Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-03-15

II the board Of trade assessment bill is
TO be amended by the creation of board
of appeals distinct from the board of as
sessment that measure must be thorough
" and radically revised and reconstructed.
If board of appeals is created It will
be the real assessing power, the court Of
last resort. and all the anxious care which
in the pending assessment bill has been
bestowed upon the creation of the assess
ing board must be transferred to the body
which is to supersede it. 1t will be nom
sensical to create the assessing board of
citizens with all the safeguards proposed
by the bill and then subject their expert
work to be destroyed at will by an appel
late court. composed of the men who hap
pen to fill designated District offices. who
have other work to perform. who have
not inspected. as the assessors have, and
whose judgment from the necessities OF
the case will be of less weight than that
Of the carefully selected permanent board
Of assessors whose decisions they are ex-
pected to revise The board of trade bill
does not contemplate any court of appeals
If one is to be created, this bill had better
be discarded and new measure prepared
The aim of the bill under consideration is
to give To the city permanent Doaru
Of citizen assessors, consisting OF
three or five persons, and to secure
the services of the best men for
this responsible work by giving 70 the
position dignity and honor, attaching
fair compensation to the office. and mag
nifyfng il by causing the official decisions
TO be final. 1t was thought that the judg-
ment of three or five carefully selected
citizens, exercised collectively in respect to
the assessment value of a piece of property.
and reconsidered and. II proper. revised at
the suggestion of property owners by the
same citizens acting as board of equaliza-
ton and review. could be safely relied upon.
The reviewing and equalizing by the as
sessing board is in the nature of a rehear-
ing to enable the assessors to correct in
advertent inequalities. and not in the
nature of an appeal. Since the board as
sesses collectively. both originally and in
review, there will be no individual humil-
iation or modification in the change of
assessment by the board itself, and II will
be practically easier for a taxpayer 20 Sc
cure just correction of figures in his favor
from the board of citizens who made the
original assessment, than from a second
and distinct board which cannot act in his
favor without openly discrediting and re-
versing the judgment of those who have
inspected his property and all the property
IN the District. and who have based their
opinion of its comparative value up
on this inspection. 1t Is questionable
whether any board of appeals is necessary
or desirable. If the board of assessment is
properly constituted. full opportunity TO that
board to correct inequalities pointed out to
1t by tax payers may be all that is needed.
If. however. there must be board of APP
peals. and must be two distinct guesses at
assessment values, it is submitted that it
would be wiser to have the inspector of
buildings and the assistant assessor make
the fist and preliminary rather than the
final guess at these values. and to cause the
decisions of the permanent citizen assessors
who inspect the property to be conclusive,
making Of them the board of appeals.