Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1916-07-14
Talk OF Reassessment.

ranged by the State Tax Commission
Arthur P. German. chairman of the com.
mission, presided.
Governor Harrington made a brief ad-
dress, in which he stated that he believed
the assessments upon property in Balti-
more city to be higher than in the coun-
ties and higher in some of the counties
than in others. and that. as these assess
ments were the basis upon which the State
taxes were levied, the differences worked
a serious injustice to the city, in particular,
and also to the higher assessed counties.
He said these differences should be RENE
died. The Governors speech stated an
evil which has been recognized generally.
the removal of which is the chief problem
of the taxing authorities in the reassess-
ment, which is to be started August l..
Most of the other speeches dealt with the
plans which have been made by the Tax
Commission to eliminate the evil.
Chairman German said he believed the
machinery provided by the commission
would succeed in eliminating it. although
he recognized the extreme difficulty of the
undertaking. Under the law, there is
supervisor of assessments in each county,
whose work is subject to review and cor
rection by the Tax Commission. Thus
there are local agencies. familiar with local
values. to fix the original assessments and
q m Hv hn Hno
ones. The success of the machinery in
actual practice depends, of course, upon the
intelligence. faithfulness and honesty of
the men doing the work. Mr. German be-
lieves they will measure up to the need.
In addition to the speeches of the Gov
ernor and Mr.. German the program in
cluded speeches by Comptroller Hugh A.
McMullen. Commissioners Oscar Lesser and
Levin W. Wickes. Secretary Allan C. Grid
wood. Prof. S. B. Bombereer. OF the Mary
land State College Of Agriculture: Thomas
J. Lindsay. special assessor of Baltimore
city. and Edward A. O'Mara. special as
SCISSOR of Baltimore county. Following the
set speeches there was a general discus
sion in which number of the visiting
officials participated. At noon luncheon
was served at the Rennert.
Mr.. German, in his speech outlining the
work 10 be done, said. in part:
"A comparison of other assessments
would show that a large amount was
added to the State and county basis by
the reassessments. am confident that a
reassessment in 1916 will equal il not ex-
coed the average increase a year of the
assessment of 1911 over that of 1896 upon
real estate In addition. property of SINH
lar value and of like character will be ad-
justed and equalized 1t is true that the
figures above include both the assessment
of real and personal property, while the
assessment made in 1916 is only to deal
with real estate.
After mature reflection. the State Tax
Commission believes it advisable to deal
with one class of property at time. We
equal assessment can be obtained by
adopting this policy
ITO equalize assessments with the re-
markable and variable conditions prevail
ing in Maryland is in itself difficult prob
lem, but not an impossible one. From the
investigation made by the State Tax Com
mission il is shown that counties similar
in many respects have not been assessed
upon the same basis or the same valuation.
This. in our judgment. shows that the his
tory of the assessments in the State will
bear out the fact that inequality of assess
ments was due largely to the fact that
each county assessed property without a
central board Of revision or uniform plans
being adopted. This undoubtedly will be
overcome with the method adopted by this
commission.
The plan Of reassessment provides that
the County Commissioners shall appoint
local and county assessors. | wish to i'm
press upon you the necessity and impor-
lance Of selecting the most capable and
competent men possible for this particular
work.
THE Appeal Tax Court of Baltimore,
whose functions are to assess property,
employs the year round skilled and trained
assessors. Their work is facilitated by the
use OF plats and maps of the property
Realizing as do the large initial cost of
plating property in the counties, yet urge
upon the Commissioners for their serious
reflection the advsability of adopting this
method of ascertaining accurately all prop
erty within the county, and predict that
within a short time it will be in universal
use
THE valuation of real estate is but the
opinion of assessors opinions may differ
as they do with capable and honest men.
but wish to impress upon you the neces-
sity of giving the State the advantage Of
the most capable men, so that the State
may have a fair and equal assessment"
Mr.. GirdwoOd. in paper on "Valua-
ton. said. in part
peace of property on the part Of the as
SCISSORS, and yet it seems that before the
study Of value in detail is applied to indi-
vdual ownership there should be general
survey of each community in order TO de-
termine community value. This is very
important in ascertainin9 the assessed
value Of property in cities and towns.
Investigation should be directed to the
Il
orally prosperousY Has the community
adequate transportation Are schools up
to the average Are sewerage conditions
sufficient Are there vacant properties.
and il so. are the vacancies numerous ?
Is the population increasing. or is every
stranger a curiosity Is the property drag
on the market Is every piece Of property