The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-12-03

Continued from Page D
 for motor vehicles which are priced in accordance with prices furnished by dealers in used cars. This as- sures that all motor vehicles are assessed on the basis of cost, less depreciation for the years the ve- hicle has been in operation. It is only through such a method that the taxpayer can be assured that he pays no more and no less than any other taxpayer owning similar property.
 Uniformity Impossible
 Taxable property cannot be prop erly assessed without a sound method Of procedure. In the abe sence of reliable system which en- ables essential comparisons to be made, there can be no uniformity of assessments. Such a method. as prevails in Waterbury, enables the assessor to replace caprice with system, and guesswork with knowl- edge.
 It is the duty Of the assessor to appraise the property of each tax payer. thereby determining its value and consequently the share of the cost of government to be borne by each. The necessity of honest iudg- ment and impartial enforcement of the law becomes increasinly im- portant as the amount of the tax levy increases. Whenever the as- seSSor permits a taxpayer to get by" because of undervaluation jus tice has been outraged, the law vio- lated, and the honest taxpayer penalized. It should be remembered that the assessor is the agent of all taxpayers; and when he fails to protect the interests of all, he has violated their sacred trust and his oath of office.
 There is a general desire on the part of the property owner to re- duce taxes. which is certainly com mendable; but. more often than not. taxpayers fail to grasp the fact that reducing value does not re- duce taxes Tax reductions can only be effected by reducing expendi- lures Almost invariably, where val- nations are low, assessments are found to be unequal, and the added burden always falls on the tax payer who has the least valuable property.
 The FaIlacy in Suggestion
 The argument has been often ad- vanced that every taxpayer should be his own assessor and be permit ted to submit his own valuation. The general assumption that taxpayers will submit correct listing and show correct values. as the law contem- plates they should. is an absurdity proven over and over again. Hu- man nature being what itS is, tax payers are prone to understate facts and undervalue items, if not actual ly omit them entirely. This leads to self assessment. which is little better than refusing to pay taxes at all. The taxpayer is concerned only with keeping his tax bill as low as possible without regard to its being a proper share of the cost of government; as a result his own statement of the worth of his prop erty, unsupported by facts of sales, etc, is apt to be tinged and colored by selfishness.
 Under the scheme of government in Connecticut, the assessor, rather than the taxpayer. is responsible for the determination of the present fair market value of all property.
 The plain letter of the law de- mands that all property be valued at it's present fair market value Only by strict adherence to this statutory rule can equality be ate tained. To assess at any other base is in direct contradiction of the law. Such a failure to follow the law is productive of unjust discrimina- ton, which breeds mistrust and con- tempt of taxpayers; 1t opens the door to dishonesty, makes the me- chanics of assessment complicated and unwieldy and substitutes the whim of the assessor for the rule of the statutes, makes the assessor guilty of the crime of perjury in that he has acted in defiance of his oath of ofice. and leaves the small taxpayer without any adequate re- dress by favoring the taxpayer own- ing high-grade and costly property, at the expense of inferior and cheap property.
 Editors Note: Another article in this series dealing with WaterbuFy's municipal government will appear in tomorrow's Democrat. Its con- tributor will be City Budget Direc- tor Arnold '. Eurlong.