Daily Republican., 1883-09-24
The New ASS essunent.

NONDAY, sEPTEABER "a. 1858.
The New ASS essment.
1t il b hoped that the present move to
have a just and proper assessment both
sbr city and county purposes will be
thorough and It's results such that they
will readily be acquiesced in. That the
City Cou neil and the Legislature both
should have hit upon this reform at the
same time, is evidence Of the need OF it,
though in dividing the city into three
assessment districts, we see but petty
partisan scheme, one of the many that
Is 80 very discreditable to the late Leg
islature. 1t has been the custom for
many years past to make the city as
sessment the basis for the county assess
ment, and all county assessor had to
do when the time came to make up his
assessment was to give the city assessor
. snug little sum of money for the use
of his assessment books, when more
than half the labor of making an as
sessment was Obviated by duplicating
the city assessment. OF course under
this plan whatever errors there were in
the city assessment were copied into the
county assessment until both might
with considerable degree of justice, be
termed comedies of errors. But the
blame for imperfect assessments should
not be all cast upon the city assessor.
Generally speaking they were gentlemen
of fair education and good business
capacity with tair knowledge of the
value Of property. The blame is mostly
with the board of tax revisi on which in
too many cases coming under their in
dividual notice, changed the work of the
assessor and either raised or lowered the
estimated value of property according
to their own sweet will.
Whether properly or not we would not
gay, but nevertheless the tendency ofthe
operations of this system has been to
lower the taxable value of large real
estates and to increase the value of small
estates. Instances are known where re-
ductions running from sl5, 900 to $40, 600
have been made upon large properties
for no other reason apparently than that
the figures at which they were assessed
were apparently too high, and it has
been charged, and the charge not con-
tradicted, that in one or two instances
reductions amounting to many thousand
dollars without request by the owners
have been made, and we are informed
of one instance where large reduction
was male even against the protest Of
the owner Under sucn system and
disposition to favor the large real estate
owners it IS not surprising that the bur
then OF taxation has fallen upon the
small property owners.
We do not want to appear as an anx-
ious advocate of levying the highest
tax upon our large manufacturing in
dustries which develop the manufac-
curing interests of our city and give
Bm ploy ment to the thousands of Will
mington mechanics who own these
small properties, but we cannot see
why they should be exempt from an
equitable tax valuation. A communi-
ty of in erests is involved in our large
manufactures. The workman though
he may not have thou ands Of dollars
invested. has that which concerns him
in an equal degree, and when the va!u
alton of the property of his employer i $
reduced and his own increased pro-
portionatelv, he feels the injustice of a
system which permits such things to be
done. The remedy to prevent running
into the old grooves if new assess
ment is made, is difficult TO suggest.
The assessor and the Board of Revis
ion have the matter in their own hands
If they are practical gentlemen and
have the firm ness to stand for the righ t
and a fair and equitable assessment
there will be but few complaints.
One thing, however, should be done
A. the commencement Of making the
new assessment. The old ones should
be thrown aside. Let the assessors start
out on their rounds with only a pencil
and blank book and let his judgment
be exercised about the value Of the
property he is to assess. If he has no
idea whatever of the amount at which
II is assessed, 50 much the better. He
can have no difficulty whatever in as
Gertaining the price Of uuinCumbered
property in almost every square in the
city. Let him be governed by these
prices rather thau by the old assessinent {
books that have been handed down in
an almost unDroken lineage Of dozen
The idea that the property valuation OF
our city is some three million dollars
less now than dozen years ago when
the city was one-thrd less in popula-
tiOn and the number of private dwell
ings, is ridif nlous in the extreme, and
calls aloud for that change which we
are glad to see the city and county as
SCISSORS are about TO make and which We
hope vii be equal and just, no matter
who is affected by the change.
Always Ahead.
The RErrBLtcAN printed and sold a
large edition on Saturday last, over
sixty-nlne hundred copies Of the Daily