New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-10-02
TAX BOOKS SHOW
AMAZING GROWTH
IN FIILLIONAIRES
hmm of S3,450, 1000, 900 in
Personal Property Val
uations Over 1915.
s149.OO0O00 ADDED
TO REALTY FIGURES
only Tentative" Mayor Says
of 1916 Surprise; mot a
Scheme Of Administration"

4 mushroom growth Of New York
-r,loBaires during the last year. with
=, unpreecdeuted increase in assess
rs,ts on personal property valuation.
/, .be surrrising feature OF the tax
hoot, for .9ls which were opened yes
.,rssv for publc inspection. There is
fairly large increase in real estate
valuation.
The tentative figures show tenfold
;-,rsose ir tax valuation. The per-
,s,sl prope-ty valuation is raised more
.bs, s8.450.Oo0.OO0 over the final 1915
v,,rstior q S852.O5l.755. and the real
estate valuation sl43.OOO,OOO over the
Anal 1915 valuation Of s7.72s.7s7,T7.
The list includes more than a hun
6-sd persons assessed on their per-
.opsl.v FOR 100000. Besides the old
familiar names Of wealthy families
there appears great many who here
tofore were not renowned for their
wealth. The few who are assessed for
more thar million dollars personally
s,e John D. Rockefeller. S5,000.o 900; An
drew Carnegie. S5,OOOoOO; Isaac E.
weins.e.n. s5O0O,OOO; Mildred B. Bliss,
100000: Margaret B. Vanderbilt,
100000: Emily F. Southmayd, 81
100000. and James B. Ford, Sl,3s4,00O.
WaVor Issues Statement.
Navor Mitchell. though his appointees
Oh the Tax Board were responsible for
the experiment Of shooting the per
sonality valuations skyward, issued q
statement last night evidently intended
20 allay the alarm Of the taxpayers.
He declared that the big increase did
not represent any policy or scheme OF
this administration" His statement
was considered IN some quarters 70
amount % an apology for the action Of
bis Tax Commissioners. He said:
"Much apprehension exists with re-
spect 90 the personal tax assessment
In the first place. the figures are mere
iy tentative. and are subject 70 very
great reduction because Of deductions
and eHsets provided by law. Il is alto
geiher too early % forecast what the
actual personal assessment will be until
the Tax Department has finished sift-
inc the preliminary figures. In the
second place the increase does not rep
resent any policy or scheme Of this ad-
ministrHt.on. but is simply the result OF
greater care and thoroughness on the
part Of the tax officials in the dis
charge Of sworn duty.
plans ~ taxation arc matters OF
state law uThe duty OF the city gov
ernment is % administer the law as II
finds IT, While personally ] regard the
personal tax law as faulty and even
unjust, it plainly makes II obligatory
upon the Tax BOARD 20 assess personal
property 90 its actual value wherever
II fnds 80. unless specially exempted
by law
Orde ed 10 Avoid Injustice.
"On reading the tentative figures
published to-day have. however, given
positive instructions 20 the commits
sioners o. use the greatest care to
avoid over assessment and injustice,
and particularly 20 prevent uncollecti-
bic taxes from being put upon the
rolls. While naturally in dealing with
50 large q population and under the
faulty machinery Of the existing law
there viii be many errors in the pre-
hminary assessments these can be cor
rec.ed on The hearings | am conf
dent that public opinion viii approve
this earnest effort on the part Of the
commission % discharge its statutory
duty
II may also add that when the final
assessment have been determined l
shall sec 20 DO II necessary that the
whole machinery Of the city govern
iment is used 90 enforce collection.
have heard altogether too much Of tax
doegIng and taX-perjury.'
The rca. estate books are open until
November o, and the personal tax
books until November 30, during which
tine properly owners may inspect the
valuations and present evidence in sup
port Of claims Of Modification. The to-
tai personal valuation on the books is
more than $1,000, 900. and the real
estate valuation is S7,S72, ,26S, ,4s4.
Lsrge Amounts May BE Sworn OF.
In view 0f the ac,Jal collections Of
former years. 10 is said, the tax author
ties probably viii do well II they =
leet o. fral assessment 10 per cent
more than iu 1915. Last year, out OF
ne total Of $685., ,O51.7 1856 charged 10 per
Sona.ty making possible a levy of &c.
eZ2l6S, The books Of the Receiver Cf
Taxes show O. collection up 20 August
10 OF Sill73s5. or G5out two-third1. 3.
me increase in realty valuation last
year was Sl33.OO0,000, and Of this
amount SIS 200. 300 was sworn off.
Comparing the lists of the real es-
,ate assessment for 1916 and 1918, Il
is sh 'Tn that some Of the largest in
ereases In the value OF real estate are
around Herald and Times squares and
n ne Lcigh bOrhood Of the Grand Cen
ial Terminal The terminal jumped
100000 on the new assessment, or
nom Sl6l75.O00 last year 20 S1s,8OO.-
pVi. A. the same time the Pennsyl-
tania Station dropped from Sl6,35O.-
v10 In 1915 20 S16.265,O00. Hotels and
other public buildings in these neigh
.orhoods showed slight gain in valu-
sNon. while the assessment on prop
cry further downtown either remained
ne same or dropped back slightly.
Vne hundred thousand dollars was
Isen OF the S6.300.O0 assessment n
NE Whitehall Building for 1918.
In the statement issued by Lawson
ferdy, president Of the Tax Eoard. IN
N'~+N =" iff ttfthllNt ffAi 'FNoN' %"
poin-ed out that in Manhattan the
.e, increase in round figures WAS
sSSOoO.O00, but the decrease lis vari
ous parts Of the borough amounted 20
100000.
Land Increase sss,0o0,0O0.
The increase for new buildings was
ssVO0OOQO, and the land increase was
reDO0.O00. In the section from Grand
street 70 Fourteenth Street the net
eecresse was $4,000. 900. From Four
heDih 20 Fortieth street the decrease
Was Szi.0000O0 In the Harlem sec
IONS the decrease was about wv
vVV,ooo. The sections which yielded an