The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1908-03-10
THE COUNTY
TAX BOARD
A Summary Of the Excellent
Results Secured IN It's Two
Years Of Work.
NEED OFTAXB0ARDS APPARENT
ONCE of the

10 THE HONORABLE JOHN FRANKLIN
Fort, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE
OF NEW JERSEY
Our Board having practically COM
pleted its second year of work, we
deem it proper that we should report
to your Honor, giving briefly an ac-
count of our labors.
This Board has at all times had but
one object in view, viz that all of the
tax payers of the County of Morris
should be taxed eQuitably and in pro-
portion to each other and that the
County, as whole, should bear its
proper proportion of the direct State
tax, recognizing the fact that this can
only be accomplished by a close appli-
cation of the law as promulgated in
the constitution, that all property
shall be taxed according to it's true
value. At first thought it might seem
that the State tax is SO small an
amount of each tax payers burden
that it is not worth considering. Upon
the total assessed valuation of each
County depends not only the amount
of State school tax, which it shall pay,
but also the amount of State school
tax, which will come back to the same
County.
Under the. present law and under
the proposed law, now before the leg
islature, the taxes received from main
stem, over and above five dollars on a
thousand will be paid to the several
counties in proportion to the taxable
real and personal estate therein.
This Board has two principal duties
to perform. Its work in the first part
of the year consists in travelling about
the County interviewing the several
assessors in their individual taxing
districts and viewing the property
with him for the purpose of assisting
in every way possible to get at the true
value and urging in all instances the
necessity of finding all property. ard
assessing the same, and particularly,
personal property.
Morris County is peculiarly situated
in that there is such a divergence be-
tween the different classes of taxable
property. In nearly all cases each as
SCISSOR has his Borough or Town prop
ty to assess, which is usually business
property, and the true value readily
determined; then he has residential
section, of which the true value is
practically impossible to obtain be-
cause of the very great difference be-
tween the cost value, the rental value
and the true value Of the so-called
millionaire colonies; then he has his
public utilities property to assess, his
manufacturing and mining sections
and the farm property. There is prob
ably no County in the State more pc
culiarly situated than Morris, and it
is these peculiarities which has given
this Board and the assessors consider
liable thought. We, in all instances,
endeavor to instruct the several asses
Sors in such a manner that property of
the same classes should be proportion
ately assessed throughout the whole
County. In number of Instances we
have consulted the assessable valua-
tion of similar property in adjoining
counties. We have always encouraged
assessors to familiarize themselves
with the methods and valuations of
other assessors. 1t has seemed at
times almost impossible to break the
assessors of the habit of aSsociating
their assessments with one-third or
one-fOurth or one-half values.
During the existence of this Board
material changes have been made in
the total valuations of the different
taxing districts throughout the Coun-
ty. We discovered first that the coun-
try districts were assessed in most in
stances double in proportion to the
towns and boroughS OF the County, and
second that some of the towns and
boroughS were entirely out of porpor-
uion to each other. The Board also
discovered that the smaller the prop
erty usually the higher the rate Of as
sessment. Tables showing changes
and comparisons are in existence filed
with the various State officials, but
they stand for very little until analyzed
or made plain by this Board or by
others familiar with the same.
We find by figuring and by compar-
isons the following facts:
The increase in the total valuation
of Morris County for 1906 and 1907
was 1928, 729 this is 38 2-l0 per
CClU. III IilC UWO JCdlo dlQ oUduQIuk
by itself alone would seem to mean
considerable AS against this there
is to be deducted, or considered, the
following facts During the same two
years the property of the County has
been increased as follows: by the as
sessment of two dams at Boonton for
the Jersey City Water Supply Com
pany S666,000, new trolley lines, $685.
600, railroad property outside of main
stem now taxed locally, $476,000, MAX
| ing 81 100000 increase. All telephone,
electric light and telegraph CONF anies
have in the aggregate been more than
doubled by this Board. In addition
| thereto, some of the municipalities
| have been doubled and others have
been more then doubled AS in in
stance, Butler Borough was raised by
this Board from $415, III to 81, ,094 ,475 ;
Rockaway Borough was raised from
$425, 700 to 1878, $50; Wharton Borough
was raised from S449, 226 to 1908, 1926 /;
Morris Township was raised from
50, ,431, 700 to s., ,985,60O.
Thus while the total increase is 38
per cent. the amount was not made up
by raising the people in general so
much as it was by the natural increase
of ratables together with extraordin-
ary,cOnditiOnS existing in the County
A number Of the municipalities have
in the two years made not even nor
NAL raise; we refer particularly to
Chester Township, with a raise of
only $4,000; Jefferson Township