St. Paul daily globe., 1895-08-11
J0BBERS PROTEST
OBJECTED TO A RAISE IN AS
SESSMENT, AND CARRIED tr,7
THEIR POINT. Gs
o.
EQUALIZERS IN A DILEMMA.
80
REDUCTIONS IN ASSESSMENTS
AGGREGATE OVER HALF A
MILLION.
Ero
RAISE ON RETAIL HOUSES
To Make Up Part of the Total
Amount Abated During the ~
Sess;o,s sTV
EoUALIZERS IN A DILEMMA,

The board of equalization finally
concluded its labors and adjourned
sine die yesterday afternoon, after
having been in session all day con-
sidering and reconsidering-co
ering how the $562, 900, the aggregate
of the reductions made by the board.
should be made up, and reconsider
ing its action after it had decided to
saddle slice of it onto the houses
connected with the jobbers' union.
1t was figured out that the aggre-
gate of the assessments of these
houses was only about s2,O0O,OO0,
which is very small percentage of
the entire valuation of property in
the county, and therefore that the
jobbers would not kick at a little in
crease when it became necessary to
make up a deficiency.
Accordingly, Mr.. Wright moved
that the assessments of all the job
bing houses be increased 20 per cert.
Assessor Seng moved an amendment
making it 10 per cent, and Mr.. Nc
Carron wanted to split the differ
ence and make it Is.
McCarron's amendment was lost.
Seng, Van Slyke, Kellerman, Smith
and Sullivan voting against it; Kar-
TAX, McCarron, Montgomery, Wright
and Moritz voting for it. Seng's
proposition to make it 10 per cent was
carried.
This was all done at the forenoon
session. But when the board con-
vened in the afternoon, there were
blood spots on the sun for a few
minutes. A delegation from the job
bers' union came in, and kicked a
hole in the whole proceedings. This
delegation consisted of P. H. Kelly,
Claiming Seabury, George r. Finch,
William Lindeke, r. r. Kirk and D.
r. Noyes. These gentlemen showed
by comparative lists that the assess
ments of the ST. Paul jobbers, as they
stood on the books, were much high
er than those of the Minneapolis job
bers. They further stated that it
has always been the policy in Chi
cago, st. Louis and other cities with
bers have to compete, to make the
assessments very light; that st. Paul
jobbers have always paid taxes on a
much higher valuation than those of
other cities, and the result was
decided disadvantage to the city.
The jobbing trade was the backbone
Of st. Paul, and if the jobbers here
were taxed so much heavier than
their competitors, they %.
COULD NOT STAND THE STRAIN
especially this year, after the hard
siege they have had the past few
years. This presentation of the mat
ter had the desired effect, and a
unanimous vote was cast to recon-
slider the action taken at the morning
| session. 1t was then voted to let the
assessments of the jobbers stand at
the figures of the assessor, and the
delegation withdrew, after thank
ing the board for it's courtesy
The task of making up for the half a
million abated now seemed desperate
one, but Mayor Smith helped the board
out of the hole by reminding the mem
bers that they were not called upon to
make up for arbitrary assessments
abated. The auditor said that of the
whole amount only about $4,000 had
been abated on other than arbitrary
assessments. This made the task COM
paratively easy, and it was suggested
that 10 per cent be added to the as
| sessments of Mannheimer Bros, Field,
Mailer & Co., the Golden Rule, Ban
non & Co., Mealey & Sons, Habighorst
and Fantle Bros. to make it up. 1t
| was therefore voted to reconsider the
action taken previously in fixing the
assessments of the first four firms
named, and then the 10 per cent was
| added to all seven, as suggested. The
| aggregate assessments Of these firms
| was about $15O,O0O, so the 10 per cent
| increase makes up about $4,000 of the
| amount abated.
| At the morning session the question
of how the trust companies should be
| assessed was finally settled by decid-
ing to take 10 per cent of their capital,
| the same as the banks are assessed.
| On this basis the assessments We're
| fixed as follows: st. Paul Title Insur-
and and Trust company, $S7, $50; St.
| Paul Trust company, $24, 900; Security
| Trust company, S32, ,046
Mr.. Van Slyke recommended a reduc-
| ton in the assessment of Isaac katz,
| but the board refused to reconsider it's
| former action in the matter.
| Several of the building societies had
| complaints to make against their as
! sessments and were informed that the
| stock would be assessed to the indf$
| vidual holders if they would furnish a
| list of their names.
| George r. Finch had a protest
! against the assessment of s., 565 on his
| personal property. He said this was
almost double that of some of his
| neighbors who had more personal prop
erty than he had. 1t was voted to
knock off $1,000 from the assessment.
Adam Fetsch's assessment was re-
| duced from S10,S7O to $4,000, and the
assessment on a mortgage held by r.
| P. Lewis was reduced from $4,000 to
$1,000.
| The board adopted a resolution con-
| firming the assessments as equalized
| by the board and then adjourned y