The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1914-07-24

OF the two classes Of property which
had heretofore been inadeauately as.
sessed, and to give the commission az
adequate means OF securing the desired
results by providing for the appoint
ment OF local assessors instead Of
their election all the work under the
direct supervision Of the commission.
While the commissions records are
not complete as TO the assessment for
1914, the returns from seventeen of
the small rural counties show an In
crease In the valuation of moneys,
credits and investment in stocks and
bonds over 1913 Of s21. $780, ,22S, or a
gain slightly in excess OF AZ per cent.
The principal gain in these items will,
Of course, be from the larger coun-
ties, from which few returns have
been received.
Here is the way this increase was
made:
The state commission was able TO
Sec ~e close cooperation between tho
district officials in the eighty-eight
counties-somethin Impossible ex-
cept under the centralized authority
plan; mortgages were copied and ex-
changed, lists of taxable securities,
with the names and addresses of hold.
ers, were distributed, and from this
source approximately $1O0,000,000 OF
taxable values were secured. There
was also an interchange of other USE
full information. The commission kept
in constant touch with the work In the
counties; district assessors required
daily reports of the work from their
deputies; and the district assessors re.
ported weekly to the tax commission.
While the information in the posses.
sion of the commission at this time is
not complete enough to make an &C.
curate statement as to the amount OF
the tax duplicate for the year 1914, yet
1t believes that the duplicate which
will be handed to the county treas.
urers on the first of October, 1914,
will be from 5000, 100000 to 81 900 ,000,-
600 more than that of 1913, and this
increase will be principally in the in.
tangible property of individuals and
the property Of Incorporated com.
panies.
Under this law the commission has
authority to prescribe the numbers OF
districts, the number of men and
their salaries, and the wisdom of that
Is shown by the records, which dis
close that 1866 deputies listed real es.
tate and personal property for 1914,
nl fha 1oc fIot ~. -
property were assessed under the old
elective system, there were 3,415 as.
SCISSORS in the field to assess personal
property and 2,465 to list real estate,
a total of $3.50 as compared to 1866
this year. The figures presented to
the tax commission by the various
county auditors show that it cost
$1,777,95S to make the last quadren.
NAL appraisement of real estate un.
der the old system; in 1912 the sum
of $596,SS1 was expended for listing
personal property. The tax commits.
sion is authority for the statement
that the work will be done this year
for approximately $1,0OO,000 less.
One of the reasons for the great re-.
duction in the number of persons list
ing property that has been made this
years is disclosed in the following fig.
ures:
In Hamilton county in 1913 thers
were 413 assessors last year as against
S3 this year.
In Franklin county there were SO
assessors last year as compared to "a
this year
In Montgomery county there were
81 assessors last year as compared
to 33 this year.
In the city of Toledo there were 81
assessors last year as compared to 20
this year.
In the city Of Cleveland there were
ITO assessors last year as compared
to 40 this year.
Change Was Propitious.
That a change in the method OF
listing property came at propitious
moment no one will deny who studies
the significance of events without
prejudice. If the Warnes law had not
been installed this year, the Smith l
per cent tax law would have been de.
stroyed, or a number of Ohio cities
would have hopelessly defaulted on
their obligations. There is no escape
from this opinion in the light of pres
ent facts, and this not only reveals
the moral but the economic aspects of
the new law 1t was pointed out by
every scientific survey made in the
state for years past that the rural
communities were making a fairer re-
turn o. property for taxation than the
cities. Since state levy was made
for universities and other purposes, 1t
can be seen to what extent the ele'
ment of unfairness entered in these
contrasted practices as between the
cities and rural communities. II
there had been no state levy, then it
would not have been a matter of state
concern what the cities did-meas-
ured by the ethical code only-but
there is now presented an entirely
new situation. The cities have been