The record-union., 1896-08-29
ALAMEDA MAKES A SHOWING.
haF Assessor Before the State Board Of
Equalization.
He Was Loaded for Equalizsrs. and
Stood Them Off Very
Cleverly.

The State Board of Equalization at
its session yesterday had under consid-
GRAFTON the tax roll of Alameda County.
The county showed a net gain over the
reduction Of S1.S73. .735 allowed by the
State Board last year of S479,921. The
total assessment roll for 1896 amounted
to S91 ,913, ,939.
This increase was not considered suffi-
cient by the State EQualizers in view Of
the progress which the county had
made.
The Oaklanders who appeared before
the board were County Assessor II. P.
Dalton, Chief Deputy A.. Q. Richards,
and Deputies H. B. Chadbourne, H. P.
Winnegar, E. A. Ellsworth and t. B.
Russell. The Board of Supervisors were
represented by Chairman Hiram Bailey.
j. Q. Johnson, W. S. PoluZe, W. H.
Church, ]. r. Talcott. County Clerk
Frank C. Jordan was also present.
Assessor Dalton thought the board
had a mistaken idea in believing the
roll had fallen off, There was nothing
to warrant an increase of the assess
ment on real estate during the last
year. While the county was undoubt-
edly one Of the best in the State, yet
there was a marked decline IN values.
Chairman Morehouse said that the
board desired to know how it was that
there was q falling off on outside real
estate of $429.S50.
The Assessor showed that a part Of
this decrease was due to the fact of
returning tracts cut up into town lots
back to acreage property, but he could
not account for all Of it without par
ticularizing and going into the roll In
detail.
Beamer cited numerous instances
where the Assessor had listed mort
cages for less than their face value.
Dalton said he did this because the
property was mortgaged for a great
deal more than it was worth. Often
property was mortgaged with the pur-
pose and understanding that a house
would be erected on 1t, but the enter
prise failed. He did not think that
mortgages could be considered q fair
basis for assessments.
Beamer said that many of these
mortgages had been renewed in 1896
and yet were not assessed at their face
value.
Assessor Dalton explained this by
saying that the banks had loaned, but
found they could not realize the mort
gage value from the property. In such
cases as long as they could get the in
terest they were only too glad to re-
new.
Beamer thought there was too much
OF discrepancy of 219 mortgages of the
face value of ST67 .223. when the assess
rnent was only S551. .125. A long list Of
mortgages We're read and in each in
stance the Assessor or one of his depu-
ties declared that the property was not
I <
face of the mortgage.
It looks as If these men were loan
ing money for their health" remarked
Alr. Beamer
These are only instances" replied the
Assessor, where the men who have
loaned money have made mistakes or
there has for some reason been sud-
den decline in the value Of property
lie cited an instance of a piece of prop
erty assessed at SO, $50, with two mort
cages each of $4,000. had been sold for
$4,000, and the second mortgaged re-
leased upon a consideration of $500.
1t was not forced sale, either.
West Oakland property had depreci-
ated, the Assessor said, because the
railroad company had refused to con-
tinue the custom of carrying passengers
free. Many of the people who resided
there were moving to other localities
and as a result numbers of houses were
vacant.
Assessor Dalton proved to be hard
man to handle and he at least met every
question propounded by the board,
though in some instances they were not
satisfied with them. The Assessor de-
clared that Alameda County was as
sessed at nearer the cash value of its
property than any county in the State.
He defied a comparison and several
were made He believed the county was
assessed at least - or 20 per cent too
high, but no one was complaining. All
they wanted was to be let alone.
Equalizer Beamer thought the AS
SCISSOR had read all around the valuable
business and resident portions of Oak
land He wanted to hear Of sales in
the section referred to.
Dalton replied that there had been no
property sold. His highest assessment
was on Broadway where 1t ranged from
81 900 TO 81, ,260 per front foot.
At 1920 p. m. a recess of an hour was
taken.
During the entire afternoon session
Assessor Dalton stood the combined fire
Of the Board Of Equalizers. Mortgage
after mortgage was inquired into, and
real estate assessments were sharply
criticised, but the plucky Assessor was
ever on the alert, ready with reason
for everything. He fought his ground
inch by inch with the board and stuck
to ii, first and last, that his county was
better assessed than any other in the
state.
Some of the rich farming lands had
been reduced by his deputies because
the land was affected with morning
glory vines. This pest when once set
reduced the value OF the land SO OF
SO per acre. This was also the testi-
mony of the Assessors of Yolo and So
Iano Counties.