The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-10-21
Taxation in Virginia
The Real Property Tax H.--Ante-Bellum Assess
ment Methods
ny EDGAR syDENsTRICKEE

The Real Property Tax H.--Ante- BeIlum Assess
ment Methods.
The methods of assessing real property had
its effects upon revenue well. Under the
assessed valuation according to the equaliza-
ton act of 1917 the revenue from taxes on farm
land steadily decreased from that year until
1924. Part of this decrease may be accounted
for by the lower rates of levy which in 1917
we're eight and a half mills the dollar
seven and half In 1878 and one and quar-
ter in 1920. But in 1924 the rate put
at eight mills and so continued until 1s41.
when it was decreased again to about one
and a half mills, a rate which prevailed until
1853. During the same period the receipts de-
creased under the great increase in rate In
1924 as compared with 1912, but increased Is
per cent by 1914, and nearly 10 per cent by
1851, when the rate was only about one-hfth
of what 1t had been When the tax was
doubled In 1854, the receipts approximately did
the same The explanation Of this. as seen
from the meagre grounds for Interpretation ex-
listing in print, lies in great relaxed assess
ment prior to 1890, under the old equalization
act and in the growth Of market value OF lands
and I'm the truer basis for assessment after that
time when the market value of real property was
only with the vaguest idea of approximation
The reports of the State fiscal officers on sew
eral occasions prior to $50 complain Of the
laxity In which assessments were made Of land
in that Improvements thereon were persistently
ignored by the local assessing agents.
The rate of tax town lots varied very
slightly after 1914. In 1900 the tax one
dollar and fifty cents per one hundred dollars
of rental. This was increased to $2,7o in 1914
| and to 50 90 in 1918. at which rate II remained
until the rental basis abolished in 1851
Prior to 1920 we have statistics to distinguish
between receipts from taxes on farm and town
real property. but in general the receipts from
lots followed that from farm lands, decreas-
ing slightly from 1920 to 1926, doubling about
1899; and doubling again by 1851. Taxation
of town property, however fgured httle II to
any degree in the agitations over taxation dur
ing this period. The legislative debates and
those Of the constitutional convention rarely
allude to them, and in the press and the litera-
ture of the day there is hardly mention be-
yond occasional complaint in the official State
reports of fiscal officers which allude to laxty
! in assessments in general. There is undoubtedly
good reason for this in the fact that the towns
prior to period after the War Between the
States small and their political influence
unavailng. The tax of SO s100 rental was
comp arativeley light and loosely applied and
. the town residents were concerned with
licenses. txaton of business and their own fiscal
systems. Local taxation, in fact figured more
conspicously than State taxation of town prop
/ erty when municipal subscriptions were under
taken to the canal and railroad projects which
considered necessary no their growth
Municipal improvements, in the modern sense of
the word, were undertaken only a small scale.
and when town residents came to realize their
| own localities corporate entities they were
so regarded only IN a commercial sense. and
every effort bent In the direction of con-
Meeting with other towns and the surrounding
country by thoroughfares and systems Of
! transportation rather than In public conven-
fences and utilities
The rental method of assessment of town
property possesses enough historical interest at
least to warrant word OF explanation. Mr..
kindly looked up for some explanatory
statutes in the code of 1S49. and among so1le
extracts he sends the following from page
1S4 of $40, code of Virfiiniat:
/ Sec. 39.--Such yearly rent value shall.
when the lot and house rented leased
out. be ascertaIned by the rent agreed to be
paid by the tenant; and, either the proprietor or
tenant. both shall, when applied to by the
! commissioner, state oath the amount Of
such rent
Sec. 40.--The yearly rent value when
the house and lot occupied by the proprietor.
shall be ascertained by comparison of the
value thereof with that of other houses and
lots actually rented"
Any improved lots not occupied or rented
were assessed and taxed in the manner as
/ agricultural lands.