The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-02-21

was the Greenwood Lake Road whlcn
does moi pay expenses but winch AR,
for the benefit of the people or in hopes
that some day it would be u money
In Jersey City the Erie Railroad was
taxed at value Of a million dollars a
mile, which. is much more than il is
tain amount of money and concluded that
the railroads.
perty which, he said, was the property
Which the company actually used for its
business outside Of the main stem On
that it pays at the rate of one and one
half per cent, but really they pay two
or three times more than the adjoining
property. He instanced lots on Tenth
City belonging to the Erie Railroad, which
he claimed were assessed three times
more than the lots adjoining belonging
to private individuals. He cited some lots
that were assessed for $150 whereas the
adjoining lots.
he owned some of the lots referred to-
and that he was assessed $400 on each of
them.
Mr.. Booraem said that the reason that
than the property adjoining was because
as soon as the railroads took possession
of property 1t deprecated the value of
the adjoining property.
Mr.. Allen again reiterated that they
were willing to have the law of 1884 re-
pealsd, but not, to shoulder this amend
County ought to have relief. The law OF
1884 was unfair to that county. The rail-
roads owned more property in Jersey
He closed by again referring TO the bene-
II which the law of 1884 had been to the
State at large.
'.The NeW York and New Jersey Rail-
road has eighteen miles Of track in New
Jersey. On this it pays S2862.52. | own
fsR W6s2 w9F Was se9 pTe4efsy & 5eBsey and City
which l pay s..
In reply to MrN Aliens argument that
the State Board of Assessors are unjust
to the railroads he said that this New
York and New Jersey Railroad had sta
ton at Caristadt which was assessed at
private Individual. would have been as
sessed at $1,000 or 81, 000
Chairman Lower asked if jersey City
would be better off without the railroads.
Certainly" came n CHORUS from the
Jersey City people present.
Then Mr.. Tice asked what made Jer-
sey City so important if it was not the
Mr. Queen replied that it was the water
front. and DR.. Qumby said 1t was its
water front and close proximity to New
York.
Mayor Wanser said he had statement
concerning the amount of property owned
by the railroads in jersey City, which
tee.
The committee replied they would like
to hear it, and the Mayor said:-
THE total area of Jersey City, includ-
ing public streets and land under water,
is about 1926 acres. The assessed realty
valuation as fixed by local assessors for
the year 1894 and 1895 is $50, ,196375
ss'The assessments as levied by the
State Board of Assessors for 1894. 1895.
on property used for railroad and canal
purposes other than main stems amounts
to $22. .5oS51S The total area of property
so assessed is 1888 acres.
THE length of main stems for the
various railroads and canals in Jersey
CANAL main stems are treated by the
State Board of Assessors is 62. los miles.
This includes the mileage of the Jersey
City and Bergen County Railroad Com
pany. amounting to 1910 miles, the main
stem Of which lies wholly within the
public streets.
CANAL main stems are treated by the
State Board of Assessors as a unit and
the valuation placed L. on this Glass sl Of
mated at over $4,000. 600
1.-The actual valuation in 1894 was as
certained to be over SIS, 100000. The ap-
main stems used for railroad and canal
purposes may be estimated at 800 acres.
'sThe mileage of said main stems has
ssn fSe partial sflsco compieton % OF Of the the West Side
| Connecting Railroad, and the National
Docks and New Jersey Junction Connect
.sThe assessed valuation Of property
owned or controlled by railroad and cana
companies, and not used for these. pur-
| poses as fixed for the ten years of 1894
So by the local assessors in taxing the
property assessed by the State Board OF
Assessors above mentioned Is S6,5I5. 943
This class of property includes lands
! under water and embraces about 1,50t
acres.
Ind mr. a
| rican Dock and Improvement Company
| the New Jersey Warehouse Company and
| the Manor Real Estate and Trust Com
isFollowing is the valuation of property
used for railroad purposes other thar
| by the State Board of ASSESSORS
| Central Railroad of New Jersey. 81, III, ,S7S
Newark and New York Rail-
Lafayette Railroad. -. !. ]. -. 4O,2 ,26t
road. :. .................... 2,2is,7
nsiI5Ssl ssSS Dock. aaIlwsy.' 81. 81 50 So
United, New jersey Railroad and
| Harsimus Branch. -. ...... 3,109, so.
EsS EeHs }ssssy Posf sRHsslsR aa'l:.aa
Northern Railroad of New Jer-
road. :. .................... 25,51'
western railroad ................ 25.5ts
Morris and Essex Raiiroad...... 5,242 7s
Boonton Branch. 80. -. ). 4O,72
road. ...... :. -. -. ......... 474.o5
Total. -. -. 81. sos, 81;
zone of the main difficulties in the
matter Of taxation of railroad properties
/ under the present system is the disposition
| of the companies to return. all of their lit
property. when they should go under. the
| head of second-class property, and from
| which the city should derive the benefit
| of one per cent. The result Is that al
| though the value of railroad property is
increasing very rapidly in Hudson county
/ from the State therefor has not increased
Since 1885 the State Board of Assessors
have constituted themselves the sole
Judges as to the classification OF railroae T, \.
] property has been transferred to frs
{ class. increasing the amount to be paid
i to the State. and decreasing the amoun
| to be paid the city Large tracks q
land are abstracted from the city eacf
| without consulting the local assessors
AS a rule these tracts have been pur
| chased by the railroads in anticipation o1
/ future needs. and are not vet used fol
i railroad purposes. The State Board i'm
! mediately claim these as. subject to theil
| civ Hoard also assesses 1t. and this give!
| rise to constant litigation and trouble
| Some system should be inaugurated by
| which It would be the duty of the STATE
4 Board of Assessors to confer with tn
/ local assessors as to any changes in thu
tSys.-9s- e-,,r,soct RI their il1ris5scfio -