The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1899-02-09
TAXES RAISED.

greatly ABSORBED the attention OF the
grand jury whose presentments were
published in last weeks paper. They
reported that the taxable property of
Cobb county for 1898 amounted to 81
769,470. The state and county taxes on
this, collected and to be collected,
amounts to about $4,000, and there
has been collected to date about $40,-
600.
When they began their work Judge
Gober charged them on the subject of
taxation. He touched upon the bur-
dens of taxation for national purposes,
and showed how much per capita the
5000, 000, 900 appropriated for the Span
ish war would be for the % ,OO0people
in Cobb county.
The jury listened to this closely, and
in their presentments say: 1--WE thank
our able Judge, Hon. Geo. F. Gober,
for his pointed and able charge to the
jury, especially in giving us the infor-
nation in reference to our national
taxes that the people $13 40 per capita"
The Judge went further and charged
them to take the tax books for last
year, and revise and correct the tax
values in same.
In this they responded mos liberally.
1t seems that the city assessments for
last year were gotten, and from these
the increases in tax values were made
Under the charter of Marietta the tax
rate per hundred cannot exceed a GER
tain amount This rate is SO cents and
fer the following purposes: city pur-
poses, 35 cents; school purposes, 25
cents; interest on bonds, and sinking
fund, 8 cents. To secure the amount
OF money needed for these purposes at
rate of 68 cents per hundred, the as
SCISSORS are forced to value the city real
estate very high. 1t is claimed that
they often value it at more than it will
bring at either public or private sale
AS it is used for city purposes and in
improving the streets and policing the
city, the citizens grin and endure it,
though they are often perplexed about
getting the money to pay it. In MAX
ing their corrections the jury seems to
have mainly conferred their work on
real estate in Marietta.
Property owners of course did not in
many instances give in their property
for state and county purposes as much
as the city assessment had fixed. AS
result of the jury's work, the increase
in tax values were many and for large
amounts. In several instances they in
creased the tax values by as much as
~ 800 aud $4,000. The result was that
from forty-six names among those
| raised, the amount of increase was
100000. This would have the effect,
| at the present rate, to make these citi-
zens pay something over 81 900 per year
more than they now pay for state and
county purposes, and good sized kick
is being made.
| The Code of Georgia provides that
the tax receiver shall at the fall term
OF each year lay before the grand Jury
his books for revision and correction.
and when the correction is made it
shall be guide for the next year, and
If the taxpayer returns the property
at less than the value placed upon it by
the grand jury an arbitration shall be
| had to settle the question
The law requires the Judge to give
these matters specially in charge to the
grand jury before they begin their
work.
The city tax assessors themselves
say that our citizens ought not to give
in their property at the same valuation
to the state and county. because they
had placed higher valuation from ten
to twenty per cent than the property
could be sold for at private or public
sale, therefore the injustice is apparent.