The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1925-11-26
Assessor of Incomes De-
tends 5-Year Method for
Assessment Ratios.
STATEMENT TO BOARD
Assessor of Incomes Explains
in Full Method Used in
Reaching Conclusions.

| Iva lie NdIiUuS lax units OF the EO0il-
ty board of supervisors at its session
this morning when the finance COM
mittee requested that additional time
be allowed to it for filing its report,
| The committee was allowed until Mon.
| day with a request that no further de-
lay be sought. Action on the question
will be made special order of business
on Monday morning.
In connection with the question. AS
| SCISSOR Of Incomes r. L, Cundy gave
out for publication this morning a
statement which he has fled with the
board of supervisors in which he de-
tends the "fve-year, three-year. one
year" plan of establishing assessment
vauations largely by the sales method
as against the five-year assessors val
uation plan, suggested by city officials.
| His statement declared that the plan
he proposed lifted the assessing out of
| local conditions; he quoted from his
annual report of previous year to
defend the plan.
| The statement follows:
Honorable Members of tht County
Board.
Gentlemen:
The statute provision requires the
| assessor of incomes to submit to the
county board the facts, figures and
data for equalization purposes. The
county board may accept such data as
he has prepared or not, or they may
reject it and make whatever assess
ment they please, which is in reality
| an assessment made by them of the
| taxable property in the different as
| sessment districts of the county How
ever, if they go astray in making this
assessment any taxation district may
appeal to the tax commission and have
the assessment changed. (Section
| 1860.
Describes Sales Method.
In keeping with the above require
ments my annual report was given to
your body for due consideration, and
the fve-three year method was given
| to the assessment committee for their
approval. This committee, after due
study of the valuations, held con-
ference with the city officials and as
result of this meeting came back
| with an assessment based upon figures
| taken from the statement of assess
ment of the various town and city as
SCISSORS. A few words of explanation
| of the fYe-three year method: The
compiled data is of real estate trans
fers, and only good sales are used.
The information is obtained from the
buyer and seller. 1t is not claimed
the system is perfect, no human sys-
tenn is free from local and personal
bias. The valuations arrived at by
the sellers is a matter of arithmetic
which gives but one answer under all
conditions of local assessments. 1t is
equally true that nothing is lost along
this line as the local assessment
should run above the five year value.
The sales method takes care Of it in
either case and brings it to 100 per
cent. Lower or raise it to any point
you please, the resulting ratio when
applied to the local assessment al
ways brings the same result.
Not COMMISSIONS Plan.
wish to make this statement pub
lie. That the tax commission had
nothing to do with the plan that /
submitted to your honorable body
The same plan was sent to the tax
commission some time in October.
Section 70:75 charges the assessor of
incomes with the duties of assessing
the incomes of all residents of the city
and in addition, to supervise and di-
rect the work of the town, city and
village assessors of the county. The
above statute requires considerable
amount of work with the assessors in
the various towns. Considerable data
has been collected from such contact
with these men and their work. /
maintain that a five year straight
basis, as has been adopted in previous
years is working a hardship on the
towns, and that the city together with
the towns of Pleasant Prairie and
Somers have enjoyed this equality of
division for several years. The five
three year method meaning the as
sessed valuation for the years 1916,
1917, 1913, 1923 and 1924 for some
towns, and the three year method for
Pleasant Prairie and Soiners, and sin
gle year value for the city of Kenosha
are the selected years to be used. The
sales indicate that the land values in
the town of Somers and Pleasant
Prairie, together with the city of Ke-
nosha have not fluctuated as in the
remaining towns of the county.
Method of Real Estate Equalization.
This county has nine assessors. If
they were set at work to value, for
example, the county chairman's prop
erty. Independently and unknown to
each other, there would be nine differ
ent valuations. No two Of them, ex-
cept by accident, would put the same
value upon IL; the more inexperienced
their arpraisals be. This illustrates
the difficulty of taking the local as
SCISSORS figures for a districts share
of the county and state tax. Mani
testify there must be some uniform
system as well as some one superior
body or person removed from local in
fuences to determine the matter. and
that can take a broader view of it
than will the local man. Such a body
you are supposed to be; such per-
son the assessor of incomes is expect
ed to be. The entire county is the
unit in which he works. You also rep
resent the whole county. Together
we should therefore be in position.
and it is our duty, to distribute this
joint tax burden without local favor
itism or prejudice.
In order to get away from local and
personal bias in determining this mat
ter some method or system should be