228 THE FISCAL PROBLEM IN MISSOURI 
available for a period of years, as in the case of the study in 
Boone County. 
There is a sound reason why one might expect to find that 
the larger farms would be relatively overassessed in a period 
of declining land values, particularly when, as in Missouri, 
the land and buildings are jointly assessed. The relatively 
higher proportion of value attributable to farm buildings in 
the case of many small farms is likely to result in discrepancies 
in assessments, if adjustments in farm values are made on the 
basis of declining land values as the sole or principal factor. 
The tendency on the part of the assessor will be to decrease 
the value of all farm properties in about the same proportion, 
whereas the value of the large farms has really been affected 
to a greater extent than that of the small farms. 
If, as seems probable, the general property tax is to remain 
for some time to come the principal source of local revenue, 
it is highly desirable that assessments of farm properties 
should be placed upon as uniform a basis as possible. Va- 
riations among the several counties and within the same 
county or smaller governmental division should be reduced 
to a minimum. Probably the only way in which this result 
can be accomplished is by means of a system of effective 
central supervision of assessments, as outlined in Chapter VI. 
The taxes paid by farmers should be levied on uniform 
valuations, and, as soon as assessments are placed on a 
fairly uniform basis throughout the state as a whole and 
therefore within the various counties and smaller govern- 
mental divisions, the burden of farm taxes will be distributed 
more equitably. 
The Taxation of Farm Mortgages 
Farm mortgages in Missouri are taxable to the mortgagee 
at general property tax rates. In assessing farm property 
that is mortgaged, no allowance is made on account of the 
mortgage. The result is that the combined assessment of a 
farm and the mortgage on it may be greatly in excess of the 
assessment for a similar farm on which there is no mortgage 
indebtedness. Consequently, it is contended that the farmer 
operating a mortgaged farm is discriminated against as com- 
pared with the farmer who owns his property outright. The