Middletown transcript., 1916-07-29
TAX COMMISSION
COMPLETESSYSTEM
Has An Elaborate Plan to Guide
Assessors.
FIXING VALUES IN STATE
Radical Changes Made - Secretary
Girdwood Says That the Owners
Have Been Making own
Assessments.
AnnanOIis-

Annapolis
Outlining the plans formulated by
the State Tax Commission for the con
duct of the reassessment of all the real
property in the State, provided for in
the act passed by the last Legislature,
Secretary Allan C. Girdwood made the
rather surprising statement that an in
vestigation has disclosed the fact that
heretofore it has been the custom for
owners to schedule their own property
and practically to make their own as
sessments.
''In very few instances" said MI
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 prac'
tically as valuable as another"
Has Worked Out System.
The Tax Commission does not pro-
pose to have the new assessment made
after any such manner. 1t has worked
out an elaborate system that will rep
resent the first effort ever made in this
State to assess property on a system
attic and scientific basis. 1t doesn't
expect its work to be perfect, it has
no idea that immediate equalization
will result from its efforts, but it does
expect to supervise an assessment that
will come nearer to being fair to ali
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
property has been assessed against the
individual and not in accordance with
location. Nor, because Of the cost Of
having them made, will it be possible
to have assessment plats for the re-
assessment; but the commission will
try to help the situation by dividing
the State into squares, lettered and
numbered, and these squares, without
reference to county OF district lines,
will, in so far as possible, embrace
land Of a similar 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 $4,000
cards and these cards classify real
estate as Farms" Small Farms and
Tracts" and Lots" The cards also
show, il 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
purposes than of county purposes.
The commission also has 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 comprised 10000 cards. In
many cases the cards show sales of
property at prices twice as great as
the assessed values. Conversely,
erty sold for less than its assessed
value
Data To Guide Assessors
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, orch
ard, barren, marsh land, frontage on
public highways and streams, and the
names of all adjoining owners.
Under another heading the assessor
will list the improvements on the prop
erty, describe them-that is, whether
Of brick, stone or wood-give dimen-
sions, condition and amount of insur-
ance carried.
The county assessors, one for each
district, will compile the information
called for on the cards. He will then
submit the cards to the Supervisors of
Assessments for his county. Together
hey will make up an assessment to b.
to the County Commission
RS. If they fail to agree on figures
hey can submit separate reports.
Thereafter it will be the duty of the
county Commissioners to notify own
RS of the assessments that have been
evied against them. And in the event
he Supervisors of Assessments thinks
my assessment accepted by the Coun-
Y Commissioners is too low, he can
ppeal to the State Tax Commission.
t cannot make f1rst-hand assessments,
'ut it can watch to see whether or not
in the same localities are
qualized and it can intimate to it's
upervisors that appeals ought to be
aiken.
The upsetting of lamp in the home
f Daniel Balisky, farmer, of Elk
Jeck, resulted in fire that DESTROYED
he home, together with its contents.
.oss, $4,000.