Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-07-13
CARROLL COUNTY REsENTs
. ERRONEOUS STATEMENTS
Chairman OF Local Board of Re-
view Issues Statement as to
Assessments
INCREASE OF o2 CENTS ACRE
Some Mountain Crags of Little or No
value Are Assessed at Low Fig
ures-answers Newspaper Critics
Of His County.

X. G. Wilkinson. chairman Of the
Local Board OF Review for Carroll
county. In communication received
at the Capitol Yesterday. protests
strongly against recently published re-
ports telling of an alleged decrease in
the assessments for taxes for this wear
In that county
The publication 10 which MIR Willin-
son MES objection appeared in several
newspapers in other parts of tho
State and one in Richmond The chair
man or the board submits that an in
! justice has been done to the county and
to the tax officers alike
AT some length MIR. Wilkinson eS-
plains conditions in Carroll County and
makes very creditnble showing for
] carroll He explains that hts objec-
lions TO the mass OF transformation
that has been published affecting Car.
roll County assessments Is filed .'in
Justice to the citizens OF the southern
district OF Carroll In particular"
CHAIRMAN OF REVIEW BOARD
ISSUES SIGNED STATEMENT
His statement reads as follows:
Hillsville, Va. July 10. 1915.
A recent news item stated that the
assessed values of property In tho
southern district of Carroll County arc
sl2.645 smaller this year thnn they
were last year, and that the average
district is s1.S5; that much Of the land
IS assessed as low as 81 per acre; that
! some OF the buildings there are as
| sessed at SO; and that majority OF
the buildings in that district are as
sesscd at less than 500 Der farm
| feel that correction is due to n nor
tion OF this statement, and also an OK
PLANTATION. This district lies to the
south OF the summit of the Blue Ridge
mountain. and is bounded on the south
.
east end of the district is some ten
| miles wide, and it runs to n point ut
the west end, the length being some
| thing over twenty miles. There has
| long been n conflict of land titles in
| this district, arising out OF certain
ancient grants, and for years past much
| more land has been carried on the land
| books OF the county for that district
! than Is to be found inside OF its
! bounds The recent assessment of tho
| lands in that district has in great
measure corrected this confusion by
i striking from the hooks some 10000
! acres of land which hitherto has been
enormously carried thereon; and the
striking off OF these enormously as
sessed lands has in some measure
| brought down the aggregate of values
! in that district. hut II is not true that
/ the lands which arc actually there and
| which rightly have a place on the as
SCISSORS books, are assessed lower now
! tnaH hcretolorc On the contrary, the
! average assessment per acre in that
district for 1914 was S135 while the
| recent assessment G9l5) is Soo1 per
acre, an increase of % cents per acre
Now as to the low assessment Of
lands in that district. 1t may he said
Ridge Mountain for distance OF more
| than twenty miles is there included.
From the summit to the foothills of the
mountain would perhaps average two
miles, making an area of some $4,000
acres, the great bulk of which is crags
and rocky mountain sides. Much OF
| this land has been stripped Of what
| ever timber and tanbark il once con-
! tanned and is worth but little. and con-
sequently is assessed at low figures
| AS 10 the low assessment Of build
ing In the district, il may be said that
many people have found homes in the
| mountain region by appropriatin- the
| coVes and small spots and patches Of
land that can be cultivated by a man
with hoe. There is often seen among
these people some rather cozy and COM
| Portable cabins. but many of them are
quite rude and cheap in their struc-
ture, and add but little If anything to
the value OF the land upon which they
stand The southern is a small district
the smallest in the county. and the
area or land there, after passing the
mountain region, is small. This as n
matter OF course makes the average Of
assessed values small in the district. 1t
is believed that the assessments in the
southern district is. rs TO values, uni
form with the assessments OF the other
districts where the lands are much
more valuable and are assessed much
higher. 1t has been the earnest en-
deavor OF all OF the officials concerned
to make the assessments, as to value,
equal and uniform in all parts of the
county.
(Signed) r. G. WILKINSON,
Chairman Local Board of Review