The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-01-29

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 be lodged in the assessors office the first Monday of January for public inspection"
 have full powers to change these assessments, MT. Jenks said, adding whereas the Board of Tax Review is empowered to change only those as- Sessments which have been appeal ed"
 Mir. Lewis Gin part) section 5 of the City Charter to substantiate his claim. and added that a similar case in 1923 was ruled in favor of the plaintiff. The Charter section is as follows:
 An abstract of all such lists of both personal property and real estate, when equalied, corrected and arranged according to the law, shall be lodged in the office of the assessor on or before the first Mon- day of January for public inspec- tion."
 Grand List Final March
 Mir. Jenks said he interpreted the section to mean that the abstract should be ready for the public that they might appeal Otherwise, he added, why would the Charter and Sta:e Statutes provide for an ap- peal date after the abstract was filed.
 The Grand List will not be final until March after the Board of Tax Review has submitted its ab- stract of the appeals"
 Some criticism of the attorney was heard for injecting the claim into the issue at this time because he is the attorney for the Republi-. can-American and K. D. R. Realty Company which has asked for a declarator judgment relative to the city's budget and tax rates and assessments. The K. D. R. Realty Company is headed by James Dar- cey Of Cheshire.
 COP. Leaders Silent
 Republican leaders who were as- sailed by the Mayor in ,lais radio address last night. for attempting to make political issue" of the re- valuation problem today had little comment.
 COP. Town Chairman and AL dermanic Minority Leader Richard Bensen said he had mo statement or comment to make"
 Republican Alderman Burton Walker declared that the Demo- crats got themselves into this, let them try to get out. regret charg- es of politics. Certainly in my ef- forts in behalf of the people. I have never sought to make political issue of the matter or seek personal political advancement"
 Councils Oppose Cut
 Representatives of the Waterbury Council of Community Clubs today aSsailed the proposed percentage re- duction of assessments presented by the Mayor.
 William O. Taylor, president of the Council attacked She proposal as "unsound" tending to "aggravate the situation and give the people who have had substantial decreases a further unwarranted reduction"
 Oscar Liebreich. chairman of the legislative committee of the Coun- cil, termed the proposal as offering of little or no solution" and added that plans were now underway for bringing suit against the city. GAS reported here elsewhere today 1t is stated that Atty. Hugh M. Alcorn of Hartford has definitely accepted the offer of the Council to act as their counselO
 Need for Cut Stressed
 The Mayor in his address said he had stressed to Chief Assessor the need for some form of reduction in assessments to classes which re- auire it." In particular he stressed owners of one-family houses which he cited as particularly hard hit by inflatlonary trends"
 Pointing out that the Chief Asses sor has full powers in the matter of assessments the Mayor said:
 T have asked him to eliminate all errors which he can discover in indiYidualsc sase and I have asked that he equalize any undue in- equality which may exist between one class of property and another In brief, have suggested that he review the measure Of value which has been used" ' The mayor said that although an honest attempt was made to reach a fair result. there are certain factors which must be considered and want you to know that have brought these to the attention of the assessor"
 MT. Taylor in his reply to the Mayors address said in part: His suggestion of a reduction across the board would only ag. gravate the situation and give the 1 people who have had substantial decreases in assessments A further | mwarranted reduction. This will | leave a much further unbalanced | condition than there was with the 1924 valuation. I also noticed the | mayor referred to a certain stand- | ard market value Applied with no fla. | voritism." This is another term that | will require an interpretation as # | differs from the Koran and Jenks | sfair market value" I believe that | mayors talk was more political than | directed to the solution the peo- pie were expecting. As no solution | was offered we feel that a compet. elt count should pass on this mud die"
 Plays Mayors Policy Oscar Liebreich, chairman of the | Legislative council. charged the Mayor Indirectly with subterfuge