Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-12-28

THE CITY ASSESSMENT.
Nh. .h. Council set Aside the Assess
ment just Returned and Fixed New
Rasis of Taxation for ISs4-A Differ
ence. OF $500, GOO Between the As
sessment Rejected and the One
Adopted.
The action of the City Council. on We'd
nesdav in setting aside the assessment
made by the City Assessors and the pass
age Of the ordinance establishing the as
sessment of last year, with an increase OF
20 per cent. as the basis of taxation for
1884. is A matter of great interest to the
taxpayers Of Savannah and was subject
Of general discussion yesterday.
The report of the Council Com
mittee on Assessments, published
in the MORNING News yester-
dav, recommending this actloh,
caused considerable surprise. Although
il was known that the assessment was
greater than il was last year, 1t was I'M
derstood to be satisfactory. The ordinance
carving out the recommendations OF the
committee appears in the official pro-
ceedinps of the Council this morning. ii
nroyides further than for the annulment
of the assessment just MADE, ana
for the establishing of new oasis OF
rANAtlON. InaL tue AesCSctiS bN5AA
at once to make an assessment and Nalua-
tion OF all the improvements that may
have been made on real estate since the
last partial assessment was made, ana
after having filed this, together with the
new established real estate assessment,
in the City Treasurer's Office, obJectlons
to valuation may be referred TO
the Committee on Assessments VINO
shall decide upon them, their
decisions to be final unless the director
appeal to the Council within ten days
after being notified.
A MORNING NEWS reporter called upon
Col. r. d. Walker, Chairman OF the Board
of Assessors. and who has been member
of the board for twenty-six years, IN
regard to the matter. In reply to an IN
quiry as to what he understood to be
tbe cause of the setting aside of the
assessment, Col. Walker eyinced surprise.
He knew of no reason ior the
action of Council. "BefOre the work OF
assessment was begun last fail" ne con-
tinued, "a Joint conference of the Asses
sors and the Finance Committee OF Coun-
Gil was held, and the committee recon-
mended that the assessment be increased,
and that property be assessed at its full
value This conference between the As
SCISSORS and the Finance Committee was
originated during the administration OF
Col. kScreVen as Mayor. and has been
held every year. All the Assessors and
members of the committee were present
this year except Alderman Thomas. Ihey
made the recommendation for increased
assessment, and their recommendation
were carried out. Vow our work is lg-
nored and set aside. We were invited TO
no conference with the Committee on AS
sessments. and are not advised OF the rea-
sons upon which their report to Councll
was based"
Snow that the assessment has been dis
posed of by Council, and the Assessors
directed to make an assessment OF the I'M
prOVements made during the past year,
suppose the work will begin at OnceF'
tThat. l understand, is the action Coun-
ell has taken"
1T is charged by the committee that
the assessment is irregular, unequa |, and,
in most cases, excessive
''That is the language the committee
used. The Assessors, however, did their
duty to the best of their judgment
and to the best of their ability.
No assessment can be absolutely perfect,
! and there are liabilities to error, but taken
as a whole. our work was done
carefully, adyisedly and with considera-
tiOn."
1t is understood that the entire Board
of Assessors will refuse to continue In
office, and some other provision will have
10 Dt UldNit III OlQCl " HCNOtAC bhN SNSSS1S
ment of improvements ordered by the
| Council.
In order to get at further facts in re-
| gard to the action of the Committee OF
! Council, the reporter called upon Alder
man Thomas.
In reply to an inquiry as to the amount
I of the new assessment in comparison
with the one adopted by Council,
/ Alderman Thomas said: 1.-The assess
ment for last year was SlO,292, 6SS.
/ The assessment just completed is
/ $15, SO5, 900 approximately. The 20 per
cent. increase upon the assessment for
! 1888 amounts to s12. So, 90, leaving differ
ence of about So, 5000 between it and
! the assessment for 1884 as returned by the
! Assessors"
| "The assessment just returned is char
acterized by the committee in their re-
| port as irregular and unequal. In what
! respect is this the case?"
In a general reply to this question,
| the Alderman stated that while
| the wharf property of the city
/ had deprecated in value it's assessment
/ had not been changed; that property on
| BrOughtOn street and vicinity, which
I should have been increased from 10 to 90
! per cent, had been doubled, and the as
| sessment in the old part of the town had
/ generally been irregular and unequal"
"What about the southern portion of
/ the city,"
"Pr0perty i'm that locality is considered
| very correctly assessed. In that portion
OF the city the Assessors did their best
work."
IF wharf property has deprecated in
value and the new assessment is unSatiS-
/ factory. how will it be affected by the 20
| per cent. increase upon the old valua-
tion?7
] "The assessment for 1888 was I'M
f1rrr .Fa1Ir u = a
/ the time it was made. The committee
/ took that return with a 20 per cent. in
/ crease in preference to the new assess
ment with a stated per cent. decrease,
! believing that it would be more
/ satisfactory adjustment of the matter.
! Taxpayers know the amount of their
/ taxes under the assessment for 1888. With
/ the increase of 20 per cent. they will be
/ able at once to calculate exactly their
] taxes for 1884. The ordinance passed by
/ the Council provides for the hearing of
/ objections to assessments by the commit
/ tee. whose decision in such cases shall be
final, except an. appeal be taken to the
/ Council within ten days after being noti-
| fed. If owners of wharf property object
to the assessment they will avail them
| selves of this method of securing reduc-
| ton.
1.-The city expenditures require certain
I taxation to supply the Treasury. How
will this be done if reduction is made to
! any eXtent"
by the assessment of taxes upon inn
| provements provided for by the ordinance.
| 1t is estimated that improvements to the
| extent of $4,000 have been made upon
real property during the past year. The
! taxes upon these will balance any reduc-
tiOns that may be made.'
'There were many reasons why the as
| sessment was rejected" continued the
Alderman, land the best and most salts
! factory adjustment that could be deter
mined upon was the establishment of the
assessment for 1888, with the 20 per cent.
increase, as the basis of taxation for next
year. Unless this had been done, and in
case the assessment returned this year
had been accepted, the committee, l be-
lieve, would have been kept busy the
whole year hearing objections and adjust
ing differences"
WASHINGTON, d. c., May 10, 1880.
GENTLENIEN-Having been sufferer
for a long time from nervous prostratlon
and general debility, was advised to try
Hop Bitters. have taken one bottle,
and l have been rapidly getting better