Omaha daily bee., 1883-03-14
RAISE THE ASSESSMENT.

aspessed all the way o one-thlrd 10
one twentieth Of Its market value.
We called upon the assessors to make
a show Of a fair assessment and di.
rected their attention to particular
instances where the most glazing dis.
crepiances existed between property OF
euaal value. At considerable expense
OK. County Clerk John 4. Manchester
was hired to compare the market
value of real estate In the business
center Of Omaha with the assessment
list and the names Of taxpayers whose
property was undervalued were pub.
lished without fenr or favor.
THE BEE then merely scratched the
surface Of the ground. 1t proposes to
60 deeper. Ten years ego. when
Omaha had q population Of less than
20, 600, her property valuation wa,
over $40, 0C0. 900. Last year 1t wal
placed by the local assessors at g.
200, 900. A comparison of the assess
ment books with the records of rea
estate trantfers shows that at least
one-third of the property In this city
Is assessed for purposes of taxation al
from ~one.seventh to ono.thirtieth q
Its market value. Large tracts of lane
laid out Into city additions where lott
are selling at from $500 TO $1,000 each
escape taxation on an assessment oil
from $25 to $50 q lot. In other In
stances sach property is Jumped and
assessed at from $50 to 800 an acre.
When business or residence prop.
erty attains market value
Of $1,000 or upwards 1t Ia
for the most part listed at an average
of one. tenth of Its actual value, while
the small cottages of our clerks, Ia.
borers and mechanics pay on a valua-
tlon of 80 per cent. Such a msthod
of assessment 10 no less suicidal to the
city than it is upjust to individual
owners of property.
Every real estate dealer in Omaha
knows that the present market value
of real estate In this city is fully forty
millions. Since 1879 there has been
IN average advance Of over 80 per
cent in the value Of business property.
In all the additions the increase has
been still more marked, running from
60 to 200 per cent above the prices
demanded for real estate four years
ago. In the face of there
facts, which are known to
every n who takes the trouble to
watch the real estate transfers, our
assessors who are paid for their sup.
posed knowledge of property valua-
tion have kept on copying the assess
ment rolls OF the previous year for the
last five years, with the most trifling
changes.
1t is high time that a halt should be
called. A radical reform In the pro.
cess of taking the assessment il not
only needed but demanded by our
citizsns. Omaha Is being injured In
the eyes of outside capitalists by this
sorry showing of her real estate assess.
ment. Our tax levy which could be
reduced to two per cent by a fair
equalization of taxes, is now quoted at
five per cent; and bonded debt,
which Is smaller per capita than that
Of any city Of our sizs In the
country, Is made to appear
oat Of all proportion with
our property valuation. Capital
which with a fair showing to the real
prosperous condition Of our city would
be attracted Is repealed, and the stats.
tics Of Omahs's growth are compared
to her disadvantages, with those of 9
score of smaller and less wealthy com
munities.
But entirely aside from considera
ton affecting the financial standing o.
this city the gross IN 1utice Of our Law
valuation makes itself felt In cloggin,
the wheels of public Improvement ant
checking the material growth of Oma
ha In all the elements which 20 t.
make up q metropolis. Every deman'
for improvement bonds Is met by
growl that the statutory limit Of to
per cent on our assessed valuation hs
almost been reached. The deman
for paving and sewering for GU
tsring and grading awakens
howl about the heaviness {
!. our tax levy while tn
men who are escaping taxation ul
the bugbear of high taxes to frighte
the very citizens who are already beai
ing moro than their share of the m,
I nicipal burdens.
4, The remedy must be applied an
applied at once. The assessment
property In Omaha ought to be raise
by readjusting property values on O
impartial basis, and listing all pro-
. erty that has heretofore been assesse
i a. q nominal value at the lowest pc
stble estimate, an equalization of a
7 sessment on the basis of one third tn
market value would give Omaha a
aggregate valuation of sl3 900, 90,
Z The tsxssof the small property owner