Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1904-10-06

Substitute for Senate Bill No. is the
| bill which relates 10 the assessment of
taxes and creates an officer to be known
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. be 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
feer for failure to perform any duty i'm
posed upon him by law relating 10 as
sessments or collection of taxes and
levies.
The Act Passed at the Recent Extraor-
dinaIy 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
fNNgufr 70 md 1tNwfF old haar fha
greater share OF the burdens OF government. -
From Republican State platform, 1884.
Remarks on the Act.
1t has been customary in West Vir-
GINA to have all real estate reassessed
at intervals OF about ten years.
The present assessed valuations were
fixed under the provisions OF the Act OF
eDruary y, 1899, and the first taxes on
them as basis were those for the year
1900. The provision Of this Act Of io5.
III reference TO the method OF ascertain
ing values was that the commissioner
should proceed to examine III person all
the tracts OF land and town lots, with
buildings and Improvements, II any
thereon, within his district, and upon
such examination and III accordance with
his 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-
sessment, that all real estate in the
State should be again reassessed, suca
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. IS. 1t is now Chapter 10
OF Advance Chapters Acts OF West Viz
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 a commissioner for each
county III the State TO reassess the value
OF ali real estate in 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
provement5 thereon, in his county, and
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
for which such property would sell if vol
unfairly offered for sale by the owner
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, 100000
the second, for 1888, Sll 100000; the
third, for 1892, $23,000,000, and the last
for 1900, 100000, 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 lst 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
present assessed value compares with
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:--
mo 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 a 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-haf, or perhaps as much
as two-t 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
| ha c,i+ nvan nna.holf IN corrasnon1 with