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PROPERTY ASSESSMENT IN JACKSON COUNTY As soon as I became the Presiding Judge of the County Court of Jackson County, I found that one of my duties was to sit as chairman of the County Board of Equalization. The County Assessor, an elected official, made the property and personal assessment on which the preliminary and final tax levy had to be made, o The County Court of which I was the Presiding Judge made the tax levy. After sitting as chairman of the Board of Equalization for a year or two, I became convinced that assessments were not on a fair basis. This conclusion was reached without any reflection on the County Asses- sor. He did the very best he could do under the system. It was the sys- tem which was wrong and out of line. I began investigations over the whole country to find what other communities were doing on this most important and fundamental program of local government. I learned that St. Paul, Minnesota, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Cin-