The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1908-10-25
sought TO RAISE THE.
| ASSESSMENTS
IWARRENToN MEN ASK BOARD
OF EQUALIZATION TO IN
CREASE VALUES,

w. P. Horner Of Warrenton and
other citizens Of that place, yester'
day 6led communication with the
board Of equalization, protesting
against the assessment On certain
property III the vicinity Of Warren
ton. But this protest is an unusual
one, for it AYERS chat the property in
question is not assessed high enough,
Presumably 1t is not owned by the
gentlemen who make the protest
Mr. Horner presents an affidavit,
and other afiidavits Of the same ma
ture are also fled in the communica-
ton, 10 the effect that the property
in question namely, The Plaza
Warrenton Park, North Plaza, and
linton Square should be valued At
| 10 per cent of the stated selling price
of the lots; that Is, that the value
!! Mr.. Cornelius, the assessor, should
thave recorded against the property
should be 10 per cent of the prices
asked for the lots in the market,
Some Of the lots are listed at $l0O
each, other less. and others more
Ii Is further stated that the as-
sessed valuation recorded by the
county assessor is only about 2 per
cent of the market selling prices,
though this does not appear of
record.
The situation is rather an odd one,
Walter G. Smith plated most 81
these properties and owns much Of
them still, and those who wish the
assessment raised perhaps do so
from several motives, one possible
motive being that it may be better
for the real etate market there if
property is assessed at somewhere
near what II is listed at in the real
estate market.
But the board of equalization was
not impressed by the protest and it
was denied. Mr.. Cornelius said that
he did not estimate the value of the
properties BY what they are bringing.
in the market today that he does
not make estimates on boom prices,
on fictitious values Of any kind, nor
does he attempt to follow the rise
and fall of values as the realty mar
ket happens to rise or fall-but that
he makes bis assessments on what
he under all the circuntances judges
the property TO be worth. Mr.. Cor
nelius' plan Of making values seems
to give satisfaction upon the whole,
and in all the complaints or criticisms
made to the board this week, it did
not change the assessment in
single case The only changes, made
during the week by the board were
when mistakes were found, and
some mistakes are bound to creep
IN
The board Of equalization will
adjourn tomorrow. Il is
waiting to hear from the assessor Of
Columbia county, on the A. & G.
rolling stock assessment. This mat
ter has not yet been Strengthened
out.
The story ia the Astorian yester-
day about the protest against the in
crease of assessments on unimprov-
ed lots in the city limits, from 81 to
81 each, has a little sequal worthy
Of being recorded. Yesterday it was
figured out that on the previous as
sessment Of 81 each on these lots,
most of them paid an actual tax Of
but 8 cents per lot In the case Of
non-residents il usually costs more
than 8 cents to collect the tax, If
a nonresident owned such lot, it
costs the labor, paper, envelope and
a 2-cent stamp to notify him Of the
tax. Then he sent in the 3 cents at
an extra cost Of 2-cent stamp to
himself Then the tax Office must
return his receipt to him, at another
cost Of cent. In the end the county
has made nothing and is out its sta
tionary anu the labor and time of its
officials. And this has been going
on for years.