor of the tax collecting bodies. The state tax commission claims to have the law on its side and to have followed it. The truth is that the state tax commission has been guilty of open and flagrent violation of the law and cal lousness in violating the consti tutional rights of the citizens of Jackson county. The question that is more im portant, to all of us as citizens, than whether trees should be as sessed, is whether a dictatorial body such as the Oregon state tax commission operates under the laws of our state as the other citizens do. We wish to call your atten tion to some of the violations that have occurred in state tax commissions "fruit trees assess ment farce." These violations of law will undoubtedly be tested in a court of law. The fruit grow ers urge anyone interested in constitutional democratic gov ernment to consider the issues. Law Cited The law provides that the county board, of equalization shall meet on the second Monday of May of each year. This would have been on May 9, 1955. The statute further provides that the board shall complete its work within three weeks from May 9, and may extend the time by ap propriate resolution for a period not exceeding .two weeks. This same statute provides that the as sessment roll shall be deemed complete upon the expiration of the three week period, or law fully extended period. In no case has this law been complied with. - , At no time has the assessment roll ever been before the Jack son county board of equalization. Under these circumstances, how can it be said that the board of equalization has fulfilled its duty of examining the roll? It is our position that the board must have physical possession of the roll. This is a clear violation of the law. If the State Tax Commission contends it has a right to act as a board of equalization, it has never had possessiou of the Jack son county assessment roll. This is an illegal action. Unformity Required The commission cites the statute pertaining to the general supervisory powers of the state tax commission. This statute re quires uniformity of assessment. Our position is that the facts will disclose that only the com mercial orchard properties have been ordered assessed by the commissioner, and he has there fore failed to perform the very duty elsewhere that he says he is performing in this case. The Ore gon Constitution states, in Ar ticle 1 Section 32: "All taxation shall be uniform on the same class of subjects within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax." If the state tax commission has ordered the levy of the tax under its- general supervisory power, it is required by the Constitution to do so every where. The commission wants the public only to know about those laws that seem to favor its own interpretation. Article IX. MODERN PLUMBING JACKSON SUMP PUMP Westinghouse Motor $ 45 95 ONLY 2 LEFT! Single Compartment SINKS Cast Iron 30x21 $ 17". Section 1 contains the same con stitutional requirement that all taxes shall be levied and col lected under general laws operat ing uniformly, throughout the state. Many orchards in other counties of the state have not been assessed. Normal Conditions The commission's definition of 14 w RICHARD BOWERS Parade Chairman Jaycees Appoint Parade Chairman Richard Bowers, 327 Maple st., has been named chairman of the Medford Junior Chamber of Commerce Christmas parade committee, it was announced Saturday. The parade is held annually in cooperation with the Medford Retail Merchants association. This year's parade will be held Nov. 30 at 6:30 p.m. Some 100 floats and marching units are expected to be entered. Cash prizes will be awarded to win ners in the various parade clas sifications. The event is open to all clubs and organizations in Jackson county. Parade space for floats and marching units may be re served by telephoning Bowers at Medford 3-4630. Guidance Clinic Adds Psychologist Norman Sundberg, PhD, will work one day each month with the staff of the Southern Oregon Child Guidance clinic, is was an nounced yesterday by Dr. John McAuley, president of the Guid ance Clinic association. Dr. Sundberg will supply ad ditional special psychological services needed in studying cer tain types of diagnostic prob lems of childhood, Dr. McAuley said. His services will supple ment help given by several school psychologists and Loren Messenger, PhD, of Southern Oregon college. The move has been made pos sible through aid received from the United Medford Crusade and the support of the Southern Ore gon Child Guidance Clinic asso ciation, Dr. McAuley said. Dr. Sundberg is a trained clin ical psychologist. He received a doctor's degree at the University of Minnesota, and is now an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Oregon, where he is organizing the doc torate program. CONCESSION GOES BROKE Raleigh, N.C. (U.R) The op erator of a concession at the North Carolina State Fair which offers prizes for skill with a basketball had to close up Thursday night when several customers walked off with $200 in