Iron County register., 1893-10-19

opinions briefly. and thev win Be published er
diseased in their turn Address this ofdcc. or
P. o. Box sS. Buffalo, N VI
The Tax on Buildings.
The recent message of Mayor Hewitt
to the New York board of aldermen
urging the abrogation of taxes on per
sonal property deserves consideration
not likely to be given to it by the body
to which it was addressed. The propo-
sition runs counter to the prejudices of
the many, but no one can deny the
practical failure of all attempts to levy
proportionate tax on personal property.
Gov. Hill in his latest message urges
the legislature to make further provis-
ion for a large increase in the assessed
value of such property, but he prudent
ly refrains from attempting to point
out a practicable method for securing
the object sought The truth is that
all human experience is against such a
system, and common sense demands
that it shall be abandoned. The dec
laration that failure to tax personal
property permits those claiming the
largest measure of protection from the
state to escape their just share Of pub
lie burden is not justified by expert
ence, for it has been found that a
fairly assessed tax on real estate
reaches every community and falls
as a rule most heavily on those who
have most. So far as this is
not true, the failure of equitable ad-
justment of public burdens through q
tax on real estate is due to the neglect
to carry to its logical conclusion the
proposal to exempt the products of in
dustry from taxation. The argument
in the mayors message that the aboli-
ton of taxes on personal property will
stimulate the concentration of wealth
in New York, and, by making the city
richer, enable its people to bear more
easily the taxation On real estate is a
sound one, but it is not pushed by Mr..
Hewitt to it's logical conclusion.
The annual valuation of taxable
property in the city for the year 1887
was 81. .507. 640, ,633, of which 81, 254, 491,-
$40 was assessed on lands and build
ings and s253, 14s, s14 on personal prop
erty.
During the fifteen years from 1878 to
1887, inclusive, the aggregate increase
in assessment was s477, ,3S5, 264, while
during the same period the building
bureau reported the value of new
buildings at s491, 145, 251, and the value
of betterments and repairs at $63, 7S1,-
sos, making total of 1854, 1926, 759.
It seems to me unquestionable that
the value of buildings erected during
the past fifteen years exceeded the
total increase in the assessed value of
real estate during that period, and
that the increase in the valuation of
bare ground that has been made during
that time has been compensated by a
lowering of the assessment on dilapi-
dated and >decaying improved prop
erty.
This demonstrates that the enormous
increase in taxation during the past
fifteen years has fallen almost exclusive
ly on those who have had the enterprise
and public spirit to erect needed struc-
lures, and that the system of taxation
which thus imposes heavy fine on the
erection of new buildings encourages
the holding vacant of building lots for
speculative purposes while it puts a
premium on the preservation of those
dilapidated and decaying structures
that are the special curse of the ten
ement house districts. Further exami-
nation into the workings of this
strange and deplorable system shows
that this result is deliberately brought
about, the assessors invaria bly, discrimi-
mating against improved property and in
favor of the holding of vacant land.
Last April eighteen lots belonging to
the estate of the late President Arthur,
and situated on 147th street, between
Tenth and st. Nicholas avenues, were
sold at auction for sos, ,475, an average
of IS, 800 per lot. They were assessed
at 81, 500 each-that is twenty-eight per
cent. of their auction value. An exam
ination made at that time to see if this
was fair test of the proportion borne
by assessed values showed that vacant
lots sold at auction at the real estate
exchange were assessed at from 81 to
4s per cent. of their auction price while
improved property was assessed at from
81 to Is per cent of it's auction value.
It is generally understood that it is the
aim of the assessors to value improved
property at two-thirds of its true worth
and vacant lots at one-half their actual
worth. An even greater discrimina-
ton is made in favor of those who. hold
tracts of land that they have not yet
divided into building lots.
The result of this discrimination can
be seen by tracing its operation on two
adjoining vacant lots worth, say, $780,
600 each. They would be assessed at
$40, 900 each, and at the tax rate for
1887, .O216, each would pay 1916. Let
us suppose that the owner of one of
these lots determines to build a house
on it costing $4,000. The assessor will
promptly take note of the improvement
and apply the system already described
to the new valuation. The two proper
ties will thenceforth be taxed as fol-
lows:
unimproved Improved
property. property.
Land. 10000 Land. t2O,UUU
House ........... lU,UUU
Total. go. COO
Assessment 1t one Assessment at
half its value 10000 two-thirds its
value. 1000
Tar at .O2l6. 49,. &2l6 Tax at .0216.... t432
Though the enterprising builder has
increased the value of his property but
one-third, he will find that his tax has
been doubled, because in the new as