Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1867-08-20
Communicated
The Equalization Issue.

Mr.. Cover Having noticed an ar.
tlcle in the last number ofthe Appeal
calculated to cast some reflections on
the action of the County Board OF
Equalization, and the statements hav-
ing been made in very broad terms,
without comparing figures, and ms it
was undoubtedly intended as drive
at certain members Of the Board, |
wish to make few statements of facts
and figures on behalf of, and IN Justice
to the Board mot that consider the
frequent outbursts OF the writer OF
the article worth noticing, for it is /,
way he has OF bringing himself into
notice. He is also known to the PEG
pie OF Grant County as an habitual
grumbler, But that the people OF the
county may not be deceived or misled
by tho article in question, passing
over the ungentlemanIy charge that
the members of the Board ''are not
capable of rising above their own per
sonal interests, or their desire to OBJ
tain the appreciation of the localities
where they reside, or that they lack a
proper understanding Of their respon
slbllities, or courage to carry out the
dictates of their own judgment and
do their whole duty.") Pass
ing over this insult TO the Board and
10 the people Of Grant County
whose representatives they arc, we
will look at the figures in the case
and inasmuch as the writer refers to
the towns OF Boscobel and Lancaster,
we will take the equalization ofthose
towns:
Lancaster has assessed, exclusive of
village lots, 1915 acres, with res
turned valuation Of 1856, 053 CO. or a
valuation fS7.79!cts. per acre, eqnal>
lied at 1927 1890, or Mt $3.50 per
acre, a reduction of about II per cent.
from returned valuation.
Boscobel has assessed, exclusive OF
village lots, 1903 acres, with an ne /.
gregate returned valuation of S25,-
948.00, or a valuation Of S5.1927 per
acre-equali2ed at So, 491 90, or So so
per acre, q reduction Of about ~ per
cent but, to show correct cquali-
cation Of lands in Boscobel, there
should be deducted from the 4,99S
returned, acres in small parcels.
with an aggregate valuation of So.
1880, or $4,000 per acre Now II
we deduct the acres above named
from the 1908 acres, there will be 4
99l acres, with an aggregate equalized
valuation of $50 1900, s403 per ac-
re, showing reduction of p per cent.
from the returned valuation. Lit must
also be borne in mind that lands ly-
irg contiguous to villages, necessari-
ly command higher prices than the
same quality of lands in towns where
there are no villages or manufacture
ing places. Hence, Boscobel contains
ing but about s sections Of land, situ>
ated on railroad, with flouishing
village in its centre, would necessari-
| ly stand higher than the same quality
of land in less favored localities.
But now let us see how the matter
stands. The average value Of lands
throughout the county. as returned
by the assessors, is S5.3066 per acre,
and the average as equalizcd by the
Board, is S5.7951 per acre.
Now it will be seen that Boscobel as
equalized at S4.03 per acre, is % per
cent. below the equaiized average, and
that Lancaster as equalized at $3.50
per acre, is a little more than 8 per
cent. above the average equalized val
nc OF lands in the county.
IL l. Il
erty In Wow of the fact that Boss
cobel, as it is claimed, contains about
one third more inhabitants than Ian
caster, and that there are many more
business firms there than in Lancas-
ter: and in view of the fact also that
a large part Of the personal property
returned by the assessors is from vii,
lagos; and further, that the amount OF
personal property in the town of Ian
caster as equalized by the Board for
1867 is 500, 1860, and that Of Boss
cobel is s119, 984.0O being 10 per cent.
more in Lancaster than in Boscobel
and although it is claimed that Bos-
cobel stands assessed relatively high
or than any other town in the coun~
ty on personal property, an eXami-
nation OF the assessment rolls show
the fact to be that the average month
ly stocks of merchandise returned b.
the assessor are much lower; also
from an examination of the assess
luent rolls in the office of the Clerk
of the Board of Supervisors, going
back several years, we find that those
towns having the largest villages, do,
ing the largest mercantile aud man
ufacturing business, return greater
amount Of personal property, in pro,
portion to the number assessed thar
in other towns, as we shall show:
Lancaster returns 318 persons as
sessed, with an aggregate equalized
valuation of$209, 1900, or an ave-
rage Of $627.19 to each person assess
ed. Boscobel returns 220 persons as
sessed, with an aggregate equalized
valuation Oslo, 984 90, or IN ave,
rage OF s545.39 to each person assess
ed
Platteville returns 345 assessed
with an aggregate equalzed valuation
OF SzlU,UOU or an average OF SOoi DC
to each person assessed.
Hazel Green returns 273 persons
assessed, with an aggregate cquaized
valuation of S175, 900, or an average O
S641.03 to each person assessed.
We will now compare some of the
towns having smaller villages, where
the people are mostly engaged in ag-
riaultural pursuits:
Glen Haven returns l55 persons as
sessed, with an aggregate equalizet
valuation Of S69, $4,000, or an ave
rage Of s442 % to each person assess
ed.
Smelser returns 2O6 persons assess
, ee, with an aggregate equalized val
/. uation SOC. 066.00 or an average o.
s412.40 to each person assessed.
Ta fntup pafnpnu IT'S i