Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1901-08-29
The Poor Man PAYS the Tag.

I MIR. EDITOR Your remarks in an issue
OF recent date calling attention to the
present method of assessing values on real
estate, etc., and the action of the City
Council of Woodbury. is raising the esti-
mated value on certain properties, that
had been absurdly undervalued ON the
duplicate, is in keeping with movements
now being inaugurated to reform the tax
| levying system, and should arouse local
public sentiment, especially among the
smaller holders of the tax-paying public
to demand closer examination of the AS
SCISSORS duplicates in the comparison and
final adjustment of assessed valuations
1t is often said ssthat the poor man pays
the tax, /" and the truth of this expression
cannot be denied-when the smallest holder
of personal property, / am told, is seldom,
if ever, assessed less than $50, while the
owner of luxuriously furnished homes,
decorated with costly bric-a-brac, china and
other attributes of art, pays very
nominal tax, which in many cases does
not exceed 5000 to $500 valuation ON his
personal property, which term often in
cludes an extended list of hidden securities
and invisible values. In many such cases
a single chair or other article Of furniture
would probably be worth the entire out
fit of the laborer who pays tax on his
scant supply of necessary household goods
which are as essential as clothing to cover
the nudity of the body.
1t is this inconsistent and unfair yalua-
ton of property between the classes almost
universally practised by assessors that
leads one to suggest that the poor man
should be exempt from taxation to the
amount of $50 or 500 on his indispensa-
BILE household goods. In other words, why
should poor man be taxed for his rag
carpet and the crudest kind of furniture,
etc., required in housekeeping. when his
employer INDUCES in the luxury of
diamonds and other personal adornment-
that are never taxed.
An expanded conception of the intent of
equal taxation would surely exempt the
poor mans stove, ETC., and tax the possessor
of diamonds whose values are more con-
slant. Then, again, the strategy of borrow
ing money from the banks on short notes
to cover the period of assessment and
claiming a reduction for debt for the
amount borrowed, is one of the many
schemes resorted to by the INSCRIPTIONS
tax payer to avoid his just and equal share
of taxation. Such cunning is despicable
and, indeed, a crime in the moral code that
will hardly be atoned for by the rental of a
front pew and generous contributions to
the church.
Referring again to the action of City
Council Of Woodbury. in it's initial steps
towards tax reform, the practice Of assess
ing lots in city limits as farm land should
not be tolerated by the property owners,
when the basic principle of all taxation is
to assess property of all kinds at it's true
value. As the law provides, its true value
would be such price las the property
would sell for at bona fde sale by private
contract" To undervalue vacant lots is to
offer premium upon unimprOped property
and encourage the owner thereof in secreting
his idle ,cealth, while the taxpayer who vol
UNFAIRLY builds upon his land beauties the
surroundings, and in doing so becomes a
public benefactor, is invariably assessed out
of all proportion to the holder of unim-
proved land. Such methods discourage the
Investment of willing capital and detract
from the progressiveness and general pros
perity Of the city. 1t is obvious that any
inducement that will draw capital from it's
hiding place and convert it into visible
equivalent increases the total valuation and
lowers the rate of taxation If an equable
dooOo0luCuO WCIO pOoolDlC III uiC OOuhuy VI
Gloucester, venture the opinion that the
county rate would be much lOWer than it is,
and likewise in all localities.
AS an illustration, look at the figures in
the city of Chicago. A law was passed in
1898 giving the Board of Review all the
authority that the name implies. Before
the law went into effect Cook county had
upon it's assessment rolls total of only
$l57, GOO, 900 in realty and >$2l 600, 900 in
personality. After the close of the books
for the first year the figures had been re-
spectively increased to 1902, 000 900 and
$73, 600, 900. The increase in one case
being nearly 100 per cent, while in the
other it approximated $50 per cent Only
recently committee, appointed by Chicago
City Council to report upon the real estate
owned by railroad companies in Chicago,
claim that 5000, O00, 600 may be added to
the total valuation heretofore rated by the
State Board of Equalization at less than
$4,000, 600. Under the new Cook county
law the statute provides that the publica
tion of the assessment roll shall be manda-
tory instead Of optional, so that the infor
nation cannot be withheld from the
public. Besides the publication in the
newspapers, a copy of the precinct figures
is invariably sent to every taxpayer therein,
so that every one becomes a volunteer
detective in behalf of honest taxation.
Signed. PLEBIAN.