prizes. The contestants were members of the North Carolina State University basketball team. & SHEET METAL Co. PHONE 3-5368 National 40 Gal. WATER HEATER 10 Year War'nty Make Modern Plumbing and Sheet Metal Your Headquarters for O HEATING O PLUMBING & O AIR CONDITIONING true cash value is that it- is prac tically synonymous with that of market value. The law applicable to assessment for the fiscal year 1955-56 is subject to the "normal conditions" factor. This means just what it says, and that is that the current market value must be adjusted to meet the normal conditions factor. In other words the assessment Four Medford Participate in Four Medford city officials will participate in discussions during the three-day 30th an nual convention of the League of Oregon Cities at the Multnomah hotel in Portland starting today. Diamond L. Flynn, president of the league, former Medford mayor and a member of the Med ford water commission, will pre side at a luncheon Monday noon at which municipal officials and employees with 30 or more years service will be introduced. Allen C. Thompson, mayor of Jackson, Miss., and president of the American Municipal associa tion, will be principal speaker at the luncheon. To Honor 'Veterans' Among those who will be honored for 30 or more years service are Medford City Man ager Robert Duff and Public Works Director Vernon Thorpe. Frank Farrell, Medford city at torney, also will be honored as a past president of the league. Flynn also will preside at the league's annual banquet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, at which time Gov. Paul Patterson will speak. Lea gue founders will be introduced. W. H. Miller, former Gold Hill mayor and the league's first tem porary secretary, will respond for founders present. City Manager Duff will sub mit a report on urban and fringe area problems to the joint legis lative interim committee on local government and urban area prob lems. Reports from eight other cities and organizations will be presented at 2 p.m. Monday. To Lead Panel Duff also will be one of four discussion leaders at a general session at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday on city personnel problems. Duff Scout District Plans Recognition Banquet The Big Pines district of the Crater Lake Area council of Boy Scouts will hold its annual recognition banquet and election of district officers at 7 p.m., Mon day, Nov. 7. The banquet will be held at the Roxy Ann Grange on Springs st., Medford. This will be the first annual banquet held in Jackson county in several years; - The meeting will be for institutional repre sentatives, unit leaders such as scoutmasters, explorer advisors, cubmasters and den mothers, unit committeemen, district com mitteemen and council members-at-large. District chairan Bob Church has urged district scouters to attend. He said it will be a "husband-wife" event. Roxy Ann Grange ladies will prepare the dinner. . Officers to be elected include the chairman, vice-chairman and about six committee members at large. ' Portland Youngster Drowns in Fish Pond Portland (U.R) Mark E. Ehman, 2 V6 -year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred A. Ehman, Port land, drowned Friday in the waters of a neighbor's fish pond. ' Police said the boy apparently wandered into the yard of Mr. and Mrs. John Ardueser and fell into the pond which contained from two to three feet of water. Continental Gas WATER HEATER would have to take Into con sideration not only current mar ket value, but the market value that could be had under normal conditions. The custom has been not to take the height of the market or the depth of the mar ket, but to arrive at an average. The commission states that it was the conclusion of the at torney general that orchard trees Officials To LOG Talks will discuss "Medford's Pro gram" at the meeting. Thorpe will be one of four panel members discussing "Plan ning the Arterial Street System" at a planning and zoning section meeting at 10 a.m. Monday. Other panel members will be W. C. Williams, assistant state highway engineer; Lloyd T. Keefe, director of Portland plan ning commission; and Paul O. Landry, Klamath Falls mayor and a director of the League. H. E. Mackie, Medford build ing inspector, will lead a discus sion on "Standard Building Prac tices Illustrated" at a meeting of the building regulation section at 2 p.m. Tuesday. Representatives of the League of California Cities, the Associa tion of Washington Cities, and the Union of British Columbia Municipalities also will parti cipate in convention activities. FURNITURE ViM TRUCKS FOR HIRE - PADDED VAN with experienced driver and all equipment necessary for moving Pianos, Refrigerators, Electric Ranges and other Household Goods. You will like our service. PHONE 2-5295 for moving rates. ' FURNITURE STORAGE Phone 2-5295 Can You buy a refrigerator only two or three times in your lifetime. Yet you don't hesitate to buy one without getting so much as a look at the intricate "works" that makes it run. How do you dare make