New-York tribune., 1896-01-19


Of Tenahy:
Gentlemen: Replying to your clrcuiar-leter Of Sep
temper r. / would say tnat the observed evlis OF
village and rural taxation In any VcN'iy are do
T. Real estate is valued for ASSIGNMENT at widely
to leo per cent not only In different taxing d.s-
rlcts. but in the same district. by the same .ons- &s
sessor by the same revising council OF c'N-
Personal property practically ESCAPE, taxa1on
State legislation continually tends toward eAsanpo
Ing the denominations OF the rich. unit. at east 70
per cent s0a weah sn snck @ sy nd Without The
State s exempt either under our laws OF Dy re-
foca YESamrc-The aggregate personal property
of of the permanent c.tzens so 0t M TINS @
iortv OF the securities o. the Northern l1iiroeu
Company owned here. The total asssssmens to va o
o19 o@ s9Y q per cent and ye some small local trades
men and Others are taxed Oh IoHi ~ " w p'' N
Of their capital
PROPOSED REMEDIES.
I Uniformity of assessment by one rule OF VAL
uaiion. v.z market value. enforced by high PEN
atty upon assessor or upon revising board, II re-
sponsibility Is TO be divided, for each evasion OF
rule To this end land ard buildings shoud DC
valued separately AMI recorded In separate Columns
Tho rich mans ornamented acres and marson.
or his unimproved blocks OF vacant lots, shouiu po
valued by the same unit as the house-lot ana COZ
tagc of the ,aborer wlen in the same locality Nheh
do we ever find this mrartally enforced!
Penalty is ACKNOWLEDGEMENT assessors N
the Bergen County Board deliberately Subscribed 10
a false oath In september last. admitting the lact
and deplorrg the legal necessity. Even elastic COL
sciences can be reached through the pocket
2 Pay asscfsoIs loquatey OF the office Is not 10
he merged int, the revising council Of borouShs as
now and by a percentage on valuation, say oh'-
tenth of one per cent. for the hIst hnio' o' 'S
sessed value anl a decreasing percentage t"e'e-
after.
3. More and timely publicity. Publish the assess
mcnt l,ts before revision. ard give taxpayers an
urhurriei public hearing before final conirma'ioh
Adjustment OF va.ues would necessarily io'o"'
laws and methods unbiased State Board OF iaN- N
alton H. in my opinion a nessssl'y: ,,n law cn the
part Of taxing officers. 10 aiultf"tr
whch viii ever arise and mus s4Ve nun n W dv
The Intricate subject OF taxation II may mus saw
+" the reSpie many times its cost rs sonrIe ot
,nfoTmtiion ana alvice 10 taxins oTcers. ! haye
found the state Board Of Taxation kreht rehtr conse
nicncc and means OF relief from efnbirIasSmrn''
George w Jcssup. OF Camden. makes many IN
,er.s,lng comparisons In his letter. He begins by
suggesting the Acknowledgement Of all non-'AN-
paying citizens. Speaking about hla own town. MI
Jessup says it,.
lous Ws posi;;ion OK Assessing square OF ground
on second nnd Cooper sts az $1,000 ard tie c!ty
Ser,4 & psys snd oSfs for al any of his unmproSed
property a. its assessed value snr a, arneslcI
to your Board N 1873 on Nos Hy x ~, y, ana sr
~ North Froni-si.. AS have sold the nonses 10,
s s;,co a. a, a. % you re'iuced them to $500 and
had TO compromise with Mr Morsan AZ AZ, ~" it .,
sand suit on the basis that the rest OF ths clsy
assessed At The ratio of ya!rss ~ sYna pr1p
cen, peoye % h,T .54 ,Hs Since sng Sen a, @ each and
have one o. the same that am no" trying
f. sell for s2.yO. and have many Other assess
,nents that are ~ per cent above the selling price
oar city o1c,s say this h'sh asa ssien' ~ N,p' %
ny GeGs0, i xo"q T o n' rot e' wi,h you in your
decision iha, taxing district IN ne state a susn
fay,ng district as MIR Sape ruled In the case Ok
tho Camden sa;e Deposit C9mplny oS9oVr "a Wrr;
gST,eyy Nnste icy Ciy. Hudson County. on
!csue of morsase he 99"gH md IN VIopf' bnS re q.
dmced - sd In case We bought propert,sss s o az
& Hp" 9rkT' nree .og p ssie bui were fused IN
Article l. IN the at creating the I'oari. IL SAYS. SAYS.
TO secure the elgaliIa,on; rey;a''" anu
1t me compare other taxing districts YIN Enn vi
ieri. Louis r Iicttcher Lewis r. Wood all real
estate agents Of Jersey city. and Mr.. Dronah "t
that Jersey Cny assessed At 60 per cent Ar
thur Deyine samuel vs. cur Brown sehs'Hsr nf Hsv
ark. say ha, ,hey are assessed about % per cen,
On improved propery aga W a 70 % hotb ~ 0 these
ctlcs say the same. h NJ. s s II. ogden anl T. ;.
& IS H. RYAN. Of Ezlbeih. say that ,,s{ ,he{ are ,r
CO OF Railway, AZ they are are 49,, at - 70
Van C'levc and the board Of Assessors o: Trenton
sav they are assessed AZ ~ per cent ana nave never
asscasmcnt / not only have the say-so o. those
parties hu, the location. the selling price ana the
assessments OF It number Of properties IN 'ich oity
mentioned
In your order Of October l. iS, yon ordered stock
ton Gloucester ard Merchantvle TO Increase their
agseesmert with Camden hut they all decreased eN-
ccpt Ca.nisu. and now assert that they would not
u. annexed t. Caml"n. because they are only as
sessel AZ 33 l-3 per cent Thus Camden pays l9 per
cent valuation 10 the state School Fund. as against
The res, OF tho State at about co per cent. ana 70
the county expenses AZ the same valuation. as
against the balance Of county at S3 3 10 ~ per cent
making Camden the highest taxel city In the state.
and IN" third highest taxed city In the United states
We have 4 committee @, the seven largest taNpay-
ers n ca nden GncudinR Mr.. Voorhees,. II the coop.
er estate: Samuel &. Cooper and Mr.. Waiter Wood
Of the r. u Wool x sons Iron Works. that would
Tx. t. appeal hu, YOU refused us hearing last
year we should expect the same this year. All
camden asks Is equalization.
2 The State Board OF Taxation can be made more
useful by employing competent men 10 ascertain
the average assessment OF each county, and then
cite the Chairman OF each County Board 10 appear
before the State BOARD OF Taxation 10 cquaze the
entire State. which cOnstruc IA the meaning or
the law of legl and devise some means OF getting
Al and collecting personal school and poll taxes
that are n1w only assessed but not collected As II
about 500 worth OF furniture has 70 pay the per-
sonal school and poll tax OF rich man renting a
house at tl.Co0 per year with fA"O TO $1,000 worth
OF furniture IN H. and five or six children at the pub
lie schools.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE TAX.