Martinsburg statesman. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1869-1906, 1904-10-14

as State Tax Commissioner. 1t makes
some radical changes in existing law.
State Tax CommisSioner-His Duties and
Compensation.
A State Tax Commissioner is to be APP
pointed by the Governor by and with
the consent of the Senate. He shall be
citizen of the State entitled to vote. His
term of office shall be six years, and his
salary shall be four thousand dollars per
year, and travelling expenses in addition,
not exceeding one thousand dollars per
annum. He shall have an office at the
capitol and be provided with such clerical
assistance as he may need. His duties
give him general supervision of tax mat
tiers in all counties and municipalities
He shall have inquisitorial supervision
over the work of all assessors, justices,
prosecuting attorneys, clerks of courts,
and all other officers whose duties in any
manner relate to the subject of assess
ment and collection of taxes or levies
He shall prosecute every delinquent of
tcer for failure to perform any duty i'm
posed upon him by law relating 10 as
sessments or collection of taxes and
leyies.
The Act Passed at the Recent Extraor-
binary Session of the Legislature Re-
lating to the Reassessment of Real
Estate.
"A reassessment of real estate is for the
purpose OF increasing taxation and making the
industrial and producing classes bear the
greater share of the burdens of government. -
From Republican State platform, 1854
Remarks on the Act.
1t has been customary in West Vir-
glnla to have all real estate Teassessed
at intervals of about ten years.
The present assessed valuations were
hAed under the provisions OF the Act OF
February y, 1899, and the first taxes on
them as basis were those for the year
1900. The provision of this Act Of To-
i'll reference to the method of ascertain
ing values was that the commissioner
should proceed to examine in person all
the tracts OF land and town lots, with
buildings and improvements, if any
thereon, within his district, and upoI
such examination and in accordance with
ais instructions and the provisions OF the
act, ascertain and assess the fair cash
value thereof.
At the recent special session of the leg
Islature 1t was ordered, though only five
years had elapsed since the last reas
oessment, that all real estate in the
state should be again reassessed, sucn
reassessment to be the basis for the taxes
of the year 1906, and thereafter until the
next assessment
The Act under which this new reas-
sessment will be made was known as
House Bill No. %. 1t is now Chapter 10
OF Advance Chapters Acts of West Nir
ginia, Extra Session, 1904" and may
be found at page 1872. 1t provides:
That the State Tax Commissioner-an
official created at the special session
shall appoint commissioner for each
county III the State to reassess the value
OF ali real estate III such county; and
that such commissioner after qualifying,
Shall, on the first day OF January,
nineteen hundred and five, proceed in
person to examine all the tracts OF land
and town lots,. With all buildings and i'm
proyements thereon, in his county, aad
shall upon such examination and by the
aid of all such information as he may be
able to obtain respecting their value, as
certain and assess the true and actual
value thereof, that is to say, at the price
Tor which such property would sell if vol
thereof upon the terms upon which such
property is usually sold, and not the price
which might be realized upon forced
sale"
The difference in the two methods of
fixing the valuation for taxation is sub
stantially that the old took the fair cash
value as the thing to be ascertained, and
the new requires that the valuation for
taxation shall be what the property
would bring at voluntary sale.
There have been four of these general
reassessments of real estate. The first
for the year 1873, added to the value Of
read estate in round numbers, $4,000, 900;
the second, for 1888, Sll 100000; the
third, for 1892, $23000000, and the last
for 1900, $9,000,000, and the question
very naturally arises, how much will the
tax value of real estate be increased by
the reassessment to be made as of the
| first day of January next?
Each real estate owner must answer
this question for himself. He may take
it for granted that after January LIST the
tax value of his real estate will be the
same as its selling value when sold vol
unfairly, on the usual terms. How the
/ PtSScHb dSScsSSu Ndlue WIFI
| this selling value may be inferred from
the following extract from the report of
| the Tax Commission, remembering that
| the present assessed value is supposed to
| be the fair cash value:-
No mans judgment is so perfect as to
enable him to estimate the cash value OF
| anything that is not generally sold for
cash, and when it comes to placing cash
value assessors indulge in the widest
| speculation. They have no experience or
information to guide them in such cases
they generally estimate that it will bring
| one third, one half, or perhaps as much
as two thirds of its real value, depending
upon its nature, quality and real worth
as determined by them, unconsciously
| though it may be, and consequently the
third, half or two-thirds is adopted as
the value for the purpose of taxation"
| 1t would seem from this that it would
be no exaggeration to say that the re
assessment now to be made will have the
effect of doubling the tax value of all
real estate. And if the levy rates should
| be cut even one-half, to correspond with
| this doubling of real estate values, the
| fact remains that the real estate owner
| must under any rate of levy pay much
| greater portion of all taxes than he now
| does, since the tax value of his property
| is doubled while the tax value of all
l.. 4.