The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1905-08-19
Philip Lowy and His Col
leagues of the Tax Board
Differ With President
Brock.
CITY TAX RATE WILL RULE
DUFFIELD BILL PREVENTS THE
RAILROADS FROM LEGALLY
SEPARATING THE RATE.

Philip Lowy and lfs colleagues of the
Newark Tax Board take a different view
of the Duffield tax act concerning sec
ond-class railroad property than does
President Brock. of the Aldermanic
Board, who at meeting of the Board of
Finance Wednesday announced that he
believed the railroads would only pay
taxes at the various local tax rates, ex-
elusive of the county and State school
tax rates. Mr. Lcwy believes that the
railroads will have to pay on the full
rates in any taxing district. which full
rate includes what might be termed the
strictly local rate, the county rate and
the State school tax rate, which latter is
included in the county rate.
Mr.. Brock said he had been informed
that one of the largest railroads in Jer-
sey City had intimated that it would pay
at the city rate alone. which would mean
St.95 per $1c0 Of vaiua len, instead Of
S2.73, the former being the Jersey City
rate in the county and the latter the
county and city rates combined
There is, strictly speaking. no local
rate exclusive of county and school
rates." said Mr. L.owy. 1T is true that
we got our local rate here, which was
S2.27 in 1904, by first finding what the
county rate, including the school tax.
would be, and then adding to it a rate
based on the exclusive qisy valuations
sufficient to pay the expenses Of running
the city. But we regard the total of
S2.27 made up of S0.64. the county rate.
and S1.6S. which we term for conven-
ience the city rate, as the LEGAL rate.
I'VE might Just as properly take the
total amount of money we have to raise
to pay our share of the county expenses,
including the school tax, add to that sum
the amount of money required to pay the
city expenses, and then figure our local
rate on the basis of our assessed valua-
tion, and do it by first ascertaining what
the county rate is and then aseertaining
the purely city rate. The amount of
money we have to pay the county has to
go in our tax budget just the same as the
amount we have to raise for FIRE or police
purposes here, and we have to use the
county amount in ascertaining what our
local tax rate will be-
eve include the valuation of second
class railroad property, certified to by the
State assessors, as just as much of an
asset in figuring the tax rate as we do
the value of any local real estate or per-
sonal property Therefore. | believe the
railroads will have o pay the full rate.
The law very plainly says that the value
of such property shall be included in the
local taxing district ratables
"The law also says, and | quote from
the Duaield act: The necessary tax rate
for such district shall be ascertained by
the local taxing authorities and. certified
to the State Board of Assessors Now
we are the local taxing authorities, and
we always certify to the State Board the
total tax rate. which we give as our local
rate. We do not separate it and call
part Of it the city rate and part the coun-
ty rate, but call the whole. as last year,
when it was s2.27, the local rate for
Newark. I do not believe the railroads
can legally separate the rate