Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-10-24
GAFFNEY URGES CONTROL OF TAxTS
BY CITY COUNCIL; PLEA TO MAYOR

,s,nana v,s,s, was made upon the Board Of ne.
VISION Of Taxes BY the ,hsn 49,. q ~
~. proper assessment, with a resn,t ,nat
crc..a ~ ments were corrected TO an IN.
0,s OF twenty.sevsn per cent IN one v.ar
c,,v t.a uAry y ~, 1914. the then Mayor Of the
men. .ss sauress delivered 10 the business
,ats.,. essociations Of Phiiadeiphia' rnvs
nlry-two examples. taken from, =. .,,o,,.
SoIa !. IN tne city, whore properties had been
''' III excess OF their assessed value.
HIGH SELLING PRICES
The total assesanants IN ,ns .,.r.,,,..
rs,s were tl,o1s,ebo, whereas the eeliing
actually paid for the properties 40
10 sec when sold, amounted 70 1885
~. Lne assessments were 81 per cent
,ss 80. =. sne selling prices. ana the effective
a. s was therefore, 81 cents. instead OF
eo; Another remarkable iiiussration Of
ous eeIsctve system 10 also found In that
ae auaress, OF what happens 20 the city
"nsn u has 70 buy for its own purposes.
November 1911. by ordinances GER
OF Sixteenth street from los ,o chsrrv
sreet, ana almost all Of the south side OF
Sherry street, west 20 Seventeenth street
were placed upon the city plan. Prior 20
enls councilmanic action. the total assess-
IrorD.s,n eus oa tnese properties was sibtsOo.
,.neulateiy I'M after being placed upon the
clty plan. the Board OF Revision of Taxss
Jumped the total assessment 20 s2l6. 500 or
rom thirty-three and one-thlrd per cant 40
.nase hundred per cent, while they per-
SIs..eu Tso. the assessments of the properties on
merry street. from Sixteenth street eas,
TO Fifteenth street, nearer 10 Rroad s,r.a,
1912. '"' ''''"e from isil TO
-, need hardly take the time 20 cite cases
OF oVerassessment In Philadelphia. m I
e 70 send out a twenty-four hour cali
lot all realty owners TO aRsen,hle AZ INV
ONCE or at City Hall who have sold or no,y
noIu properties assessed for more than thsy
received or Is now offered for them. wager
snah-siHed army would respond.
SYSTEM PECULIAR NTo CITY
Onder the present system, unknown
siseWhere, neither the Mayor nor CounoIla
nave anything to do with IL except uro-
woe the money for is existence. They
. nave not even the power to investigate
ene boaru OF Revision OF Taxes. The Su-
preme Court OF our STATE in the case OF
selis va. Philadelphia, 2s2 Pa. 9os CIsit1
declared that that was virtually the effect
oI the Act OF March IL 1885 p l. ago
| and Its supplements
by acts OF Assembly In all the second
ana third class cities OF this State the entire
assessing machinery 10 regulated by Coun.
ella Personally, cannot see why This nil.
important branch of our mrn cipal ufe
should continue to be kept SO far removed
from the personal touch OF our citizens.
l.s control, regulation and maintenance
those who are dlrac,Iy r..,',,.at, w na,us ot
people ana upon vrha,, ~. 20 .he e
| an account Of tha,r s,a,,,s - Ss" e"h ior
The second ava ,AIss ",l lushIp,
alu OF the Legislature, have made another
| lens: thev hsr" ,,',''a, " assessment prob
| classiacation =, - oue 'he tnree-told
up, suburban anS r,,."t 70 WI, built
| And there sssrns - ~ - VI asriculturaL
we should NOT ssS az ~ 500 reason why