Norwich bulletin., 1912-03-21
ASSESSORS HEARD
 BY TAX COMMISSIONER,
Valuation of City Property and Re- valuation Were Interesting Topics.

 At a recent meeting of boards of as- | 5essors with the state tax commission | CT in Hartford there were several diff erent phases the tax question dis 1 cussed. ReValuations of Property Henry L. Nibberts of Manchester spoke on Frequent Revaluatiors and ] Method He said that in the fall of 1900 Manchester. came to the conclus- ion that a revaluation of property in l the town was necessary. A committee l was appointed to reyalue the property. | The committee reported a valuation on ] q 9u per cent. basis. As d result. the rate of taxation was reduced from 15 ] to $ mills. Manchester is composed | of d number of villages It was in South Manchester that tue town was | being built up more rapidly than iu | any other part The town is under a fspeci4l charter, which provides q sort 1 ot commission basis. The selectmen
 oNerhauled the old bylaws. The as
 sassprs told the seIectmen there should
 Q" some prov sion for a reassessment. ln this suggestion it was provided
 that there should be a Teassessment 1 eNsIy five years. He did not think the 1 beard of assessors should shirk their ! duty in asking the town meeting to appoint a special committee to make ! a reasSesSment. When the reassess- | mert 'y&s begun it appeared a bigger | Jcc lnan it WAS first thought it would | be, The assessors were determined to | do the work thoroughly. The taxpay- ] CTS showed a willingness to give in 1 formation, They found some people l who diG not have as much land as the 1 tax list showed and others who had more. Tn making the assessment they | d2unle valuations, and even more 1 than that, ln some instances. The manufacturing part of Manchester is made up of the plant of Cheney Bros. ! They were exceptionally fair to the l assessCrs. They gave the assessors the an ount~ of insurance and handed in a list based on it's insurance. The 1 CLanay Bros. carry their insurance on 8 basis of l00 per cent The board l of relief accepted the figures of the company. The information given by 1 the company was of great assistance ] 10 the assessors. No board could have secured the information that Nas voi- untarily given by Cheney Bros. He ! commented the work of the beard of relief
 Valuation of City Property. | Harry Walsh of MiddIetowu spoke | on Valuation of City Land and Build 1 ings. Mir. Walsh said that two years i ago tic law necessitated the separa,- 1 ton or land from dwellings,. The as- ] sessors blocked out the city into zones and placed a value on the land per front foot. The front foot valuation i helped them arrive at an ultimate val uaJlCn The insurance maps were not 1 dc' urate because they gave only what i related to the elements of risk. The [ l C -El.g | assess inc buildings. A town meeting was called to rcadiust the assessment 1 bY glFing tie tax commissioner power 1 to appoint four additional assessors | Lo act with the old board He (Mr. 1 Wdlsh) was al first opposed to the ap- ] polntnent of the additional ass ssors. | He Mas 4ot opposed to them on per i sonal grounds, and he complime1ted | Tax Commissioner Corbin on the good l Judgment WHich he showed in the se ! lection of the additional assessors. but 1 he was afraid the new men would out | vote the ole assessors. His objection was entertained before ne had a per | sonal knowledge of the men appoint | ed.
 They have taken the rental values, but that does not always hold good.
 The conditions ill Midiletown are be- | cullar to that town. They have q large
 foreign population made up princi-
 pally of Italians. On the east side 1 property has appreciated They have
 been harassed by the well meant ef-
 forts of reformers-men who thought
 they had corner on all knowledge.
 The assessors have been handicapped
 to some extent by the reforIners The committee which has been appointed | by the tax commissioner has done good 1 WerN i4e did aet know that the tax
 savers agree as well with the addi-