The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-01-19

and admit ny mistake and ak 4 cor
reetlon. N making this assessment I
Eas E5yefned, b TIE iAa, and treated
an perbons alFl-e. a. near a. I knew
how. The law styS an property must
Be ASSESSED At q fair cash valne. what
Is Z falr-cash value. or what = gener-
ally considered fair eash value? Ny
understanding has always been. and
the opinion Of the majority OF the
property OWneFs Is. that about two
thirds 3 = fair cash value. the price q
piece Of property would bring II sold
under the hammer. that would be about
6 per cent Of the actual value.
Now. when I proceeded TO make this
assessment / found tEo-thirds value
vas the assessment on some property,
in fact. the majority. but what pop
erty vas this? It was not the valuable
and high-prieed property in the busl-
ness portion Of the city, property that
Commanded enormous rentH and paid
BY dividends every year to Its owners.
No. it vas not that kind: Il was the
middle class and working mems prop
erty. the property OF men who had
tolled an their lives to get small home
70 shelter them In their old age; that
Is the property that found assessed at
about tWo-thirds.
What was this business property as
sessed at? Not Is per cent. but about
% per cent Why did this inequality
exist? vim tell you. The poor work
ing man has no chamber Of commerce
to look after his interest or bring In
huence TO bear. They are too MODEST
to 90 before the proper boards and ask
for q reduction. but 60 on and pay their
taxes without complaint That was
the condition found matters In. ! At
once made up my mind that al prop
erty should be assessed equal; the rich
and the poor alike. What was the CON-
sequence: Some Of this valuable prop
erty. property that had been assessed
at 500 to $40 per foot, raised To 500.
This very property Is being held and
sold at Sl,OOo to Sl.1OO per foot Prop
erty that IS being sold at 500 or $50
per foot, was raised TO &soO or $3.50 per
foot. Should / be criticised fer this? I
leave 1t TO the public to Judge whether
/ made an assessment that is out Of all
reason.
To substantiate my statements. /
VIM give a few figures Of property that
1 raised, and see II 1t Is out OF al
reason. We will take Market street
from Eleventh to Twelfth. Take the
Peabody building: IT was assessed in
the old assessment al I34.os0: I raised IL
to s42,5oo This property sold twice in
few months for &sO,Ooo. Is this out Of
all reason? Take the Potts building;
the old assessment was 5000. raised
it to 81, 80; this building alone cost
$S5.oo0. 1 have Mr.. Potts own state
ment for this. Take the McLsIn block:
/ raised It from Si4.l7o to s7Leos. Does
any person think this property could be
bought for any price near what as
sessed it at? If they do. let them so
and try and see what is asked for It.
Take the German Bank, raised from
1920 to 1870: this property was
purchased by the bank 10. 3lO2.9oo. not
counting the Improvements that were
placed on 1t
Then go to the block below and see
how matters stood Take the John
Rinehart property. where the I'VE and
ten-cent store IS located; It was raised
from $3.50 to $3.50. Take the prop
erty where Charles Held has his res
taurant: he paid S1s,2OO for 1t; 1t was
assessed at 500: raised 1t To $13.Oso.
Take the wledebusch property. where