Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1929-04-07
NewMethod

NSOAlGAIluSO 4IOIl rage OIle.J
sessments for local improvements
should never exceed the benefits to
the private property assessed, but in
practice assessments are often
made on the basis of the cost of the
improvement regardless of tho
benefit, says Philip H. Cornick, of
the National Institute Of Public Adj
m~inistration. who has made a study
Of this subject for the past two
years.
Moreover assessments are often
made in a haphaZard manner by
committees of private citizens who
know nothing about the matter in
its modern ramifications, points out
Mr.. Cornick. Many state laws re-
quire that a commission of citizens
be appointed to award damages and
assess benefits in street openings
and widenings, etc. and the first
step in putting such work on a
scientific basis is to remove the
well intentioned but laundering
butcher, baker and candlestick
maker, who under old laws, have set
about the intricate business Of dis
tributing special assessment bur-
dens.
Trained Men Replacing Citizens
And in cities where this matter is
being taken in hand, these highly
technical functions are being turned
over to engineers, attorneys, econo-
mlStS and experienced real estate
men who r working out special
lied plans, that, among other things,
contemplate a look into the future.
The reorganization that is going
on along these lines in many parts
OF the United States is necessary
partly because of the development
OF economic regions that have
brought about a situation in which
an area of benefit of a local i'm
provement frequently extends be-
yond the political boundaries of the
governing unit making the improve
ment," says MI. Cornick.
For example, there are good
grounds to believe that some Of the
highway work that is being done
now in New Jersey will reduce the
costs Of doing business, not only in
that state, but also in cities stretch
ing from Boston to washington,
D. c., and will consequently confer
measurable benefits on sites
throughout that area. Conversely
it is probable that a number of
small cities have provided links in
important and beneficial highways
connecting large metropolitan areas
without deriving either general or
local benefits commensurate with
the costs"
How to taxacities outside the juris-
diction of a state for improvements
whose benefits extend outside of the
state is a problem incapable Of Solu-
ton at present unless methods can
be developed to finance regional i'm
provements by means of regional
levies, admits Mr.. Cornick.
But this is an extreme case, says
the authority, and an adequate tech
nique in special assessment proceed
ure is being developed in many
parts of the country.
In Seattle, Washington and in
st. Louis. Mo, new methods Of plac-
ing assessments for street openings
and widenings provide for an an
alysis of the same facts concerning
the affected properties as would be
secured by an appraiser for mort
gage loans on these properties, Sales
values. rentals. topography, the
character of the neighborhood. the
traffic flow, and the probable effect
of the new improvement on future
traffic flow are studied.
When 1t Rains
I'm Los Angeles instead of spread
ing the. cost Of new storm sewers in
proportion to the area served by
them, as has been the practice in
the past, the district is divided into
zones on the basis of topography
damage from storm waters. existing
drainage, etc.. each zone being as
sessed at a different rate. In one
large district more than seventy
rates were used, the highest being
in the lands previously subject tic
overflow, the lowest near the rim OF
the basin where storm water dam
age was negligible.
In Ohio, county sanitary engln-
GERS have developed an interesting
system for apportioning trunk sewer
costs over the area to be served.
With the aid of real estate men, the
district is divided into zones on the
basis of estimated time which will
elapse before the several sections of
the area become ripe for develop
mept. A present worth factor is then
read from a comnound interec+ 4ohIa