The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-07-01
PHALEN PARK ASSESSMENTS.

PHALEN PARK ASSESSMENTS.
While the G b e has steadily MAIN.
tanned that the property holders of this
city should not be burdened with assess
ments for any new park project, it
has held that those which had already
been practically ratified should be car
ried out. Phalen park Is one of these.
Steps toward securing 1t were taken
long ago and with the full consent and
approval of a majority of the people.
A great park at Lake Phalen will not
only be in itself Of almost as much
value to the public as that at Como,
but the two will be so connected with
each other as to constitute two great
foci Of the splendid park system which
we hope to see in more favorable times
identifying our entire city. The valua-
ton for the property to be taken at
Lake Phalen has now beer agreed up
on, and an assessment made to raise
the balance necessary after a partial
payment has been made from the park
fund. There will undoubtedly be the
usual protest on both sides; part Of the
people interested holding that the prop
erty taken has been overvalued and
another part that it has been practical
ly confiscated. This would be true if
the completion Of the work were to be
delayed for a century, and equally true
would it be that those assessed for
park purposes would think themselves
unjustly treated and believe that some
discrimination had been shown. In
matters of this sort unanimous agree
ment Is impossible, and the best that
can be doLe is to act upon the ma
jority judgment of experienced and dis
interested persons. 1t seems to us
that this has been done in the case
of the Phalen park proposition, and
that the property may be acquired bet
ter at this time than at any other; and.
under the assessment scheme set forth.
with as little hardship as may be to
the public
The spreading Of the assessment over.
a very wide area of the city is espe-
cially to be commended There are. in
deed, but two principles of local as
sessments for park purposes that can
be justified. The one confines them to
the extreme of narrowness, and the
other distributes them as widely as
possible. The theory on which property
has been taxed in the past in a great
number of instances for public parks
Is wholly untenable. This has con-
sisted in levying upon large area of
territory, with the new park as a CEN
ter, and making assessments grow
gradually lighter as they approach the
circumference. Now, the truth is that
the creation Of park adds to the
value of real estate that Immediately
fronts upon 1t very largely, ard that
it adds to the desirability of resi-
dence property ia a slight degree over
the entire city. But between these two
extremes there is scarcely any middle
ground. In other words, the SUPPOSE
ton that has been embodied in 80
many park assessments that property
two blocks distant from public
square is more benefited than property
four or six blocks distant is a pure
myth. A man who can buy a lot 'front.'
Ing on public park will pay much
more for 1t than for one that does not
have such frontage; but he will not if
he Is sensible. pay any more for a lot
that stands back to back with this one.
and therefore faces on a street one
block distant from the park. than he
would for any other equally eligible
property many blocks away.
It follows that the little neighbour
hood parks in a city ought to be paid
for almost exclusively by the owners
Of property abutting upon them; and
that the large parks that are intended
for general use and that confer an adj
ditional value upon all property in
practically equal ratio should be paid
for by all property holders without re-
tantamount to saying that parks
should be provided and paid for out of
city fund raised by general taxation:
which is, we doubt not, the abstractly
just and ideal scheme. The present as
sessment approaches nearly enough to
that rule to meet general approval. II
we are to have a park at Phalen. and
the general opinion is that 1t Is so de-
sirable as to be worth all that 1t will
cost, then 1t should be paid for by
practically all the property owners on
this side Of the Mississippi river. The
matter has been held so long In abey-
ance by disagreements and legal com
plications that we hope that it may be
allowed to go through in its present
shape without remonstrance, and the
question of q PhaIen park be finally
set at rest.
II sufficient revenues are provided
for the SUPPORT of the government