Attorney-General that approximately 100 more of these cases will be disposed of by January 1916. In this work the Commission considered propositions of settlement submitted by the Attorney-General in 417 cases, all of which have been disposed of either by rejection, acceptance or the submission of counter propositions. Returns to writs were made in sixty-three cases and in eleven cases memoranda for further returns were prepared. A new form of return has been prepared for use in general litigation and a special form has been prepared for railroad cases. MORTGAGE TAX When the Commission took office there were 10 cases pending, as follows: Collection cases Proceedings to review determination of State Board... Since that date 3 proceedings have been commenced, 2 of which seek to review the determination of this Commission and one a writ of mandamus to compel a recording officer to file an alleged deed without the payment of the mortgage tax, said instrument being deemed by this Commission to be a mortgage. Six cases have been transmitted to the Attorney-General to enforce collection of the mortgage tax. CORPORATION TAX When the Commission took office there were 14 cases pending to recover corporation taxes. Since that date 1 proceeding has been commenced to review the determination of the Commission and 7 of the 14 cases above mentioned have been abandoned on the advice of the Attorney-General that the tax is uncollectible. LOCAL ASSESSMENTS A proceeding has been commenced in the nature of a complaint filed by the towns of Cambria, Hartland, Newfane, Porter, Lewis the equalization made by the board of supervisors of said county on the 7th day of December, 1915, was, and is, illegal, erroneous and unjust. The Commission ordered a review of said equalization under the provisions of section 176-a of the Tax Law and the first hearing was held at Lockport on December 17, 1915. Under date of December 27, 1915, an appeal was filed on behalf of the town of Hancock, Delaware county, under section 175 of the Tax Law, from the act or decision of the board of supervisors and the commissioners of equalization in the equalization of assessments and the correction of the assessment-rolls of said county as made at the November session of said Board. GENERAL New language describing special franchise property has been prepared and adopted by the Commission. It is more complete and concise than that previously used and will meet possible legal or technical objections. The Commission has prepared a proposed revision of Articles I, II, III, IV, VIII, XI and XIII of the Tax Law, from the standpoint of better administration and the elimination of obsolete and ambiguous terms and repetition. These changes with accompanying memoranda are made a part of this report. IMPORTANT COURT DECISIONS Highway Bridges A structure erected for the purpose of eliminating a grade crossing, to the cost of which the railroad company is compelled to contribute under the Railroad Law, is not special franchise property for the reason that such structure forms part of the public street the grade of which has been changed, and the railroad company has no control over the same. People ex rel. N. Y., Ontario & Western Ry. Co. v. State Board of Tax Commissioners, 215 N. Y. 434. Highway Bridges over Railroads The ownership of bridges located on and over land owned by a city in fee and carrying streets over a railroad's right of way, is in the city, though the larger portion of the expense of the construction is met by the railroad, where the bridges form an essential part of the city's street system, and the operation of the railroad would in no way be impaired by their removal by the city. People ex rel. N. Y. C. & H. R. R. Co. v. Purdy, 215 N. Y. 728. Franchises-Railroads A special right given to a railroad company by the act incorporating it, to locate its railroad across highways and water courses, is a special franchise, because it confers authority to cross navigable streams, and therefore two of its bridges spanning such streams are assessable in determining the amount of its special franchise, although the abutments of one of them rests on land which it owns in fee and the other bridge is constructed wholly within the boundaries of a patent to the railroad company from the state to the fee in the bed of the stream crossed. People ex rel. Harlem River & Port Chester R. R. County Equalization Appeal -Review of Determination of Authority to direct final judgment on reviewing the determination of the State Board of Tax Commissioners is not given to the Appellate Division, but when it finds that there is such a preponderance of proof against the existence of the facts upon which the Board made its determination, it should send the proceeding back to the Board for a new and further hearing. People ex rel. Town of Hempstead and Hiram R. Deeds of Trust-Mortgages A deed executed as security for the repayment of money to be advanced is a mortgage and subject to the mortgage tax. People v. Park Row Realty Company (Gass), 216 LOCAL ASSESSMENTS AND EQUALIZATION ADMINISTRATION The chief function of the Bureau of Local Assessments, Equalization and Statistics is to gather information relative to methods of local assessment in all the tax districts of the state. This bureau also seeks information relative to county equalization, and collects and collates statistics relative to taxation. By reason of the information thus gathered, the State Tax Commission is enabled to assist local assessors in performing their statutory duties; to advise intelligently with city officials and with any and all tax officers throughout the state, as well as, with citizens who may be interested in tax problems, local or general; and to place at the service of the State Board of Equalization necessary information relative to the duty imposed on it by statute. The bureau is a creation of the present Commission and its work is closely related to the Commission's statutory duties: to investigate and examine the methods of assessment throughout the state; to confer with, advise, assist and direct assessors and other officials charged with duties relating to the assessment of property for taxation; to furnish local assessors with information and instruction necessary to enable them to make proper assessments; and to compile and publish statistics relating to state and local taxation. In all tax districts where special franchise property is located, the ratio of assessed to actual valuation is a prime necessity in equalizing special franchise assessments, and on entering upon its duties the present Commission immediately examined all such information as was at that time in the possession of the department. Practically the only information at hand consisted of lists of sales of property which had been reported by the special agents of the department or by local assessors and corporations. These lists of sales being unverified, bore no evidence of being either authentic or complete. As matter of fact, they showed a wide difference in rates of assessment and the information given could not be relied upon. For example, one list of sales of property in a second class city, reported by corporations, showed that real property in that city was assessed at not more than 64 per cent. of its market value, while a list of sales reported by assessors covering the same period, indicated that such property was assessed at more than 90 per cent. Again, one list of sales reported by a former special agent of the department showed that real property in one tax district was assessed at more than 150 per cent. of its market value, while another list covering the same period indicated an average assessment of 10 per cent. of the market value of such property. Information of such a character is not only useless; to pay for procuring it is a sheer waste of money. Apparently many of these lists of sales had been selected for the evident purpose of showing a lower or higher rate; whole pages of them show only a nominal consideration, usually one dollar. Such information is utterly without value. The true consideration in a deed is, for the purposes of assessing real estate, about the most significant evidence as to the value of the property which an assessor can get. It is the most difficult information for him to acertain. That the assessor is required to determine the full value of real estate, and yet is provided with no method for securing the very information which would prove most valuable to him in the performance of his duty, constitutes a striking incongruity in our law. Taking all these things into consideration, it seems that the equalization of assessed values in former years must have been largely a matter of guess work. It is a fundamental principle in taxation that no assessment is valid which is not based upon proper identification of the property assessed. The courts have uniformly insisted, where the validity of an assessment was questioned, upon strict compliance with the statute. That the assessment-roll should be clear, complete and accurate is therefore of great importance. An examination of the records of the department clearly revealed the fact that prior to the present year, many assessment-rolls had not been properly made. In one year, in the forest preserve counties, taxes aggregat ing $7,736.41 were admitted by the State Comptroller, while taxes aggregating $175,773.88 were rejected because of errors in the assessment-rolls. The amount of tax rejected because of errors in the assessment-rolls was approximately twenty-three times the amount admitted. Admonished by such conditions, the present Commission has thoroughly reorganized the local assessment work of the department. Special agents are now directed to gather such information |