Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-02-02
injury, and to the great detriment of the
municipality.
Only the Right to Rectify Errors.

municipality.
Only the Right to Rectify Errors.
You, the Board of Assessors can make no
assessments until the commissioners fur
nish you with the legal basis and when you
have this basis for the different wards, you
have the power under the law to rectify any
errors therein, and to correct any inequal-
ities either as to individuals, or wards, or
parts of wards. But if there are no errors,
If there are no Inequalities, then the assess
ments OF tile ward assessors must stand.
The notices of this triennial assessments
sent out to the people show an unnatural
disproportion between your assessments
and those of the ward assessors, and it
would seem as If you claimed the right and
power to fix the values Of property OF indi-
viduals, of wards or parts of wards at your
own pleasure and without any rules or
specific information to govern your esti-
mates. / have never heard of your having
called an assessor or citizen to testify before
you regarding any error or inequalities;
and yet this is the only testimony desig-
nateu by the law and given under oath that
you can call for information.
In your blanks furnished to the people,
you give your figures of the value of their
property and you require them to give their
values and to make affidavit to printed
FORM otherwise they are to have no appeal.
You require them to swear that the value
they give is all the property would sell for
at a bona f1de sale after due public notice.
How can any man tell what his prop
erty would sell for at public sale? But /: he
swears he don't know, you then deprive him
of an appeal.
A Technical Point Raised.
The law requires you to make rules as to
appeals, fixing the time that they are not
taken for delay. etc. But your blanks relate
entirely to valuations and not to appeals. The
blank requires the property owner to swear
that he has no other property of any de-
scription in the designated ward, and no
one could take such an oath who owned
furniture, horses or carriages or other prop
erty OF any description in the ward.
II the value of all the property in the city
were equalized made equitable and fair, it
would be immaterial what the sum total OF
the valuation might be, except in so far
as it relates to the limitation of the
city debt. On this subject there is wise
provision in the Constitution intended to
protect the citizens and prevent the rech-
less creation OF debt. Any attempt to IN
crease the total valuation of the city for the
purpose of avoiding this provision would be
in fragrant violation of the law.
An abnormal increase of the city valua-
tion will increase taxation even If the mill
age be reduced. No one can be deceived,
not even a schoolboy, by very high valua-
tion and very slight reduction in the tax
rate.
Excessive valuations do not make the
people richer, nor do they enhance the abil-
ity of the taxpayer to pay high taxes. Such
a policy does not advance the best interests
OF the city; it does not encourage enterprise
and progress. 1t breeds discomfort among
the people and tends to depreciate the value
of every foot of property within the corpo-
rate limits.
In conclusion permit me to say that the
arbitrary increase of value has caused
nearly the whole community to protest and
as consequence very avalanche of com
plants daily descends upon your office. The
equitable adjustment of property value and
the correction OF errors and inequalities i'll
the assessment OF the ward as
SCISSORS are not only proper and
0emAnQ60
the best interests of all. But while the
placing of extravagant and fictitious values |
upon property may afford an opportunity to
play with the tax rate OF the city. it can
serve no good purpose to the general public. |
Very respectfully,
H L GOURLEY MayOr