The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1916-07-20
OWNERS MAKE THEIR
OWN TAX ESTIMATES
Plans Formulated For Entire Reas-
sessment OF State Property.

Outlining yesterday the plans formu-
lated by the State Tax Commission for
the conduct of the reassessment of all
the real property in the state, provided
for in the act passed by the last Legis-
lature, Secretary Allan C. Girdwood
made the rather surprising statement
that an investigation has disclosed the
fact that heretofore it has been the
custom for owners to schedule their
own property and practically to make
their own assessments.
''In very few instances" said Mr..
Girdwood, were the assessments of
the owners changed. They fixed the
values of their own properties and the
authorities accepted their ratings. Nor
was very much attention paid to i'm
provements upon land. Neither was
there any effort to equalize valuations,
even in cases of adjoining properties,
where one piece, per acre, was practi-
cally as valuable as another"
The taxcommission does not propose
to have the new assessment made after
any such manner. 1t has worked out
an elaborate system that will represent
the first effort ever made in this state
to assess property on a systematic and
scientific basis. 1t doesn't expect its
work to be perfect, it has no idea that
sol 10
its efforts, but it does expect to super
wise an assessment that will come near
er to being fair to all property owners
and to all localities of the state than
any that has ever been made before.
There are no assessment plats to
guide the commission. Heretofore pro-
perty has been assessed against the in
dlvidual and not in accordance with To-
cation. Nor, because of the cost of hay
ing them made, will it be possible to
have assessment plats for the reassess-
ment; but the commission will try to
help the situation by dividing the state
into squares. lettered and numbered
and these squares, without reference to
the county or district lines, will in so
far as possible, embrace land of SINH
lar character.
The commission has already secured
a record of every piece of property in
the state outside of Baltimore city.
These records are set forth on $50. 900
cards and these cards classify real
estate as Farms, Small Farms and
Tracts, and Lots The cards also
show, if there is difference, any diff
ference between assessments for local
and county purposes. 1t is quite com
mon for property. in some localities, to
be assessed much higher for local pur-
poses than for county purposes.
The commission also has a complete
record of sales. showing the acreage of
and consideration paid for every piece
of property that has been sold since the
commission was created. This record
comprized 80 900 cards. In many cases
the cards show sales of property at
prices twice as great as the assessed
values. Conversely, there are some
cases where the property sold for less
than its assessed value.
All such information as this will be
used to help guide the assessors when
they begin their work. The assessors
will be provided with cards upon
which they will give the name of the
owner of each piece of property in his
district, the location, number of acres,
character thereof, that is whether till
able, standing pastures, wooded or
chard, barren. marsh land frontage on
public highways and streams, and the
names of all adjoining owners.