The San Francisco call., 1909-08-28
EQUALH[RS SMOKE
OUT TAX SHIRK[RS
Two Southern Counties Will
Have to Increase Assessments
to a Material Degree
Continued from Page 8

j. A. Barry at $50, s10O and Sllo an
acre.
The state board had fortified ltself
with valuations obtained from the peo-
pie OF the counties themselves. In
the case of Ventura the chamber OF
commerce there, in response TO a re-
quest of the equalizers, appointed a
committee to prepare the data. This
committee was composed of A. Z. Har-
Olson, ]. H. Reppy, r. B. Edmunoson
and J. Lagomarsino. All were present
at todays session and were commended
for their careful and accurate work
Give the Honest Figures
after we prepared our figures" said
Lagomarsino in reporting to the boaro'
I'VE found that we were very much
higher than the assessor and we de-
bated whether to refuse to give the
figures or to carry out conscientiously
what we had undertaken. We decided
TO give the honest figures"
The most striking development of the
day was the presentation of figures
bearing on the lands of the Schiappa
Pietra estate of Ventura county. The
court appraisement made April 20, 1908,
showed a total value of S1,556, ,2S6. Is.
The special committee of Ventura citl-
zens appraised the land at $1,22S, $50.
County Assessor Barry reported it at
figure. The state stood to lose more
than $4,000 in taxes on this single
estate. It must be kept in mind that
what one county evades, another must
pay. Thus 1t had been that the lower
counties have passed the burden of
state finances to the north.
differentiation General
The undervaluation of lima bean
land was general in Ventura county.
Assessor Barry made no attempt to de-
fend his figures. He said merely that
he believed that he was following the
practices of other counties. Random
instances might be selected without
end for illustration. A tract of 40
acres of the Buena Ventura company
was appraised at $400 per acre and as
sessed at s11o A field of 126. acres,
sold six months ago for S340 an acre,
was carried by Assessor Barry for $50.
The assessor did not distinguish as
between land owners, but was uni
formly low throughout the county, ex-
tending to the city of Ventura, where
choice business property was carried
at about 35 per cent
Ventura county. was represented by
]. A. Donlon, former assessor and presi-
dent of the Oxnard bank, chairman;
Thomas Clark of the board of super
yisors and Supervisor F. s. Cook.
Santa Barbara Assessment
In the case of Santa Barbara the
board of equalization opposed the fig
ures of Assessor T. r. Dove with data
prepared by the realty men of Santa
Barbara. The controversy was keenest
over the values of beet and bean land
in the Santa Maria valley and walnut
groves about Carpenteria. Incidentally
il developed that tract of 2,799 acres,
owned by E. S. Leroy, was appraised
by experts at $4,000 and carried by
Assessor Dove at $500, or 10 per cent.
The various lands selected for compari-
son in the Santa Maria valley were ap-
praised by the Santa Barbara real estate
board for a total of s323,600, and as
sessed by Dove for $69,25o, or 81 per
cent.
During the debate that ensued, Audi
tor Schauer took exception to the ap-
lpraisements made by his son, Frank II.
Schauer, for the realty board of Santa
Barbara. He added that as the young
mans father he could give expert testi-
mohy to the fact that his son was an
expert on the values involved. How
ever. the board found that young
Schauer's figures agreed with those of
the bankers and real estate operators.
Santa Maria Valley
The land in the Santa Maria valley,
planted in beets and beans, was re-
ported by the appraisers at 800 to
$125 while Dove contended for $3O
1t was shown that some of the land
would yield a revenue of $50 per acre
year.
Chairman Brown called attention to
the fact that field of 353 acres, owned
by the Union sugar company in the
Santa Maria valley, had been ab-
praised at $52,950 and assessed at
$17,25O, or on basis of about 33 per
cent. The Union sugar company owns
10000 acres in the valley.
During the inquiry there was an
occasional clash between Brown and
Assessor Dove of Santa Barbara.