Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1880-02-11
Aancaster f1ltellige1lrer.
WEDNESDAY EVENING, FEB. II, 1880
The County Assessment.

The County Assessment. Il
Our county commissioners are engaged
n the throes of an effort to equaliZe the
axable values of the county, but they do
,ot seem to appreciate the magnitude OF
he job they have undertaken, and they
ire likely to leave it in worse state than
they have found it. There is no doubt
1t all that real estate is very unequally
valued not only by the different assessors
but even by the same assessor. 1t Is
very difficult thing to determine the
value of every piece of real estate III a
district, and to put upon each one lts
proper rate. 1t requires experience
honesty and industry, to do it with
any near approach to accuracy, and then
it is only approximately done. Very few
assessors come up to the needed standard,
and it is not at all strange, therefore,
that there should often be gross irregu-
larities in the values they put upon dlf-
ferent pieces of property, and it is quite
impossible that there should not be great
unevenness in the assessments OF dliler-
ent assessors. The county commission
ers are authorized to act as a board of re-
vision to correct these irregularities, and
in fact it is their sworn duty SO TO ACT.
The present commissioners are entitled
o credit for their manifested WISH 70
discharge this duty, hut it is obvious
that it will be great work and cannot
be satisfactorily performed in the few
days that are assigned to the hearing OF
appeals. The theory of the law seems to
be that all persons too heavily taxed Will
appeal from the impost and that thus
Justice will be done. But there is no
provision made to secure the review OF
cases where a too small valuation has
been placed upon property: and, since a
certain tax has to he raised, great inJus-
tice is done to the citizen whose
property has been assessed at Its
proper value by the fact that Other
properties are appraised at less
than their value, and 50 an unduly heavy
proportion of the tax required is put
upon him. The trouble is not that any
particular property is rated above the
market value: that does not often occur
and when it does it is soon rcmedled
The difficulty lies in too low assessment
of many pieces of property. 1t does moi
really matter whether property is assessed
at its full value. Or at half, or fourtl
of it, so that every piece is assessed al
the same proportion of its value but il
is easier to secure this result 10y assessing
at market values, as thus the accurac!
of the assessment is most readily detect
ed.
The commissioners need, to properly
discharge their duty, to inform them
selves of the present market value O
each piece of real estate in the county
which is a task of 4 magnitude that the.
will shrink from. They may content
themselves with inquiring into the value
of different classes of property i'll differ
ent sections of the county. and if the.
do this intelligently they may be able t.
do something of value towards the cor
rection of the irregularities of as
ment. We fear, however, that, being al
countrymen and farmers. they incline
to show blind eye to the low valuation
of farm property. Undeniably farms ar
assessed at a price much below wha
they would bring in the market; ant
when the attention of the commissioner
70 In
ground that farms pay but a small inter
est upon the investment. The heav
valuation of city and business prOpert!
they defend on the ground that it can wei
afford to pay the impost. They forge
that law imposes the tax not upon tn
revenue but upon the land, and that
the rental of property is to control tn
tax, and not market value, it would b
necessary to relieve all property frol
taxation that does not yield an income
but whoever heard of tax being remi;
ted because a dwelling, store or a mall
ufactory stood idle ? Farms, while thei
returns are small, are safe investmel
of capital, and this it is which makes thei
value in the market so much create
proportionately to their yield than tia
of any other class of property. \ farl
will always yield some revenue while
manufactory often times not only yield
nothing but even costs a great deal
care for in its periods of idleness.
There is but one safe guide for TIL
commissioners in seeking to equalize ia,
alton; and that is to put upon every pro-
erty the price it would bring in the ma
ket, and to let the taxable value be affec
ed by no other consideration whateve
That is the law and that is their duty.