Putnam patriot. [volume] (Putnam, Conn.) 1872-1962, 1920-04-02
PEOPLE MAKE
LAND VALUES
Sorners Unit System of Proper
ty Valuation Explained
Between rs and 10 Attend Meeting
Ia Odd Fellow Hall

| Inc valuation Of real properly as
made under the Somerz unit system
was explained to an audience Of be-
tween rs and 100 representative eiti-
zens in Odd Fellows hall, last Friday
night, BY Walter ". Pollock, repre-
sentative Of the Manufacturers Ap-
praisal Company Of Philadelphia.
The Putnam Chamber Of Commerce
I is Interested in q reaszassmeHt of
! property values in Putnam for a two
+ fold purpose-to equalize valuations
and to raise the total Of the grand list
which viii allow Of the rate cf taxa
ten being reduced. The meeting was
held under the auspices Of the Cham
Der Of Commerce and was arranged
+ oy committee appointed 70 take
fchsrFe u she matter
The meeting was called % order b
f ffez ear Charles T. Dean. who ex-
PlaineI its purpose and stated that
the plan that would be explained was,
H sae opinion # tie committee. a
god one and that 1t ass not thought
tbas j would be necessary to look
further. although he said Il is not ob-
ligatory TO adopt the plan
+ q Morse ztatea briefly that d ne
cessity fef ae@aiuati0n q property
Tor taxation purpose EXISTS and that
everyone known that there are glar-
ing inequalities at present he said
thai this Is no reelection en- the board
Of assessors, as it IS impossible under
the present system to successfully
place values
NJ Morse SAID that FIVE years ago
the SOmefs plan was explained. but
nothing had come Of It. Later in the
evening he said the committee was
open to any and ali constructive sug-
gestions. but that the committee mop
ed that something might oe done be-
fore next October
Ar Pollock being introduced, SAID
thai he had been a professional APP
praiser for Is years, but that his real
business was the appraisal of manu-
featuring plants He said that the
appraisal of real property for taxa
ton purposes was a hobby of his, but
that he was not present to urge a con
tract being made. for. unless he found
that it was the desire Of the citizens.
he would not care to undertake it,
Mr.. Pollock then briefly outlined the
plan, stating that land values are
based on people. That the greatest
value Of land is where there are the
most people and that in all towns and
cities the highest values are found in
the business sections.
The plan used is to find the best To-
cation on a street and to call that
spot 100 per cent and after fixing the
value on this piece of property TO fix
the other values on the same street
by relative values.
The system was illustrated by the
use of a crude map and the matter
was left to the audience. which unani-
mously agreed that the frontage on
Main street occupied by the Bugbee
store was the most valuable, and this
was therefore called 100 per cent On
the opposite side it was figured at 60
per cent, and the bank corner at SIS
per cent. This showed tiat when the
Bugbee store property value was fixed
the other values could be- fixed rela-
lively.
Then the corner" proposition en-
tered into the calculation Calling
Front street, where the same building
faces, 80 per cent. the whole could be
computed on a sliding scale, tables
for which have been prepared by
those who originated the system.
There are, of course, other features
that enter into the computation. such
as alleyways and the ease with which
a building may be reached, After
the normal worth is found these other
features may be considered The diff
ferent streets have different valua-
ton Say that Main street is 100 per
cent, then Front street might be so
per cent. and so on,
h answer to a question, il was
stated that the plan had worked out
satisfactorily and that in only one or
two instances has there been any
fault found with work done II was
admitted that the plan had never been
used in New England
Mr. Pollock stated that il would
take from a month to six weeks 70 do
the work and it would cost approx
mately $4,000 He said that experts
would be sent heee, probably two Of
them, and that they would work with
the assessors. He said that the sys-
tenn Is not so much to fix values but 10
show how to measure values, and that
once this is done all future changes
could be worked cut by the board Of
assessors on the unit system establish
ed by his company