Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-01-17
HAVE
RESPONSIBILITIES
]. Herman Knisely Tells How
Equitable Values May
Be Gained


]. Herman Knisely, chief of the
State Bureau of Municipalities, read
paper at the last meeting of the
League of Cities of the Third Glass
on the question of assessment meth
DDS, which has attracted much at
tention. The following extracts are
from Mr.. Knisley's paper:
THE assessing official needs few
simple tools, few simple rules, dill
gence and common sense
Some of those present may think
I should add. that he needs an ample
stock of patience to meet the crit
icism which the public visits on the
best-intentioned of assessors But If
the public can be shown that the
assessor has a uniform method
which is applied to all in similar
situations, much of the criticism will
disappear. Publicity and system are
great aids to the administration of
tax laws.
THE first necessity for an. accu-
rate and equitable assessment is tax
maps. This cannot be too strongly
have:
First. A map showing streets and
roads, and the dimensions and
boundaries of each separately own
ed parcel of property. The scale of
these maps differ in the various
cities. the scale being a matter of
convenience. 1t however must be
large enough to show plainly the
shapes and dimensions of lots. These
maps are usually built up from
deeds used in connection with plans
and surveys.
Second. An accurate list of the
owners of all the lots shown on the
maps and these owners being num-
bered to correspond with the lot
number on the map.
NECESSARILY a corner lot is worth
more than a lot in. the middle of a
block and therefore rule has to be
established for calculating the value
of the lot.
1T may be said that the corner
lot should take the value of q lot in
the middle of a block plus about one
fourth of the value of the land on
each street. In residence sections
the first lot is taken as a corner in
fiuence' lot and in the, business sec
ton of the city the distance is forty
feet.
Loss of Revenues
"A building is never worth more
than the difference between what
the land would sell for if the build
ing were destroyed, and what the
plot will sell for with the building
on it. If this fact is remembered,
many inequalities in assessment will
disappear.
Many communities suffer a Sc
rious loss of revenues from the un-
der valuation of vacant lots and
badly improved properties. The plea
is often made that unimproved
property should not be assessed on
the same basis as improved property
because it is not ready for use. The
argument is fallacious. A prospec-
tive purchaser will calculate how
long he will have to hold such land
until 1T is ready for Improvement,
and the market price will be lower
by the probable taxes and interest
for such a period than if the prop
eFtt was fully ripe for development.
AS the taxes are allowed for in the
market value, there is no reason why
this value should not be taken as a
standard of assessment. In many
cases, however, the plea that the
property is not ready for develop
ment is not made in good faith; the
lots would not remain vacant if the
owners would accept a price that
builders could afford to pay and
such a price is usually all the lots
are worth at the time.
'TC allow such vacant property to
escape with low valuation until the
~ laot. 4
while to maintain at the expense of
improved property. the streets, lights
and other services that add to the
value of the lots, puts an unfair
burden upon those who build up a
community.
Probably all cities have a district
of which it is said that the town
would be better off if such old build
ings were burned down. Yet the
owners of these eyesores are often
favored by under-assessmen of their
land, because the assessor thinks of
the property as being poor and,
as they obtain some income from
the buildings, they can stand out for
a high price even better than the
owner of a vacant property, while
the old buildings actually hurt the
development of the city. In such
cases the land should be valued at
it's true worth, which is what it
would earn if properly improved, SO
that the owners will be induced to
put the land to it's best use
THE. actual value of real property
is sum for which it will sell under
Ordinary circumstances and the best
evidence of such value is the record
of such sales under ordinary condi-
tions. We can see no good reason
why the true consideration, in every
deed should not be given before such
deed is entitled to be recorded and
the law should be amended to re-
quire such information.
1T is coming to be recognized
universally that the assessor should
be required to give his entire time
to the work and to be paid an an
nual salary sufficient to induce COM
petent men to accept the office.
I'm a recent survey made by the
bureau of municipalities in twenty
five third class cities of Pennsylva-
MIA, it was found that fifteen used
maps in making their assessments
that fap did not -