Morning journal and courier., 1882-03-06
Monday Morning, March 6. 1882.
THE PROPOSED EAST ROCK ASSESS

| lem, by no means easy of solution, of how | this assessment can be laid. The property owners interested naturally object to paying this big bill to save the rest of their fellow citizens from taxation, and are very united and determined in their opposition Under these circumstances it becomes interesting to inquire on what foundation the right, if any exists to make such an assessment rests
 Formerly there no provision for as- sessment of benefits. Under their constitu- tions the States were obliged to compensate the owners of property taken for public use. They were compelled to pay damages wheth- CT the improvement for which land was so taken benefited the owner or not. He might receive from the public the full value of his land and besides reap benefit of much more. So, too, an owner whose land was not taken might enjoy advantages of very great value for which he paid no more than the tax lev jed upon the entire community. This of course was unjust and unequal It was to obviate these evils that the public laws of the various States permitting assessments for benefits, all of 8 comparatively recent origin, were adopted. By one of these provisions in the charter of our city it is empowered Ito provide for assessment of all damages or benefits arising from the construction of any public work or improvement
 Now under this provision for what sort of benefit can an assessment be made? It is manifest both from the origin and purpose of enactments of this kind, that there must Ina a crnnio1 onH 1oartionJor ham &r the party on whose estate the levy is made. He cannot be assessed for simply that general benefit which results from the improvement to the entire population of the city. The constitutions of all the States require that taxation should be made upon some rule of equality. It must affect all those equally who are benefited equally. How then can citizen be specially taxed for benefit which is common to the entire public? Judge Cooley, the great constitutional lawyer of Michigan, in his work on taxation in speak ing of this subject says: Special assess ments are made upon the assumption that portion of the community is to be specially and peculiarly benefited in the enhancement of the value of property peculiarly situated as
 
 funds. This is the principle that underlies all these levies." If this Park benefits the citizens only as 8 Park then none of them can be specially assessed. They cannot be taxed simply because of their nearness to it. AS well might you assess those whose residences front New Haven Green or Wooster Square. If nearness is to be test, then there should ho @ Of oa,,f Rock to Long Wharf, on the theory that inc nearer man is the more he should pay-a proposition whose impracticability and ab surdity are apparent. Any effort to saddle upon those who live in the vicinity of East Rock the expense of making it a Park simply because they do live there, would be absurd and unjust. If the whole people of the city are to enjoy this Park, then the whole, and not part, of them should pay for it.
 It is very questionable as to whether in any case any individual assessment can be made for an improvement of this kind But if it can be, it must proceed upon the theory l that the property of owners in the vicinity Of ] this Park is specially improved by it. It is l but truism to say that only an actual benefit | of this sort, clearly apparent, will ever justify a special assessment. To tax man for a benefit when there is no benefit is but l robbery in the name and under the forms of law. To assume such benefit and make it the pretext for loading upon few the burden that should be borne by all, for the sake of saving the city government the odium of general taxation is oppression, pure and simple. Over and over again it has been de- cided that the constitutional provisions for equal taxation require that In order to jus tify special assessment an individual bene- ft separate and distinct from the general one, must be clearly established.
 Does anyone seriously claim that the so- called East Rock Park in it's present condition has brought any such special benefit to any property holder? Has any evidence been offered before the Board of Compensation to show that it has raised the value of land even in it's immediate vicinity Has it been shown that single foot of land has been or can be sold for an additional cent anywhere in con sequence of the fact that East Rock and Indian Head are now called Park? On the contrary the evidence before the Board has been overwhelming that no benefit of any sort has been felt or recognized by property holders or buyers anywhere on account of this Park Yet real estate owners have been summoned to show cause why they should not be assessed on Ferry street down to Lom- bard and on State street and cross streets down to Edwards, and while this has been going on property has been sold at sacrifice almost under the shadow of East Rock.
 But it is claimed that at some future time property will rise in the vicinity of the Park. Would it not be safer and more just to wait until it does rise? With what sort of justice does the city propose to tax for benefit that does not yet exist, and for aught we know may never exist at all Even if such benefits are to ensue, how are they to be estimated now? What is to be their measure? On what legal grounds does the city propose to tax for benefit that is only contingent? ? Under the law only an actual benefit can be made the subject of an assessment. To be actual it must be immediate and certain. Francis Hillard, in his we'll known work on taxation, in speaking of assessments for bene- fits, says: "And such benefit ought to be
 
 time" There are decisions of courts of last resort which hold that no assessment can be made for mere prospective benefit In this the law coincides clearly with common sense. How can such an assessment be made? An assessment implies a fair appraisal. How can an appraisal be made of that of which no one has any definite knowledge If any indi- vidual benefit results in the future to the owners in the vicinity of East Rock Park it will depend of course upon how far the Park is improved, to what extent it is -beautifed, how much of public resort it becomes, in short, on how much of Park it is going to be. Now who can pretend to give us any informa- ton on these points? How are future bene- fits dependent upon contingencies of this kind going to be assessed? Is it not sheer folly to pretend that they can be assessed at all?
 But it is evident that those who favor as- sessment are proceeding on just this assump. tion of future benefits for no man of aver age common sense believes there is at pres ent any increase in the value of land pro- duced by the proposed Park. The imagina- tion of the city government seems to be very rosy indeed. The Common Council has