Milford chronicle., 1916-04-14

the value of real estate in different part.
of the county. Much dissatisfaction &c
the new assessment has been expressed,
but strange to say, most of the protes-
tants have expressed dissatisfaction, not
because their own land has been assessed
at more than its worth, but because they
claim that the lands of others in their
neighborhood have not been assessed as
high in proportion to its value
The task of the new Board of Assess
ment has been difficult and arduous
one. and we believe they have tried to do
their duty to the best of their ability. 1t
is almost impossible not to make some
mistakes, but we are perfectly satisfied
that the new and present assessment is
the best one Sussex County has ever had.
The unthinking dissatisfied taxpayer may
blame the law, because be believes his
neighbours land is not assessed as high
as it ought to be, but in this he is wrong
The law is alright as far as il goes It
was passed to remedy the evils and in.
equalities of the old assessment law.
Then property, real and personal, in each
hundred was assessed by a different man
Most of them copied the old assessment,
and the assessor who did undertake to
make a new and exact assessment xed
his values by the old assessment. As a
consequence land values have advanced
but the assessment thereof remained very
much the same as ten or twenty years
ago The main objection, however, to
the old law, was the fact, that, property |
of the same value was assessed at different |
values, according to the Judgment and |
political aspirations of the assessor. For !
instance, land worth fifty dollars an acre |
would be assessed at thirty dollars in one |
district twenty dollars in another; fif- |
teen dollars in another twenty FIVE dol
lars in another. Horses worth one hun
dred dollars assessed at that price in one
district, and horses of equal value assessed /
at fifty dollars in another district. AS a
one man living in one dis
trict owning a farm worth FIVE thousand /
dollars, was paving twice as much tax as
a man owning FIVE thousand dollar farm
in another district. In fact there were
instances of adjoining farms, situate in
hundreds, but of equal value, one
being assessed twice as much as the other
Notwithstanding the fact that the law
required property to be assessed at its
value. how far the old assessors failed to
10 their duty is disclosed by the fact that
the present total assessment is more than
twice as much as the old The Board of
A Assessment has discovered tracts of land
heretofore assessed at from FIVE to six
hundred dollars worth three to four thou
sand dollars, and trippling of the old
is nothing unusual.
Much of the dissatisfaction has been
by the fear that the doubling
If the assessment will mean a doubling
If the tax, but this will not naturally
ollow. The aggregate amount of the tax
'aised BY the last assessment was aproxi-
nately one hundred and thirty thousand
lollars, and the rate has been eighty
;ents on the one hundred dollars. On
be new assessment more tax can be
aised at a rate of forty cents on the hun !
lred dollars than under the old at the
Eighty cent rate, and we have no doubt
he Levy Cyurt. when it fixes the rates
Il April, will take this in consideration.
( they do, we believe most of the objec-
ions to the new assessment law will be S
issipated. If, however, the Lew Court S
hould fail to make such an equitable ad-
ustment by fixing low rate, but assume
o fix high rate, they will be more un- e
opular than the present Board of AS ?
essment and the hope of most of them t
D he County Commissioners be forever \
uried. Sussex Republican. S