Omaha daily bee., 1883-06-08
LEGAL LEVY.
The EX-Oity Attorneys Opinion
on Paving Assessments.
An Interesting Document for
Those who Must Pay
for Pavements,

At the request of the city council,
Hon. John d. Howe, the retiring
city attorney, has submitted In writ
Ing an opinlen upon paving questions,
of which the following Is the most
important portion to taxpayers:
The most Interesting and difficult
question that arises under the paving
law Is that which relates to the aasess.
ments.
TO WHAT DEPTH BACK
from the street shall real estate be
charged with the cost of the improve.
ment2 The Importance of the quer-
ton at the present time, in view of
the extensive improvements now I'M
dertsken, cannot be estimated.
To adopt q correct basis upon which
to lay these burdens for the future, Is
q diff cult and delicate task.
. l have given this subject much
thought. Your power under the act
of 1883 Is only limited By the consti'
t%utionalN restriction which confines the
power to levy assessment upon such
real estate as Is benefited by the I'm
provement. The act Of 1882 was ap.
parently drawn upon the theory that
only the SLOTS and lands" abutting
upon the streets were ch~argeable.
Had the lots been of uniform depth
this would have been detenslble. But
some were 66 feet and some 1872 fe et
deep on the same street, and the hold.
ings of individuals varieo from % feet
to- 1872 feet In depth. The law applies
to all streets. LOTS on east and west
streets are generally 1872 feet deep,
though this Is far from being invarl-
ably on north and south streets
the lots are generally only &C feet deep
so that to levy IN assessment on
'lots' meant to ignore all uniformity
and equality; whereas, IL 1t were per.
missible, as some hold, to charge only
the real estate actually abutting, tho
result would be to throw the whole
burden In one case upon the holder of
q parcel only "a feet deep, and, in an
other case, upon the holder of sdepth
of 1872 feet, the lot being the same per
foot front In both cases. The manifest
injustice of this led to the act of 1883.
This act contemplates that you shall,
In the exercise of your best judgment,
determine the depth of real estate
which shall be charged, and In such
matter you should entirely
IGNORE LOT LINES AND THE BoUNDA-
RIEs
of the holdings OF individuals. Wipe
out all questions of ownership ana
look at the two strips Of real estate on
the sides Of the street, the same ss if
they were bare ground, and enquire
how far back from the street 10 the
real estate benefited by the improve
ment. In this way uniformity, equal.
lily and fair are attainable.
My opioion Ia that you should levy
the tax upon oil of the real estate
INCLUDED IN THE HALF BLOCKS
abuttiDg upon the street. This would
make the real estate charged coexten.
sive with the present lately established
districts; although that is not very
material. l base this conclusion upon
the principal considerations that our
streets are wide and the blocks
are small; the taxes for grad
Ing, paving, curbing, guttering
and sidewalks added together, make a
grievous burden. When zoe pare on
one eide Of a block, 1t is m contempla.
ton of a system of Improvements phich,
ichen completed, will result an pacing
all four sides of the block. Thus, when
the system of paving shall have been
laid, We have a small block of ground
all surrounded by improvements, and
there ia not an inch OF It that is bene.
fitted and not an inch of 1t should es.
cape taxation for the cost. By this
scheme you secure uniformity and
equality and "a near perfect fairness
As is practicable In such q case.
When Tenth street was ordered
paved, the prospect for paving the re.
naming streets abutting 1t seemed
quite remote. The generalization
tnat an order TO pave on one side of q
block should be taken as made In 0 n
temptation Of a system of paving.
which, when completed, would sur.
round the block with . like Improve
ment, 1t seemed difficult to eluoidate.
Yet within o few months the council
had actually ordered all those blocks,
and many more, paved on all sides
Of them. In Omaha, 1t ought to be
no longer difficult to establish the
propositions inst any block that has
pavement laid IN front Of II on one
street, will In the approximately near
future, be surrounded by paving ON
the remaining three sides. This be.
Ing so, to levy the assessment for
paving each street upon real estate
included in the sbusttpg half block
would seem to be clearly equitable
and asst. When the block shall have
been surrounded with the improve
ment every part of 1t will have been
equally charged with the cost Of the
work.
AS TO THE ALLEYS.
For the paving of these, the law
authorizes you to take into the dis
trict therefor, the two half blocxs
lying on either side thereof and to lay
the assessments thereon. Thus ali
real estate In the block pays for itr
own complete improvement and finish,
Ing In the alleys as well as In the
streets surrounding II to the middle