The Washington herald., 1914-01-03
EXPLANATION OF
!. Big ASSESSMENT
W. P. Richards Says Real Es-
tate Men Approve Of
Boards Judgment.
CALLED NORMAL GROWTH
Declares Assistant Assessors Are Anx.
ious to Throw All Light Pos
sible on Situation.

Following upon the heels of sharp
criticism Of the reported 1000 900 increase
In realty values, voiced by a number OF
prominent Washington property owners
and business men, and printed yesterday
In The Washington Herald, came an Of
ficial statement from w. p. Richards, as
SCISSOR OF the District, in defense OF the
increased assessment. which has been
termed ''absrrd and despotic."
The chief argument In the assessors
explanation in defense of the last as
sessment is that the judgment of the
board of assistant assessors was
thoroughly examined and found fair by
persons having property in the business
section and various real estate men," Mr..
Richards declined to disclose the names
Of these men. for the present. at least.
Says Gain Is Normal.
The assessor further argues that the in
crease in the property values is simply
the result OF normal growth. In closing,
he asserts that the board Is more than
anxious TO receive all the light possible
on the situation and to eCualize assess
ments where. in their judgment, changes
seem advisable" His full statement fol-
lows:
.'The increase of 100000 on the tri-
ennial assessment is only a vefs rough
OF an approximate "hoe
this amount will be six months from
now is hard to foretell. will state. how
ever, that in making this assessment the
board had at hand more data. SC. than
any previous board. In the business sec
tion the board took particular care in its
assessment, making comparisons with the
various squares and having at Its COM
mand sales covering a period Of five
years
Persons having property in the busi-
ness section and various real estate men
who have examined the assessments seem
to think that they are fair. and. taken as
a whole. are close to proper values IL
has been nearly four years since the
board assessed the business section and
many changes have come about in that
time. II II Is true that there has been
a business depression and values have
decreased in the last two years. appeals
are in order and the be ID stands ready
to correct any wrong valuation.
Based on Recent Sales.
Outside Of the business section. the
greatest increases have been in suburban
property. and these have only been made
where they could be based on recent
sales.
The board has been continuously in
the field since August. and has viewed
all of the large tracts in the suburban
section and has been active in making
inquiries on the ground in regard TO the
status OF the various properties.
Three years ago the triennial assess
ment exceeded the assessment of the
previous year by S37.coo,0co. SO that II
would appear that there is no cause for
calling the present increase absurd. IL
may be well to state here that ten years
ago the triennial assessment received a
jump OF S6.Oo0coa. and nearly twenty
years ago there was an increase of $40
0ooGa. However. there is ahead of the
board a period OF appeals covering five
months, and during that time changes
can be made wherever II can be shown
that the assessments are either too high
or too low.
THE board has during the last six
months both decreased and increased val
ulations, and IL is more than anxious TO
receive all the light possible on the situ-
alton and to equalize assessments where.
in their Judgment, changes seem advis-
able