The Sunday morning news. [volume] (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1886-1891, 1891-08-23
EARTH
Real Estate Bears Nearly
All the Burden of Taxes
in New Jersey.
A TALK WITH CHARLES c. BLACK
He Tells What the State Commits
sion Has Done and Proposes
to Do in Hudson.


Inc commissioners appointed by the
Governor under the new tar law of last
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49g q summer. since June II they nave
held meetings at Salem, Salem county !;
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county Atlantic City. Atlantic couuty.
| Toms River. Ocean county FreehoEd.
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county, 1nsf SAT tAree Gays ID xteu1pnf
/ aud 0ne day IN each OF the other named
| nsafes fsn S.nfAn,f,ev they viii ,sseet
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Hoboken- They VIII be IN Newark sep
/ TENDER s.: Paterson SEPTEMBER Cam
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/ Wick, MlauieseA county, september 1os
! and Haekensack, Bergen county Sept
| ember IL After they have held these
| meetings the commissioners viii take up
| appeals from the assessment of 1891. Al
| though the law gave the Comm issioners
1 Jurisdiction over all disputed assessments
/ and taxas remaining unpaid at the time
| of he passage of the act the only appeal
/ of 1890 which they have considered was
| that Of the Matthiessen & Wrichers Sugar
| Refining Company.
/ The object Of the Commissioners in
| their work, as was contemplated by the
| law appointing them, has been to ascer-
/ tain the various methods and plans of
| fixing values adopted BIZ the different as
SCISSORS in the various counties OF the
| State Generally speaking the Commits
1 gioners found that the assessors of each
| county. and Ia many cases the different
/ assessors Of the enIIle county, have ap-
I piled different methods OF assessment and
T. If4lc A -
ample IN some townships the assessors
have heen returning property at one-third
1 the value IN others at one hall. and in
! still others at two-thirds the value
/ SOUTH JERSEY METHODS.
| 1t was found that some assessors have
l been exemnting large amounts Of prop
erty, for which procedure there was no
/ legal Warrant. Others, II WAS found. had
exempted large amounts of property on
| various pretexts, and the Commissioners
| found considerable manufacturing prop
ertY exempted on the ground that it
/ would not be advisable to assess the prop
/ erty, as It might drive the industry from
/ the State.
| The Commissioners found In Cumber-
| land county that the oyster industry at
! Maurice River Cove representing s. 000,-
| 600 was not assessed at all and the only
! reason they could discover for 1t was
favoritisn. In Cape Mag county they
found a large amount Of vessel property
/ which was not assessed st all on the
4 ground that the property was exempt by
! .&he United States statutes. Considerable
sea side property IN Cape May, Atlantic,
/ Ocean and Monmouth counties WAS dis
/ covered which had NOT been assessed, and
1 the reason given for the exemption was
/ that it was good policy to encourage sucn
| development of the coast by exempting
| the improvements from taxes. The Com
| nissioners also found 10 those counties
~ =. fau rfr e3,
| in the matter OF assessments, especially
| In the case of large capital For example,
l the large Monmouth House al Spring
/ Lake, which is often spoken or as the
largest hotel along the coast, was dis
! covered to have been assessed at only
| SS5, 900 by the Ocean Township assessors,
| while uninterested persons who have had
large experiences in that class Of property
estimate its true value at sl50.c0O. In
| view of the fact that at Lakewood one
! hotel is assessed at 500, 600 aud the other
| Mt $500 900. the West End, at Long Branch,
at Sl50. 600; the Coleman House. at As
bury Park. at SIS, 600. all in the same
/ county, the assessment Of $4,000 for the
/ big Monmouth House seems most ridicu-
| lous.
COMMONPLACE IMPROVEMENT.
The Commissioners encountered
the part of the assessors they
met to assist and cooperate with
! the Board in its work, and the assess
ments made this year in those counties
which the Commissioners have visited
| since the Commissioners were there show
an inclination 70 assess the property on
some national basis as to true value and
apply uniform rules 20 all classes Of prop
erty of ike nature. In Atlantic City.
where the assessments have for years
| been notorious for favoritism and lack of
| uniformity the valuations this year will
be increased from s.. 000, 600 to SO. coo, 900.
AS to the property, such as school,
| church and thar used for charitable pur-
poses, which is exempt under the new
law. the assessors 90 on and assess them
| the same as other property. and then, in
making their returns, return the property
| at its assessed value, followed by the re-
! mark that it is exempt. This is done for
| the purpose of asserting the true value
| of the exempt property of the State,
! FRAUD on THE TAX LAWS
Mr.. Charles C. Black Of this city, who
| is a member OF the Board, in speaking of
| the work of the Commissioners yesterday,
among other things said thar the univer-
sal opinion of the assessors they met was
| that the exemptions of fremen. militia
/ men and soldiers were used as a great
fraud on the tax laws of New Jersey
| and should be repealed. The
| Board Mr. Black continued, had
found that the only true method of assess
in<r vilIaca and cirv nronarfr was IN asSess