The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-08-21
TAXATION IN CHICAGO.

The effort made to secure an assess
nent of land and improvement values
for taxation in the city of Chicago has
met with failure. We called attention
at the time to the report of the bureau
of labor for Illinois, which was devot-
ed largely to the inadequacy and inc
quality of the valuations of property
in Chicago, and, later, to the work Of
the commission appointed by the may
or to examine into the matter with a
view to correcting the manifest abuses
growing out of either the incompetence
or dishonesty of the assessors The
statements made by the labor bureau
were confirmed in a remarkable man
ner by the facts brought out by this
commission, body composed of bust
ness men, experts in real estate val
ues. The purpose of the mayor was
to obtain valuation of property by
competent men that would be taken
by the assessors as a guide and basis
in their work.
The assessors have just completed
their tasks and the result must be dis
couraging for those who have tried to
better conditions. The assessment
district Of the town Of South Chicago
embraces the territory south and east
OF the river to Thirty-ninth street and
east of Western avenue. In this is
to be found the most valuable Dor
ton of the city. 1t is the great whole
sale and retail district, the banking.
hotel and railway center, the heart of
the city, in fact. Two-thirds of the
value lies north of Twelfth street. The
assessed valuation for 1895 was found
by both the commission and the
bureau to be less than 10 per cent of
the actual value, as determined by
sales made or estimated from ground
rentals, and this differentiation has
been decreased over 81, 200, 900 by the
assessment this year. 1t is probable
that the determinations found by both
Investigations continue and that some
are favored at the cost Of others.
The total valuation of the county,
with which the city is practically iden-
teal, for this year is, for realty, $179,-
7S5,767, and for personality, $26, 6S2, 1903.
In 1873, two years after the great fire,
the realty was valued at S228, S99, 1868,
and the personally at $55,076, $40. In
tWenty-three years of tremendous
growth in population and wealth the
value of real estate for taxation has
erty over so per cent. This decrease
has it's roots in the system which re-
tains, absurdly, the township system
of taxation, each with it's own sepa-
alter officers, for the taxation Of the
city as a whole; and in the purely hui
man, II not commendable, impulse of
the individual to escape burden-bear-
ing as far as possible This impulse
is justified to itself by the suspicion
that others are escaping through I'M
due influence with the officials.
1t matters very little whether valu-
atoms are high or low provided they
are as nearly equal as fair and intelli
gent judgment can make them. There
is but one fixed factor in direct taxa
ton and that is the amount of r.oney
to be raised AS the valuation rises
or falls the other variable factor. the
percentage of taxation, falls or rises.
Thus the average percentage of taxa
ton in the three principle towns of
Chicago for ten years, 1854. was
s6.26 on each 500. Were the taxes
extended on the actual value of prop
erty as found by the commission and
the bureau, about ten times it's as
sessed valuation. the percentage of
taxation would be SIG cents on 500
instead of 1925.