The Cairo bulletin., 1907-07-10
THE 4 ASSESSORS WORK.

Some expressions of discomfort may
M expected from citizens over some
Of the valuations placed upon prop
erty by Assessor Nellis. These VIII
doubtless be made to the board OF
county commissioners when it shall
sit as board of review over the as
sessment roll Objections will be
made that the valuations in given In
stances are too high. and, no doubt,
where this Is found to be true In the
sense that it is higher than similar
valuations under like circumstances,
they will be reduced. More than
likely. some instances of this sort will
bes found. for 1t is hardly possible
that SO tremendous piece OF work,
with such a vast amount of detail and
h done necessarily by several men OF
different judgments should offer no in
Instances where revision would be in
order. At any rate, the law presumes
that this is so and therefore requires
that the county board shall make such
review and give hearing to citizens
who may have complaints to make
However, IL does not seem that
there can be much wrong with the
valuations fixed by Assessor Nellis.
The increase made by him, of 1854
$40, is not any more than we had a
right TO expect In view of The extern
sive Improvements that have been
-. a - a., thx ~ttr, md In trtanr, NJ tho
very low valuations that have pre-
vailed and II is probably true. as
MT. Nellis says. that the new assess
ment will not go beyond G5 or 20 per
cent Of the full and real market value
of the properly. This. surely. is a
very generous margin. OF allowance.
to guard against possible overvalua-
fion and might be claimed as falling
short Of the laws requirement that
the assessor shall fix a full market
value upon the property. Taking it
<nr granted that the assessors valua-
ton is 40 per cent of the real value,
then the taxable value. being oneiifth
OF that, will be but II per cent. In
other words. If lot Is really worth
500. the assessor has valued It at
$40 and the tax collector viii collect
taxes upon only sl4. That does not
look like heavy burden.
But there is another view which
may we'll receive favorable considera-
fIon from all tax payers. A higher
valuation of property does not neces-
rnrily mean heavier taxes. This may
seem paradoxical to some. but il is
true. The state law fixes certain
limits beyond which the tax gaiherer
NAV not go. The limit on county
faxes Is 75c on the si00 and the limit
a municipal taxes is ? per cent Ftn-
thtrmore. neither SsheScisy nog -the
county apvernnenesmaS collect more
u,oneys3han it sheeds ami fheir needs
must be indicated in the annual APP
rroprlation bills The city govern
menf. for instance. has been apprO-
priating from $4,000 TO $4,000 for
The various needs Of the city. OF this
rum II has received about $4,000
from licenses of various kinds and the
balance. or from $4,000 to $4,000
has been collected by the sheriff
though the general tax levy. II
would make no difference to the prop
crfx owner whether the $4,000 OF
$4,000 we're 10 be collected from a
city valuation Of ten million dollars OF
Of seven million dollars: the sum to
be collected would still be only 800
ooe or $4,000. The only difference
would be that the RATE Of taxation
IS reduced II the property valuation is
raised.
cairo's rate Of taxation has been 8