such an important purchase without having an expert check it over for you? What makes you so sure you're getting your money's worth when you say, "I'll take that one"? . The answer's obvious. You look for the brand name on the refrigerator your "guarantee." You've learned to follow this first rule of safe and sound buying: A good brand is your best guarantee No matter what kind of product you want to Fruit Growers Here Claim are legally assessable. The at torney general also stated that other type of trees were assess able, including shade trees. If the commission desired to fol low the law as the attorney gen eral claims it to be, they have singled out the . orchardists, be cause the orders are directed only to the owners of commer cial orchard property. If the tax commission were honestly fol lowing the attorney general's opinion, it should order the Jack son county assessor or board of equalization to forthwith tax everybody's apple tree in their back yards. This has not been done. Values Erroneous The commission has, up until Thursday of this week, main tained that its declared valua tions of Class A and Class B were fair and valid. They have now, by their announcement, de clared that most of these val uations were erroneous. They further claim that they went upon the premises, presumably of each orchard owner, and made an appraisal. Of two this is true. The appraisers were incompetent because their findings were at variance with what the commis sion now purports to find, or the commission is now wrong and its appraisers are right. The only reasonable conclusion is that the appraisers, if they ever made an inspection, were incompetent. The commission claims that the county board of equalization has refused to act. The chair DRY AND CLEAN - PHONE 2-5295 FOR RATES F. E. SAMSON DO. ANYWHERE FOR HIRE yeu find in this man of the Jackson county board of equalization says that this is not true and that it was impos sible to make a just and fair ap praisal under the commission's orders, if the trees are assessable. The commission wants the public to think that it has given the orchardists a fair equaliza tion here. This is not true. The commission refused to subpoena witnesses for the orchardists and in some cases even denied the right to call witnesses to testify concerning orchard valuations. This hearing was held at the taxpayers' busy harvest season. Assessor In Violation The county assessor states that he is in violation of the law which requires him to deliver the assessment roll to the sheriff on Oct. 15, 1955. The assessor has executed an affidavit in which he says he is ready to de liver the roll to the sheriff, but that he has received verbal in structions from the tax commis sion not to do so. If the commis sion is so interested to observe its duty to enforce the law as it exists, why has it put the county assessor in the position where he is violating the law? The tax commission claims it has possession of the Jackson county assessment roll and has tried to get the county assessor to take the same position. The facts will show that the assess ment roll was never delivered to the county board of equaliza tion, as required by law, nor has I it ever been out of the hands' of - iEie "guarasiiee" pidure? buy, you know a good brand won't let you down. You know the maker stands back of it guar antees it. And so, when you buy a good brand you know you're right. Read this newspaper to find out which are the good brands (and the stores that sell them.) The more good brands you know, the surer you are about all your shopping. BRAND NAMES FOUNDATION Incorporated- A Non-Profit Educational Foundation - 37 West 57th Street, New York 19. Nw York the assessor. The commission wants the tax- -payers of Jackson county to think that it is looking after their best interests. They have been so completely inept that if they hold their procedure to gether at all, they have managed to create a situation in which the state tax commission has sent out notices of increases to the orchardists which omit all improvements upon the orchard ists' property. The tax commis sion itself, in written orders dated Sept. 7, 1955 and Sept 14, 1955, admitted that the pur ported orchard assessments were invalid and void because no no tice of increase was ever given, and stated that the increased as sessment could be no bigger than the notice given. They are now in the position of having given notices of maximum assess ments on individual tracts of property in which improvements have not been included. This will result in all other taxpay ers of Jackson county paying upon their improvements except the orchardists. The assessment rolls in Jack son county have continued to have the orchard valuations on' them even after the tax commis- ' sion has declared them invalid! The millage of all tax subdivi sions has and will continue to be based on an illegal assess ment. Paul Culbertson, President Fruit Growers League of Jackson County 4th and Front M MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE
