Putnam patriot., 1915-01-29
RE-ASSESSMENT
SOmers Unit System of Realty Valus.
 ton Explained
Address by Walter E. Sweeting, Special
 Representative

sentative or the manufaeturefS App praisal Company of Philadelphia and other cities. The nesting was held under the auspices of the Putnam Business Mems Association.
 President Andem of the association opened the meeting He said he was sorry there were not more present but there were more and interesting meet ings to come when he hoped to see larger gathering. Every taxpayer ought to be present as the re.valuation of taxable property is vital question. He was afraid some method might be adopted that might later be found to be mistake. He hoped the work would not be taken up until 1t was found that the method adopted was surely the right one. Many people do not stop to think and dc not realize why they pay tax and what that tax goes to pay for. If things are equally adjusted the matter runs much smoother. He then introduced Walter E. Sweating, the speaker of the even ing. Mir Sweeting said in part;
 Taxes upon real estate form the principal source of revenue in many of the states and practically every city in this country. These taxes are required by law to be levied in proportion to the value of every property so that each owner will bear fair proportions ate share of the municipal or state ex- penses.
 The duty of so apportioning the amount of taxes paid upon each prop erty is delegated to officials usually known as assessors. Originally the duties of the assessor were quite simple. In the small communities of a century or two ago everyone was fa- miliar with the news of the vicinity and Il was possible for the assessor to learn the values ot each owners hold. ings through the channels of village gossip.
 Gradually the villages became towns and the towns eities but with the change the assessor obtained no new means of ascertainlng correct values. It is curious fact thnt although the assessment of real estate is the most fundamental operation of government, there has been practically no improve ment or change in the methods follow ed in two centuries. Now, as then, the assessor was left to his own devices in the matter of assessing real estate. The natural result has been inequitabie as. sessments, and negotiable assess ments mean negotiable taxes. No property owner would submit to a tax rate higher than that of hts neighbor and the supreme courts of state and nation would declare such discrimina- ton unconstitutional. But the in equality and injustice are just as great when there are inequalities in assess ments.
 No serious attempt was made to remedy this condition until a score of years ago w. A. Somers began to study the problem. After fifteen years he discovered the underlying principle of scientific land valuation and invented certain mechanical devices and work ed ut-mathematical tables for apply ing them. This is what is known AS the Somers Unit System of Realty Valuation. It is scientific and there fore accurate, both in theory and in practice and has proved it's worth in more than dozen cities in North, South and West.
 The task of assessing Is dual opera ton. There are two functions of di- verse character to be performed. The first Is the mental operation of ap- praising--of exercising judgment as to values. The second is the mathemati- cal operation of applying the judg- ment or appraisal of values to lots of varying sizes and shapes.
 It would be impossible 10 apply the term scientific to the first or mental operation of assessing as our minds do not work on scientific principles, but science applied by means of the Somers System can assist in this operation by simplifying the process.
 The second part of the assessors task must necessarily be scientific as 1t is mathematical. It's operations are so exact as to permit it's statement in the form of law as follows. There Is q mathematical relation between the values of all sites, affected by the same influences of accessibility.
 Every assessor, every real estate ap- praiser, and in fact everyone having any knowledge of land values will recognize the truth of this law. In it's simplest form it may be illustrated by saying that If an inside front foot of given depth is worth si50, twenty feet front is worth 5000 and thirty feet 5000. The relation here is clearly
 mathematical. There is no guessing about il, it Is a matter of simple asith
 metic. But when the assessor, know ing the value of land in the middle of
 the block, comes to appraise the lot at the corner, or an irregular lot, or lot having a rear or side frontage on m l-a.-