The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1919-11-20
STATE BOARD BOOSTS
COUNTY VALUATIONS
LOWERS VALUATIONS OF CITY
OF FLINT
Vienna Township Gets Boost of Over
Half Million and Other Town
ships Get Big Raise.

Last week the State Board of Tax
Commissioners, having been called i'm
to settle a question of equalization
of assessed valuations, as between
the townships of Genesee County and
the wards of the City Of Flint, hand
ed down decision, which, if we are
correct in regard to the matter, will
take sixteen millions of valua-
tion off the city of Flint and distrib-
ute it among the townships of the
county. This action was taken by
the State Commission in the face of
the fact that the city of Flint has
grown in taxable wealth, in building,
business and manufactures, during
the past eight or ten years, as fast,
probably, as any city in the United
States. 1t has been, in sense, the
wonder city Of the country and is
known as such. OF course, we are
glad of this; glad to have so thriving
a city in our county, glad because
some of it's prosperity is overfowing
! our way, but it would require a mind
exceeding rich in imaginative quality
to conceive that the country districts
of the county have increased in value
at the same ratio as this city where
vast acreage has literally been
sprouting homes for the past five
years, where hundreds, yes thou
sands, probably, of property trans
fers have been made, during the
past year, at increases of two hun
dred per cent. over the values that
existed five years ago. Valuations
were equalized for the county by the
State Board in 1912, and, of course,
we cannot permit ourselves to believe
That the supervisors of the wards Of
the City of Flint, have permitted
themselves to be buncoed by their
colleagues from the country, in the
matter of equalization, during all of
the long period that has elapsed
since then. Can anyone imagine
that the city supervisors have
been religiously assessing property
at 100 per cent, the while they knew
their country colleagues were assess
ing at eighty-five or ninety. We
don't believe they would like their
constituents to believe that. But
there is no such danger. They all
know better. But, so far as we can
discern, the State Board assumes
that the country districts of the
county have increased in value faster
than the City of Flint since the 1912
equalization. OF course, it won't
do any good to kick, because the
action of the. State Board is final.
1t wields more absolute power than
anybody since Bill Hohenzollern quit
business, and so we are not going to
waste effort that way. For the in
formation of our readers, however,
a, we give below the figures showing
valuations in the county as fixed by
the various supervisors, as fixed and
equalized by the State Board, and
the increase or decrease in each
township and ward. We have not
the time necessary to put these fig
ures in tabular form and conse-
quently will give key to their mean
ing, thus: The figures first following
the names of the townships and city
give the valuations as fixed by the
supervisors, for real estate, the Sec
ond set Of figures give the valuations
as adjusted by the State Board, for
real estate, and the third block of
figures give the increase or decrease
in each town and in the city. The
last block Of figures represent the as
sessed value of personal property,
which was not reviewed by the State
Board. The figures preceded by a
star represent reductions in valua-
tions.
Argentine-$947,95 $97O,229
,$22,279 $1O7,6OO.
!, Atlas-$1, ,274,24O $1,6O1,279
$327,O39 $295,O5O
Burton-$1, ,677,74O $2,O53,627
S375,887 $176,65O
Clayton-$1, ,765,1S0 $1,769,06s
$3,888 117,950
Davison-$1, ,s4s, $50 $212O,27s
271,749 295,6OO
Fenton-$2, ,7O6,6O0 $2,95S,596
$251,996 484,250
Flint-$2,3O5,45 $3,205,355
$899,905 $119,15O
: Tlushing-$1, ,955,700 $1,909,696
:. *$46,O0 $26O,975
Forest-$883,45 $1,248,472
$365,O22 $112,50O
Gaines-$1, ,545,90O $1,762,180
$216,2S0 $1O7,s75
Genesee-$1965,6 $50 $2,529,276
$563,626 $15O,550
Grand Blanc-$1, ,535,325 $1,707,-
295 $171,97O $22O,775
Montrose-$1,151,765 $1,2S5,221
$133,456 $96,765
Mt. Morris-$1, ,787,800 $1,961,363
$173,563 $115,900
Mundy-$1, ,5O0,420 $1,495,630
+$4,79O 149,900
Richfield-$1,213,4O0 $1,431,847
$218,447 $138,950