Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-04-24
Circulation Every 1AOOO
Evening Yesterday l4OUU
WEDNESDAY, APRIL "a, 1915.
Wilmington Bears the Burden.

NifftttuNAbu bt"S sht 'hthNp-
The assessment Of property IN New
Castle county for the purposes OF taxa
tion for the next fiscal year has been
increased over that of the current year
bv about S4O,OOO.O0O This is radical
increase, and whether il is justified or
not is matter that cannot now he
determined H. has been done. and that
is all there IS 10 II.
tstatcmcnt made by the County Board
Of Assessment, on Monday, gave the
figures Of assessment increases IN some Of
the lower hundreds of the county which
are quite interesting They are.
Appoqunlmnk hundred Increase,
s6-4. .507: - per cent
Bhckbird SIS. pos: IS per cent.
81. Georges 81, i06 5f6. 5033 per cent.
pencadcr S7l4.737; 5S2i per cent.
Rcd Lion s4i,6 900; 400 per cent.
I, will not be denied that these increases
are radical in their extent That they
Will make the property owners squrm
and protest is altogether probable But
i may bc they are just and proper
The above list. however, comprises
only Eve Of the hundreds OF the county
outside Of Wilmington hundred The
increases in the remaining hundreds
White CLAY Creek. New Castle. Mill
Creek. Christlana and BrandywIne- may
be expected to show Al least = similar
proportionatc increase, because farm
property and other real estate IN those
hundreds is held at somewhat higher
value than that Of the lower county hun
dreds.
Still, making reasonable allowance
for this additional assessment value 1t
may be estimated that Of the increase
Of $4,000 900 in the total property
assessment Of New Castle county for the
next fiscal wear the bulk of il viii fall
heavily upon the city Of Wilmington
The total Of tho increases included III the
statement gwen above. fer the sve lower
hundreds, Is S3,S22.737. The increase
IN the remainder Of the rural hundreds
will in all probability increase the total
10 about 5000. 600 The remainder Of
the forty-u1illon increase. therefore. n
least S32U0O.000. viii fall upon property
IN the city Of Wilmington. in Wilmington
hundred as We are known in our system
Il county administration. The increase
for the city Will be from - to 80 pcr cent,
but It will he excessive, because the county
.>sessments in Wilmington have always
h,,cn high
1nd 50 II VII be seen that in the
scheme OF largely increased taxation for
county purposes next year, the city Of
Wilmington, as usual. will he made
the goat II Will have 10 bear the
burden Of the increased taxation resulting
from this extraordinarily increased
assessment OF real property.
And 30 1t becomes q matter Of serious
interest to the taxpayers Of the city Of
Wilmington, as well as to those Of the rest
Of New Castle county, what tax rate the
Levy Court viii fix for the ensuing fiscal
year The increases in assessments Of
the lower county hundreds, noted above
are. Of themselves, what may he called
quite stiff, ranging from A to IS per cent.
But the increases III Wilmington are much
heavier, in bulk regardless Of percentage,
and the tax payments exacted Of tins
city will be heavier in proportion,
The Levy Court OF New C~stle county,
last year, with an assessment increased
over that Of the previous year by about
5000, 900, increased the tax rate from
50 TO 95 cents on the 500 Of assessment.
" hat viii II do for the next fiscal year?
Will it keep the tax rate at 95 cents and
spend all the extra money, or viii it
make 8 material reduction in the rate?
There is only one answer: With such
q large increase in the assessment, it
should make substantial reduction IN
the tax rate.