The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1914-04-30
ASSESSORS MEETING.

The annual meeting of the assessors of
the county was held Friday at the court
house. All the assessors were present,
Jos. Connell supervisor of assessments,
presided at the meeting. Much inter-
est was manifested in the discussion of
various matters pertaining to the equi-
table assessment of property. The
talks given by VIM. Rebacek of Kos
suth and Henry Goedjen of Two Rivers
were full Of common sense and were
listened to with close attention. Mr.
Connell's address to the assessors was 8
follows:
Gentlemen:
I'm coming before you
this morning, greet you with the re-
quest that You be true and efficient
officer in the performance of your du-
ties as assessor in your respective dis
tricts. You should not let fear OF pub
bile sentiment or personal favors or
personal enmity interfere with your
work in making assessments. (Section
1862 and 1865 state what the law is.
Section 1862 provides that real estate
shall be valued by the assessor from ac-
tual view at the full value which could
ordinarily be obtained therefor at pri-
vate sale. Section 1866 requires per-
sonal property to be assessed at it's true
cash value. 10 both cases the law is
plain and positive and there can be no
doubt as to its meaning. Nevertheless,
assessors too frequently copy the old
roll and carelessly pass over the work
without making inspection or viewing.
the articles assessed. Property owners,
should insist on assessors looking over
the property before they make the as
sessment and the assessors refusal to do
SO should be reported to the town, city
or village clerk and the county asses
sor.
VERY frequently the assessors wait
for an opportunity to meet large num-
Der OF tax payers in one place and
there make the assessment without
ever seeing the articles assessed This
method cannot be too strongly condem-
ned and tax payers should require as
SCISSORS to follow the law or receive no
pay. The assessors in Mantowoc coun-
ty as whole in 1913 made wonderful
Improvement over previous years in
the efficiency of their work and this
W TX should be continued in the future
S II the point in view that each class
oFiassessable property must bear it,
just and equitable share of the tax bur-
den. n,te assessors in this year's work
perhaps will find tax payers bearing
down upon them to lower their asses
ment with the point in view of lower
ing their taxes which were so enor-
mously high the past year.
The assessment is in no way to
blame for the high tax so long as it is
just and equitably distributed between
Individuals and betw cen assessmentdis-
tricts. The assessment officers includ-
ing the Income Assessor when they
fail or refuse to perform their sworn
duty should be criticised and if neces-
sary removed from office for their
wrong doing.
A comparison of the local assessment
and the states assessment of adjoining
counties upon which they paid their
pro rata share of state tax is as fol-
lows
Area in Local AS State AS
So. Mi. sessm't 'l3. sessm't l3
Manitowoc $50 4,362, 1876 1904, SIT
Sheboygan so 5l,642,079 67,Il5, 739
Brown 5lS 81, 466, 1856 50, 704 400
Calumet 81 25,l65.570 28,O6l sc I
Fond du Lac 720 56,069, $50 73,563,O
Milwaukee 22S 524, 1872, ,546 56l, 26S,26S
"Manitowoc county now ranks as be-
ing one of the six counties whose ases-
sment comes close to the states asses
sesment for the distribution of the
state taxes. Iron county leads with a
ratio of 10S% of assessed to true value,
Milwaukee second at 96%, Ashland,
Kenosha, Manitowoc and Racine 92%
Any assessor or tax payer can have ac-
cess to all records relative to local and
state assessments of the II counties.
Also a comparison of different cities in
the state, by calling at the office or writ
ing for information.
"Manitowoc county's value is lower
at the present time in proportion to
the total value of the state, than it has
been in eleven years. In 1907 Manito-
voc County was 2.l0% of the total val
ne, while in 1914 it was l,97 or a slight
decrease each year.
"My duties to you and to the public
are as stated in section 1887 B and will
be carried out without fear or favor to
anyone and from time to time will call
and take copies of the assessors work so
| may ascertain If he is performing his
duty or not and if found to be detec-
tive, will be reported to the proper Of
ficer. The assessor should start this |
work on May lst or as soon thereafter
as possible and especially in large dis
tricts where their time is limited. 1t
is to be hoped that assessors will be
dutiful and diligent in the performance
of their duty and place conservative
and reliable assessments on property
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