New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-07-25
BEDUCING INDUSTRIOUS ASSESSMENT.

REDUCING A INDUSTRIOUS ASSESSMENT.
The referees decision the William Rookie
felNr assessment, reported in Saturdays Trib-
une. probably marks the beginning of the end
in the crusade by country assessors against
New Workers who commit the indscretion of
spending much money among them In keeping
I'D and identifying country places
Mr. Rockefeller bought the old Aspinwal
place near Tarrytown. In 1887. Large sums
had been spent on 1t from time to time. but 1t
was and always had been an unprOductive
property. 1t simply furnished summer resi-
dence for a man who happened to like and
could afford TO maintain that kind Of a home for
| the summer When the Aspinwalls tried 10 sell
| 1t no purchaser could be found 1t went beg
ging in the market for years Finally Mr..
Rockefeller happened to take fancy TO II. and
the heirs welcomed the opportunity to sell 1t to
| him for S150,00O The place contained 100
acres of rough land. A little over three-fOurths
of this, including the buildings, was situated In
the town of Mount Pleasant, and this three
fourths of the $4,000 purchase the assessors
of Mount Pleasant cheerfully proceeded to tax
| at $21S9OOO! What Mr. Rockefeller had done
! to It to excuse this enormous advance was to
tear down the fine old Aspinwall stone house
and replace 1t with new stone house. some
what larger and perhaps little finer He had
| also put in some modern Outbuildings improved
the lawps and roads. built new greenhouses and
| planted Towering shrubs in the woods.
Now. the value of property is what it will
sell for;-and no other basis Of a fair assess
ment is possible;-not what 1t might bring
at sudden forced sale. but the fair market
value, the price that might be realized by a
| nj ms Ia 70
the sale TO advantage. Nobody supposes
that the money MIR. Rockefeller put into lawns
| and shrubs and greenhouses could ever be
got back In a sale, any more than the
money the Aspinwalls and their predecessors
had expended in the same way was got back
when they sold No large country place is ever
sold or can be for what has been spent upon 1t,
| nor often indeed for even the first cost of fine
permanent structures. The neghborhOod Is
benefited by the expenditures. but the owner
has largely sunk them. as completely as II they
had been put In the sea instead of on the soil.
The history Of every noted country place In the
vicinity Of New-YOrk and the testimony Of
! every real estate dealer demonstrate this uni
J versal experience.
What then. was meant by taxing at $2.1S9,-
600 three-fourths Of the property the whole OF
J which It's last owner had gladly sold. after long
struggles, for $150O00? There could have been
no honest intention TO tax II at It's real value;-
that Is. at what any sane man supposed 1t could
be sold for. 1t may have been that the as
SCISSORS thought II would he a good thing TO
drive men who were spending money In that
way In their community out Of 1t. II may be
that they deliberately determined, as one OF
them Is reported TO have boosted. to tax such
rich people unfairly. II NAV be that they
thought that people capable Of sinking money
that way might az well be robbed, too. and
Z would probably submit to 1t.
! In that. at any rate. they are disappointed.
The referee. after protracted examination. the
evidence of scores Of witnesses ard long argu-
ments. has decided that fair present valua-
ton Is $343,775. This makes a valuation now
on only thres-fonrfhs Of the Aspinwall pur.