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

I man INK 1aA= LllE Aai=Ga uA0lAf II -i--
assessed at So 90; / raised II to $l4soo:
! Il recently sold fer tss.bss
have one more case / wish 70
can attention 70. for which / have been
criticised and probably Justly. not for
raising the property TOO high. bat BE-
cause I did not raise It enough. and
thai Is one OF the mistakes made and
an willing TO rectlfy when the own
ers appear before the hoard OF equali-
zaticn. The property refer to Is The
Mcclure House. In the hrst place
would call attention to the interview
had with one Of the owners by the
Register reporter in Mondays issue. II
the gentleman has been correctly re-
ported. be certainly does not know
what be Is talking about or maliciousiy
attempts to critieIse my work First !
aid rot assess him at the rate Of $50
Per foot: secondly. they do not own ~
feet: thirdly. the Increase in taxes Is
not $50. / assessed 14s feet. which afr.
Birney IcLure told me they owned:
CthIs includes the aEch-way and the
Gruber buIldIng), At S4Oo per foot. which
amounts to $500 for the ground. I as
sessed the building at $is.eoo. or q total
OF Sl0S,09o. As to the increase in taxa
ton on my increase. which was from
3s0.s1O to SlO3.eoo. would not amount to
ssh, but would only amount to SS55 50
total. including the old assessment.
How about the Improvements on this
property that were made a short time
ago? WIN the owners enlIghten the
public as TO the cost OF the same? /
only added $1,000 on the building; the
other raise Is on the ground at the rate
Of 800 per front foot on Market street
mot ON Twelfth street,, Just the same
as all the property was assessed in
that block on that side of the street
Nov. I have given number Of cases
here. for the public to draw conclusions
from. A great many complaints are
that the property in Ohio county should
NOT have been raised. as it takes the
money from this county and the other
counties get the bene8t OF It I fully
agree with the people who make these
complaints. but 1t Is a matter over
which had no control I could not
give any relief for this evil without
neglect of my sworn duty and placing
my bondsman liable for my actions.
The law provides a remedy for this
'evl: We have state board Of equalEzs-
tion. whose duty It Is to equalizs the
assessments among the different coun-
Ties q the state. There IS the proper
place to do your protesting. We have
a very able and esteemed citizen on
that board in the person Of Col Thorn
as o'Brien. He Is familiar with all the
facts connected with this assessment
Il he Is not, any information or assist
snce that may be able to furnish
him viii be glady given.
Ny arst duty was TO equalize the as
sessments between the poor and the
rich: that have done as near as
knew how. I do not say that residence
property has not been touched at all.
Wherever I found residence property
that was not assessed at a fair cash
value. it was raised Where found 1t
too high. reduced It
was approached and requested TO
reduce all the assessments equally in
Ohio county tcity district. Some re-
quests were for as much as 80 Per
cent. II I had done as requested.
would that have been just? Not By
any means. The Inequality would still
have existed. Ny first duty was to
equaIize the assessment. place the rich
man o.: an equal footing with the poor
man, and then make the reduction gen
eral. so that all may be benefited alike.
II the assessor does not look TO the in
terest Of the poor man. there is little
chance Of Justice being done him
1 have had no friends in this matter,
and have not allowed politics to have
any influence whatever. Some claim
that the board OF commissioner met
with me and influenced me to make In
CIGdSeS' DUI Ll4I % NOT NEuS- i maze
the assessment and then requested
some Of the commissioners TO meet
with me and famIlIarize themselves
with the work had done. and make
any suggestions that might benefit the
public in general As for political rings
and candidates influencing me and be-
Ing the cause Of these increases, that is
false. I. alone, am responsible for this
work. and am ready 10 accept any Just
criticism that may be made. II any
wrong has been done place the blame
where it Justly belongs. have done
what / consider my sworn duty as near
as knew how and am willing to stand
the consequences. I now leave this
matter to the public for their consider
atIon. whether have done right or
wrong. c. A. HELMBRIGHT.
Commissioner Of Assessment, First
District Ohio County.
UATuAnYR RgneNpFuH