250 THE FISCAL PROBLEM IN MISSOURI
shifting of tax burdens; and (5) it represents an untried
program of school finance in Missouri.
The minimum program implies a high degree of uniformity
in assessed valuations throughout the state. With reference
to this phase of the problem, the Educational Survey Com-
mission states: “It is the opinion of the Educational Survey
Commission that the present assessment machinery can sup-
ply the State Superintendent of Public Schools with a fairly
accurate statement of the taxable wealth in each county of
the state and with a somewhat less accurate estimate of the
wealth of each township.”? That such estimates are suf-
ficiently accurate for the purpose of the plan of school finance
seems to be largely in the nature of an assumption. The
assessment and equalization procedure and the results ob-
tained are hardly satisfactory, and this is especially true since
it is planned to use a uniform rate on assessed valuation as a
basis for the financial plan. "The school investigators ap-
parently relied on the work of the State Tax Commission in
making the statement quoted. The work of the State Tax
Commission is to be commended, but the fact remains that it
lacks both the staff and the funds necessary to carry on its
work. For example, in a report of the State Survey Commis-
sion, we are informed that “The assessors are as a rule not
very competent to assess any class of property and they know
nothing about values of special classes, such as large struc-
tures, factories, merchants stocks, etc.”? The same report
states: “The Tax Commission is supposed to have authority
to supervise local assessing. As a matter of fact it is a small
organization (three members appointed by the Governor,
two field agents, a secretary and five clerks) which has a
wide function exclusive of any actual supervision of indi-
vidual assessments. Itis a physical impossibility for such an
organization to supervise assessing. Aside from lack of staff
to direct assessing operations, it lacks any authority to select
or remove assessors. What it can do, it attempts, namely, to
help to clarify the very complicated tax law and to make the
assessors’ duties known.” The authority of the State Board
! A Preliminary Report of the Survey of the Public Schools of Missouri, p. 163.
2 The Taxation System of Missouri, p. 40.
! The Taxation System of Missouri, p. 40.
