Milford chronicle., 1922-03-03
SUSSEX COUNTY
ADVANCED UNDER
NEW GOVERNMENT
CONTINUED from page SKI


each taxable reported by them to the
Levy Courti you can, therefore, PLAIN
~ picture the material obtainable to
do this kind Of work, which Is a fair
indication Of the quality Of the work
performed under this system. It Is
an absolute fact, and am ashamed to
admit It, that our county had one
assessor who could not even write his
came, and this occurred only about
Osn years ago.
While 1t is true that the Levy Court
usually gave the assessors an out
tine as to how they wanted the prop
srty valued, yet there was a great in
equality as to the valuations made
by the assessors, in the several dis
tricts.
have IN mind two farm properties
separated by a public road, which was
also the line between two assessment
districts. There was practically no DIFF
ference in the actual value Of these
two properties, yet, one property was
assessed for about one third as much
as the other property, which Is the
same as charging tax Of nearly three
times as much on one as on the other,
as the same rate per 800 was levied
over the entire county.
In my judgment, the nomination Of
assessors was quite often secured on
account Of the influence Of those who
had considerable property to be assess
ed, which was an influence the assess
ors many times could not Withstand.
and frequently, the assessors were
owing money to one or more Of the
larger property owners, thereby, being
subject to dictation as to assessment
values.
New Assessment Plan.
The law Of 1915 provided for a Board
Of Assessment Of three members; not
more than two Of whom should be
from the same political party. The
first board was appointed by the then
Governor Charles r. Miller and COM
menced their work on May 4, 1915. |
This board served until January /, |
1917, at which time our three-member
Levy Court came in office. This Levy |
Court appointed the new Board Of
Assessment.
The board appointed by Governor |
Miller made a general assessment dur |
ing the year 1915, which increased the |
assessment OF Sussex county from |
$15,6S5,9S7, as returned on May I, |
1915, by the IA assessor system, to |
&27, 7,4s4,2S7 on May 1, 1915, by the new
system, and It was generally conceded
that this board was conservative in
its values. This was an increase Of
T6 per cent IN one year.
The constitution Of the State Of
Delaware provides that property shall
be assessed at its true value in money.
You can plainly see that the assessors
under the old system Of IA did not do
their sworn duty IL the assessment Of
the new board was not more than the
true value Of the property assessed.
So far as the cost Of operating under
the old method, as compared with our
present Board Of Assessment, should
Judge the present method costs direct I
ly, something more than the old meth
cd, although very little more; but,
considering the quality Of the work
performed, the present method is de-
cidedly cheaper, even If the old method I
had been run without cost Of opera {
ton. Il
Assessing property, to a very great c
extent, is a case Of judgment, and 1t
Il impossible to get even near an a
equitable assessment when the county Il
Is divided into IA separate and inde- t
pendent units, regardless Of the caliber t
Of the men making the assessment.
Therefore, II our present assessment c
Is more equitable than the old methods, o
It removes, at least in part, a just a
cause Of complaint by our honest tax g
payers. o
The second law referred to the c
method Of collecting county taxes. I'm a
der the old system, we had ten tax v
one for each representa- a
tive district. These collectors were v
appointed by the Levy Court. Each o
ST the ten members Of the Levy Court o
was supposed to appoint the tax o
in his district, which made it g
strictly a political appointment. The Il
collectors were supposed to retain o.
eight per cent Of the money they col IL
lected for their services; but, those Z
taxpayers who paid prior to September W
were allowed a rebate Of three per eS
cent; in which case, the tax collector b,
retained i've per cent onlyi which, CT
however, made it cost eight per cent tN
In all to collect the taxes. The cost Is
of this system was bad enough, but n
hardly the worst feature Of the sys-
tenn, as the great number Of delin- M
quents turned in by these collectors oil
often amounted to nearly as much as ol
the collectors were paid. th
Under the law Of 1915, the offices Of pl
AK collector and county treasurer as
we're combined, under the title Of ire er
,eiver Of taxes and county treasurer"
Governor Miller appointed the first pr
receiver Of taxes and county treasur- in
r." who assumed the duties Of his Of sh
ice on May /, 1915. M
This system has been very salts OF
actory indeed, and a great money ye
aver, as the total cost Of collecting on
axes under this system does not Sc
mount to near as much as the old WI
method, as It only amounted to about I'M
g per cent for last year as COM
AIRED to eight per cent under the old co
ystem, or less than one-fourth as ne
much. ne
Under the old method, tax collect co
rs often owed the county two or three ws
ears back tazes. have a case in tn
nind where a collector was more than stl
'vo years In arrears with the countyi CO.
nd, when the county endeavored to ev
ollect from the four men who were lee
is bondsmen, three Of the four claim
d they didn't sign his bond and won lie
ut when tried in court. roi
AS another illustration, refer to frc
he following motion adopted by the Re
ussex County Levy Court on January B"
Q, 1915: ize
Moved and seconded that the at me
orney for the Levy Court is hereby lin
uthorized and directed to collect all &C
axel due the county by the various 4O(
olleclors for the year 1912" This otI
lainly shows how far the collectors dis