Omaha daily bee., 1899-06-09
SHOWS A LARGE DECREASE
City Assessor Hardin Completes Assessment
Of Council Bluffs.
WILL TURN OVER BOOKS THIS MORNING
Under the New Taxation Laws the
Valuation of the City il
over one Million and IA
Half Dollars.

The belief that the valuation OF Council
Bluffs under the new method OF assessment
would be reduced anywhere from Sl,5OO,OUO
to So. 900. 600 has been verified. City Asses
sor Hardin yesterday completed the assess
ment of the city and will be ready to turn
over his books this morning to the CITY
council for the purpose OF equalization his
books show that the valuation OF Council
Bluffs for assessment purposes amounts tnls
year to but 81, $40, 900, as against Si,455,O9o
for 1898. which is a decrease in round num-
bers of 81, 800, 900. This large falling on IN
the valuation of the city is ascribed to the
new method of assessment. Formerly 1t was
the custom to assess property at iO per
cent of its supposed value, the estimate oil
the value being left with the assessor. on-
der the new law, which came into operation
this wear, all real estate Is assessed at 20
per cent of it's actual value. The legisla-
lature. when changing the mode of assess
ment, was under the impression that the
new method would tend to increase the val
uation rather than decrease 1t, but the con-
trary has been found to be the case. Re-
| ports Srom all over the state show that the
! same conditions prevail and that Council
| Bluffs is not alone in having Its assessed
! valuation materially reduced. 1t is conf
IDENTIFY expected that the next legislature
will change the law, as the state will un-
doubtedly be hampered by such a big de-
crease in its revenue.
Under the new law the assessment Of the
different banks shows a big decrease. Form
erly banks were assessed on their capital
stock, surplus and real estate and holdings
of government bonds. There are many who
claim that property has always in the past
been assessed too high and that the new
law is an equitable and fair one, as 1t as
sesses property at its actual and not at Its
! supposed value. Assessor Hardin Is of this
opinion, and cites in support a number OF
! cases where under the new law the assess
ment this year of we'll known pieces of real
estate has been materially decreased. His
argumen is that whereas these pieces OF
property have this year been assessed al
25 per cent of their actual" value, the val
uation placed on them under the old rule
of 40 per cent of their supposed value was
excessive. For instance, he quotes a vel
known residence property on Sixth street
opposite the park that for years has beer
assessed at 1000 and which was a short
time ago placed on the market and sold fol
IS, 900. The sale price was taken to be
the value of the property, this being consid'
cred the best index, and consequently this
year was assessed at 81 $50, the fourth Of
it's selling value. THIS is but one instance
but is given by the assessor to show the
reason for the great decrease of the as
sessed valuation of the city this year al
compared with 1898.
That the city will suffer by the large de
crease in the valuation goes without saying
' The law Limits the levies for the general
water and lighting funds and the tax TO
these funds cannot be proportionately in
creased to overcome the decrease in thu
valuation. Under the valuation of 1898, thu
levy for the general fund at 10 mills, tn,
amount prescribed by law, reached 81, $50. 90
This year it will amount to about $2S, 400
The water fund last year amounted, on
5-mill levy, to s22, 275.45, but this year /
will only be about s14, 200. The lighting
fund amounted last year to s13, 1863. 81, bu
this year it will only yield in the neighbor
hood Of $500. How to meet these de
fcencies is a question that will puzzle tn,
city officials. Under the conditions tina
must ensue next year, the financial pros
poets of the city are far from encouraging
Davis has the incest and cheapest lin