The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-04-21
BEDDING IS SUED UPON TAX ISSUES
 IN THREE CASES
Service Made After Town Had Lowered Its Tax
 Rate.

Monday evening on Town Clerk J. B.
 Sanford in three suits wherein L. O..
 Peck, Laura E.. Peck and Walther
 Luttgen are respectively the plaintiffs
 and the town of Reddfng is the de-
 fendant. All are in the nature of
 appeals from tax valuations fixed by the assessors and the board of relier
 and are returnablel to the May teru
 of the superior court In each case
 the plaintiffs attorney is Spotswood I'D. Bowers of Bridgeport The com
 plaint of T.. o. Peck sets forth as it's
 material allegations that the assessors
 listed his property (formerIyl. known
 as the John W. Sanford farm) ias fol-
 lows: House, $1,500; barns. $6Od; land, EI $2,745. These figures, which he de-
 clares to be excessive on the 85 per
 cent. of value basis which the assess
 ors adopted as their rule of guidance, the board of relief refused to lower and he asks the court to order such freduction as may be found equitable. I The land is now in the list at an aver age rate of about $36 per acre.
 Commodore Luttgen writes in his complaint that in his property return to the assessors he gave the value of -four houses and lots at $27,50o, barns 4 and other buildings at $6,750 and S98 i acres at $11,75o., The assessors changed these figures to s30,00 for houses, to $8.OO0 for other buildings < and accepted his land valuation. The 1 relief board increased the valuation of houses to $37, ,75o. allowed the as- sessors figures on the other buildings l to stand and lowered the land. va1ua- I tion~ to $IO,OO0.
 In the case of Laura E.. Peek it is stated that the assessors valued her ] land, 211 7-S acres, at $1s.2sO, dwell l ings at $15, 900 and other bull ldings<at II $2,0O0. The relief board lowered the land figures to $15,1oo, raised the 1I houses to s17,700i and left the other i buildings unchanged. The average I rate on the land is $71-30 per acre. It 1 is understood that in their eYision the krelief board estimated the meadow II land at $125 per acre and the other Hand. consisting of. pasture and wood
 land-the latter nearly al1e "sprout''-- Fl at $50 per acre Substantially half
 the entire tract is meadow. The town will undoubtedly contest the suits and the selectmen 'are soon to hold a conference to arrange for the obtaining of counse1.N Attorney Cornell of Bridgeport spent two entire days of last week at the town clerk s office in an inspection of tax abstracts
 and other records covepjng the period from 1909 to the present time and s took away with him mass of figures and other excerpts for use in the forthcoming trial. This careful pre- l paration and other conditions indicate I Il lengthy one and that the litigation
 will be expensive for both sides
 the budget, which the selectnfen sub- | l rlitted to the special town meeting fl last Saturday afternoon they recon nended a tax rate of 13 mills the
 duee an income Of S$22,384, and leave I a balance over expenditures made
 and to be provided for of about $1, 50 O Tn view of the general expectation T that a slightly higher rate might be l required the selectmen's statement
 came as an agreeable surprlse, l having been shown however that 3
 rate of 12 1-2 mills would yield
 enough to meet actual needs and give
 a. slight margin D. s. Sanford moved
 that the rate be fixed at this figure
 Tn the good tempered discussion which 2 followed it was urged that there . I should be provided a sufficient sur
 plus to at least begin the process of wiping out the foating indebtedness of about SC, 300 and that anyway un- foreseen contingencies were likely te I arise calling for all the revenue com ing from a 13 mill rate. One speaker thought that too large a balance was in itself an incentive to unnecessary outlay and therefore favored the low l err rate proposed. Another speaker 1 suggested that this objection would be lnegatived by a vote directing the se- lectnen to apply the balance to debt | reduction and no other purpose
 This idea was not pressed, however, and when it came to decisive action tthe 12h h1-2 mill rate was adopted by a Idecisive majority. First Selectman n IOsbornf made known to the meeting in his hananciaI review that S10,00o of four per cent. town bonds would fall due in 1918 and that their refpnding could pronably not be accom- nplished except at a higher interest rate.
 On Saturday evening last a birthday . party was given Prof Emil Schoch of : the Sanford school by Mrs. Jeannette Thompson and Miss J. Belle Sanford,
 the event occurring at the home of the
 latter and being marked by happy
 surprises in various ways The date Twas Herr Schochs Seth natal anniver- E sary. All agreed that he. looked cred litably young for his age and wondered
 how one who, according to the old traditions, ought to rank as a crusty
 bachelor, should be so sunshiny and
 round and rosy. The Herr Professor
 BaroneasA von Romberg, whose hus-
 band was Killed on the firing line in
 France, proposing that he accompany
 her two boys, now pupils at the Sam
 ford school on a trip to spend the
 summer with them insg Germany and
 return in September. While the offer Twas a tempting one he declined it. in
 favor of another to act as clerk and
 assistant manager of the Ridgewoid
 Inn during the approaching season. A
 great Dutch supper is soon to come off
 at the Fine Points in celebration of
 the transformation of Herr Schoch | from a Swiss to an American citizen
 The proceedings incidental to the
 transformation will take place at
 Bridgeport in the due and regular
 form presented by the Federal stat
 utes but the subsequent celebration at
 his bungalow here is expected to be
 anything but formal. He plans to pro-
 vide the supper for 36 guests and to
 permit these guests to complete his
 citizenship initiation as they will, reA
 lying on his good physique and his
 Swiss army training to see him | tI1 trough t11a ordeal