Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-04-27
A QUARTER BILLION OF DOLLARS.
Property at the Point. Near the New POST
Ofice and in the East End
Takes a Big Jump. \
TIE SCHENLEY PARK DEED ARRIVES.
Esz sGrs People Try to FoOl tie Assessors on th'
Price Of Real Estate.

ETleGDlal dSSSSSlueEtt NHlcu CONSIo Leai'l
as well as personal property, and has
ALREADY discovered that Pittsburg's soil has
largely increased in value.
The probability is that the assessment
OF tlc city will come very close TO a quarter
of billion dollars The valuation Of the
city Is usually within a few dol
lars of the valuation Of the en-
tire county, paTadoxical as that may
seem. The ;riennial assessment for the
county. as reported 20 the County Commis-
sioners In 1855, was nearing the quarter
billion mark. The city was over $500, ,0o0,-
600, but the city assessors were new to the
business. and were afraid Of being consid-
cred too radical. The County Assessors did
lot fear any such charge, as their assess
nepts. compared with the city's valuations,
were calculated to please any and every
property holder.
Changed Their Minds When 1t Hurt.
The Civ Board of Assessors is composed
OF Frank ?. Case, Chief Assessor; Philip
Hoerr and James j. Larkin. These gentle
men are now serving their second term, and
are making the triennial assessment for the
second tine.
The last trienuial assessment was made
under difficulties A new law had gone
into force, and under it all property had TO
be valued at its actual worth. SO far as i:
was possible 10 ascertain. The Assessors
were instructed TO make their calculations
Oh the last recorded sale, where one OF late
date mad been made. Everybody agreed,
abo Fp1l 4I,op fla fnv
ers. that it was hut fair to base the assess
ment on the selling price of the property.
That is, they agreed to it as general prop
Os'tion, but individually it did not look
right to many OF them, and the kicks were
many and vigorous. Chief Assessor Case
expected it. and was prepared for it. He
was prepared 20 go into court at any time
and test the fairness of his valuations. Not
that he liked litigation, but he preferred
fight to L finish to tempOriziug, He won
several victories and other people became
shy of entering the ring with him.
Didn't 90 Quite High Enough.
The las; assessment sent the city's valua-
tion ND like sllyrocket, and even the AS
SCISSORS stood sghast At what they had done.
OF course they realized, as did most OF the
taxpayers, tha, where specified amount of
money had to be raised on pro rata tax, it
made no difference whether land was worth
81 or 81, 900 an acre, so long as the valua-
tion was equitable. Still, when the As
SCISSORS compared their valuations with the
sales made shortly before and within a few
months after their assessment. they found
they had not gone 100 high, but had fallen
4 little short here ana there.
Among other changes made in valuation
was that on several blocks of downtown
Fifth avenue property. 1t had been valued
at s, 200 foot front, but the Assessors
thought it was worth $1,000, and taxed it
accordingly. A few days ago one of these
property owners dropped into the Assessors
Office and said it was worth $1,000 foot
'front.' If it was worth cent, and quoted sew
eral recent sales as proof of his statement.
Thus encouraged, the Assessors are pre-
pared to show this year that Pittsburg
realty is a nice thing TO own.
Trying to Save Their Tempers.
The Assessors have commenced their work
on the downtown portion OF the city, and
will introduce an innovation this year.
Instead of waiting until The assessment of
several weeks or months to hearing appeals,
they will send out their notices whenever
TWO or three wards are completed, hear the
appeals and finally dispose of them. In
this manner they hone to give their tempers
intervals OF rest. which they need greatly as
they are often tried to the utmost by people
Who content with disputing their knowl-
edge of property values, impugn their
honesty as officials, and hold them respon-
sible for the imposition o: any and all
taxes. The Assessors do not sit in their
offices and pull figures out OF hat to de-
termine the value of real estate. They
realize that this would be an easy method
and that many people would give them Just
as much credit, but they don't do it that
way. They visit each piece of property,
talk to tie neighbors, hunt up musty old
records and naturally put in lively sum-
mer's work.
Radical Changes at the Point
The increase in valuation is pronounced |
in the downtown wards, notably around the /
Point There are large pieces of property |
there on which are erected buildings which |
it would be gross fat:ery to call houses. |
These structures are rented at good rates, |
considering the accommodations. Much of |
this property belongs to the Schenley es-
existence after this year. There are two |
reasons for this Ms. Schenley has deter
mined that it is not good for her tenants to |
live in such houses and III such busy To- |
cality, and the valuation on the land will |
take (. iunp. The assessment On all of this |
property will NOT he less than $50, 600 an |
ac7e. and some of it vii! be rated much |
higher. The increased taxes on this prop
c-iv VIII necessitate its being put to a more
remuneratiYe use.
-hc change of location of the postotfice
viii enhance the value of property OF !
Snithfeld street and Third and Fourth
avenues, without depreciating real estate on
Filth avenue. The developing power of a
pOstotHce has been so pronounced that one
man suggested TO Mr. Case that the struct-
IRE be placed on wheels, so that it could be
moved every year or so and used to boom
property in different parts Of the city.
Deed for Park Property.
Sehenlev Park has done wonders in this
way. Colonel W. A. Heron, who is agent
for The Schenley estate, has received from
'I2s. Schenley the deed for 100 acres par
chased BY the city, this bcirg the condition
attached to the gift of the park In this !
connection Colonel Heron said: IF the
city desired to sell this property to-day it
ccuid get from three to four times what i is
paying for il, and that in bulk, without
being cut up into lots Any real estate
dealer would jump at the chance Of getting
hold of il.
care we going to make erictions at the
Point? On, no. We have renewed all the 4
leases, but only for this year. After that
fGe tenants will have to find other homes.
AEs. Schenley has arrived 1t the conclusion
that it will be for the best interests of the
tenants. You see, these families have lived
here Tor years have intermarried and have |