The Honolulu republican. [volume] (Honolulu, T.H.) 1900-1902, 1901-12-08
THE IDEAL CITY, To" |, johnson
Myorofc Cleveland.
Mayor OF Cleveland.


Z bred per cent OF their real value. This
/ is due. in different cases. either to the
ignorance, Incompetence or corruption
[ of the tax-levying bodies. II is due.
I too, in some. cases. 20 the unscieutifc
and inaccurate system for ascertaining
values that is in vogue. Instead OF
accurate facts and mathematical meth
I DDS. we leave matters TO the individual
| Judgment OF assessors
! As q first step toward righting the
I thing here. Cleveland is aseertaIning
values under what is known as the
~Somers Unit System of Taxation. F"
| Under the direction of Mr.. Somers
| himself a tax bureau has been estab-
/ lished and a force is now at work as
! pertaining the true value of cur real
! estate. regardless of the opinion and
| judgment of the assessors. II is I'M
| necessary to explain at length here the
SOmers system. Suffice il 10 say that
/ under its workings values in all parts
of the city are fixed with something
approximatipg mathematical accuracy.
! The system works almost automatic
ally, and makes it difficult for over or
under valuation to exist. Ii is our be-
materially the total valuation OF land
and of franchise values. The increase
/ win be mainly at The expense of large
/ holders OF valuable sites and fran
chises The burden of'inequality has
| fallen almost invariably upon the
small property holders, on the work
ing man who owns his own home, and
on the small merchant. a number of
! The large owners have been assessed
only on from ten TO twenty per cent OF
the true value of their land.
The result of our work in this direc-
ton will be either the lowering of the
! general assessment ratio. which st
present is sixty per cent of the selling
value. or the lowering of the general
tax rate. In either event there viii
be decided relief to the great body
of our taxpayers. and. we hope, a
nearer approach TO the IDEA of putting
the burden as much as possible on
land and franchises instead of on i'm
provements. which stand for progress
and prosperity. for lower rents and
for better accommodations. Unfortu-
nately We shall not be able to reap
( the benefits of the new system of land
taxation for a year TO come. as, under
the laws of Ohio, the work of the
/ board, performed under the old sys-
,, TEN, cannot be upset for that period.
When we do, however, put our new
system in operation we hope to far
nish an object lesson for every mu-
nicipality in the country
Selling Value the Right Basis.
Further relief for the mass of the
people along the line of just taxation
will come almost everywhere through
more scientific assessment of mu-
nicipal privilege Heretofore, in near
iy every city, street car companies,
electric light and gas companies. tele
phone companies and the like have
been taxed only on small part of the
tangible value of their physical as
sets. The city government which does
it's duty to the people will go beyond
this. 1t viii tax the corporations on
the real value, the selling value. just
as it taxes the ordinary citizen. II is
absurd to say that q street car CONF
pany. for example shall be taxed sim
ply upon the value of its tracks, ties.
rolling stock. power houses. etc. or
an electric light company only on its
wires. conduits and plant
The real basis of assessment should
be the selling value of the property
as a going concern, and this can very
readily be ascertained from the selling
value Of its stocks and bonds. OpeT-
ating under this idea, we, here in
Cleveland. have raised the assessment
of the FIVE companies controlling our
public utilities two street car COM
panies. two gas companies and one
electric light company slS.000000.
This is about twelve per cent of the
total valuation Of all the real estate
in the city, and the new assessment
which has been placed on these COM
panies has TO that extent relieved the
small taxpayer. II has lowered the
general tax rate from three per cent
TO 2.67 per cent.
This. it seems to me. is a very long
step in the direction of shifting the
burden to the shoulders that should
justly bear it The corporations az /
feeted have threatened all sorts OF !
legal proceedings TO enjoin US from |
enforcing our levy. But so far moth /
ing has come OF these threats. and as !
we have the law en- our side we have /
no great apprehension. We are p.o-
eeeding on the cardinal principle that /
underlies or should underlie all tax
alton. namely. that man owes To So |
eie-y in proportion 10 what he takes !
from society.
The proper taxation CT steam rafs=
roads is a more serious and difficult
proposition than the taxation of mH-
Hieipal privileges In Ohio the rail- /
roads are not paving more than thirty
per cent of their just taxation And
in other States the conditions are
about the same. The assessment OF
railroad property IS, under the present (
system. under the control OF bodies
that are subject TO corrupt influences {
in one form or another That they OF i
ten respond TO this influence is made /
manifest by the low assessments that j
have been levied Sometimes these /
Influences take the form OF direct /
cash payment
In other cases the influence comes i
through the issuing Of passes. and /
sometimes through political pressure /
In any event the result is the same
Getting At the Real Value.
This condition in Ohio Is go grave |
that Il has been made . State issue. 1
We have tried By every means In our /
power 10 get the taxation due US. but /
under the present laws We have so /
far failed As with the street rail-