The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1903-08-13

AS defined IN law and carried ON, q,
practice the assessment Of real estate
is made every three years by the Board
| OF assistant Assessors. THIS board s
composed Of three members, who are
charged under the statutes with making
! assessments from actual view ana from
the best sources OF information obtain
aoIe-' The antiqueted and slowly NOV
ing vehicle, carrying about the three
aged men belonging to this board in their
actual view" OF property, is a familiar
sight on the streets OF the District
Within the period Of one year the
Board Of Assistant Assessors is called
upon TO list and assess more than so 600
pieces of property situated in seventy
square miles OF territory. That means
actual inspection of 30s pieces every
working day. This tesk is a physical
impcssfbility. II is doubtful whether
the members of this board ever saw all
the pieces of property they have in
cluded In the assessments they hava
made At best, their valuation of prop
erty is mere guess.
Equalization and Review.
When through with the listing Of prop-
erty the three assistant assessors. with
the assessor. sit for three weeks each
year as the board of equalization and
review In theory any taxpayer may ap-
pear before this board. present his OBJ
tections TO the valuation OF his p-oper-
~, and have It reduced. In practice
very few do make such an appeal. The
work OF the board Of equalization and
review results IN pairing down the as
sessments OF certain property holders.
aud is largely responsible for the IN
equalities which appear on the tax
books.
Ii practice the wise ones," generally
owners Of much property, who have
learned that specious argument rela
tive TO the valuation CT the property re-
suits I'm the reduction OF their ASSESS
ment, are the men who appear. They
have received. II they do not deserve. the
title of tax dodgers" They succeed in
working" lower valuation Of their
property than # should have under the
law. and often lower than that Of near
by or adtoiring parcels. The small tax
payer usually does not avail himself Of
the opportunity to plead his cause be-
fore this board, ana his assessment. in
consequence. is always high
Arbitrary Methods Practiced.
To illustrate more fully the arbitrary
methods OF assessment. II is only neces-
sery TO revert 20 the weIl-known hts
tory OF the tax list recently completed.
The Board OF Assistant Assessors pre-
pared their books under the old law and
had them ready for handing over to the
assessors January 1. 1902. At that time
the committees IN Congress were cast
ing about for larger revenues to meet
the cost Of extraordinary improvements
called for ia the appropriation. The
amount Of the assessment was reported
to these committees, and & was found
20 be so low as 10 threaten a large de-
hCit IN the District finances. The CON
Dittees ISSUED an order that the assess-
Inent SHOULD he raised so a. 10 add
about $1.G0O.00O TO the revenue from
tho real estate,
The Board of Assessors demurred, and
IL IS SAID we're told that If they could
rot make the assessment others would
be placed ~ ofice who would. The com
miLtees in Congress then set about
framing the law OF February II, author
izing delay in the work OF equaIiz
ton and review. Gnd OF July /, sett
the rate Of violation at two-thir|
the real value. and creating the
ebinery 10 assess personal proDC
The Board Of Assistant Assesso
the new assessment by he
raising the list 10 the two-tf
then took up tho
Continued on Tenth