Circular Letters and Report Blanks. Various circular letters have been sent from time to time to taxing officials and corporations in the State relative to the different phases of the taxation question. They seem to fairly well explain themselves and are given herewith for general information. Letter sent to the boards of Assessors calling attention to the statutory provisions, and enclosing annual report blank. Board of Assessors. Gentlemen: Hartford, October 12, 1909. A form to be used in making your return to the tax commissioner, as required by Chapter 204, Public Acts of 1907, is being enclosed in a letter addressed to the chairman of your board. The report should be made out while the tax lists are in your possession, and before the filing of the abstract with the town clerk on January 31st, in accordance with Section 2310, unless otherwise specially provided. It should be returned, properly filled out, on or before February 15, 1910. You are supposed to have taken the oath of office "to faithfully discharge according to law your duties as assessor to the best of your ability." This means that such duties should be done intelligently, fearlessly, as equally as possible, and absolutely without favoritism. Permit me, therefore, to call your attention to several provisions of the statutes which the assessors, in many parts of the State, have heretofore failed to properly execute. The laws specifically require that all property, unless otherwise exempt, shall be assessed at its " present true and actual valuation." (Sections 2322 and 2327, General Statutes.) Such a method will overcome inequalities, insure a more even distribution of the tax burden, and result in a definite business advantage to the town at large by maintaining a fairer grand list and a reasonably low tax rate. 66 وو Every person handing in a list should make a separate description of each parcel of real estate." (Section 2303, General Statutes.) Every list received without such description is not perfected as required by law. Such description is also necessary for the assessors' use, and the proper placing of liens, if necessary. Any tax lists received which are not signed, dated, and sworn to, as provided in Section 2303, are not legal lists and should not be accepted. The statutes do not provide for lists to be made out and sworn to by an agent or any person other than the individual owner, except in the case of husbands and nonresidents. Section 2322 of the General Statutes as amended by Chapter 97 of the Public Acts of 1909, requires a separate valuation of house and building lots, which should not be included in the valuation of the dwelling house and other buildings. Chapter 195 of the Public Acts of 1909 provides that nonresidents shall hand in lists and that their tangible personal property shall be taxable in the town where it is located seven months of the year. The law requires the taxable property owned by nonresidents to be arranged in separate assessment lists. (Section 2309, General Statutes.) Sworn lists handed to the town clerk or any other official and not properly perfected as required by the statutes need not be accepted by the assessors. All other All bonds are taxable, except those of Connecticut steam and electric railways, and those issued by a town or city in the aid of such railroads; or bonds of the State of Connecticut, or municipalities therein, when such bonds are exempt from taxation by special legislative act. bonds owned by individuals should be included in their lists of taxable property, unless the chose-in-action tax has been paid on them to the State Treasurer as provided in Section 2325. Cash or money on deposit, except in Connecticut savings banks, in excess of one hundred dollars is taxable in the name of the depositor. This includes money on deposit in national banks and trust companies, and also includes deposits in the so-called savings departments of national banks. While the assessors are allowed to take from the town clerk the list and abstract of the previous year to perfect the new list, the statutes do not seem to justify the wholesale copying of such lists as a substitute for your own valuation. (Section 2308, General Statutes.) No assessors, no matter how well informed as to town property, can properly perform the duties without personal visitation and inspection of all the real estate and tangible personal property. The assessors are required to notify taxpayers when their lists have been raised as provided in Section 2310 of the General Statutes, as amended by Chapter 141, Public Acts of 1905. Chapter 230 of the Public Acts of 1909 amends Section 2304 of the General Statutes, and extends the time from twenty to sixty days in which assessors may summon a person before them for the purpose of verifying the list. The law requires the assessors to make, for poll tax purposes, a list of all male persons, whether aliens or not, between the ages of twenty-one and seventy years, who are not liable to the military commutation tax or are otherwise exempt. (Section 2313, General Statutes.) This statute is in force this year, as the new personal tax law does not go into effect until October 1st, 1910. A practice, which prevails in some towns, of dividing the town into districts and assigning each district to one assessor for assessment purposes, seems to be contrary to the spirit of the statutes. The Supreme Court, in Middletown v. Berlin, 18 Conn., 189, holds that the agency of a majority of the board of assessors is necessary to a valid assessment. Amendments to the local tax laws by the General Assembly of 1999 have been sent you. The complete tax laws of the State, if not already in your possession, will be sent upon request. The new law, relative to the election of assessors provides for not less than three assessors in each town, who will hold office for at least three years. (Chapter 173, Public Acts of 1909.) This in general insures a continuous board which can put in operation a definite policy of revaluation and equalization without the danger of political interference. Any failure, therefore, on the part of assessors to perform their duties in accordance with the statutory requirements will be due to a willful determination not to do so rather than any practical difficulty. With best wishes, and assuring you of my desire to be of any service to you in my power, I am, Respectfully yours, WM. H. CORBIN, |