The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-01-08

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 "rhese estimates were then turned over Go me" the chief as- sessor said, By sending out the notices of what the Horan company has estimated the assessments should be on each piece of property, I can determine from the reaction of the people through their appeals and subsequent conferences with them followed by Q field check whether or not the Horan estimates are just. should l agree with him then the people have recourse to the Board of Tax Review and of course, subsequently,, to the .higher court if they so desire.
 Aldermen Not tO Blame
 All appeals must be filed with the assessor by January 9. Tn the meantime, and after that date up to February 1, recheck of the plysi- cal aspects of all property being appealed will be made. The Board of Tax Review will meet daily from Feb. to Feb. 20th. Its mem herS must submit its final report to the chief assessor by March lst that he might make final determin- ation of the citys official assess n1ents.
 Tt won't accomplish anything to appeal to the Board of Aldermen, the chief assessor said today. Tt is not the assessing body of the city.
 T will gladly welcome any com rnittee which the board elects to re- view the procedure of this office" {" he added. He was referring to the five-man committee of the board chosen last night to make a study of the procedure of the office.
 Expect Decrease
 Meanwhile the staff members of tlfe office today were rechecking valuation. estimates with property owners who appeared. About one third the number of persons appear ing yesterday were present today. It is expected that the appellants will decrease from now on.
 The citizens who jsmmed the AL dermanic Chambers and overflowed war out into the second floor hall of the City Hall blamed the alder men for the present situation.
 A flve-man committee was set up by the board to make a study of the revaluation program which resulted in the increased assessments total- ing 25 million dollars over the previous Grand List of l90 million dollars. The board also voted a 5000 transfer to defray further costs of the Assessors Office.
 Aldermen BOoed
 Last nights session at the Alder manic Chambers was one of the stormiest in many years of the boards history. Boos and cat-calls greeted almost every move or ges- ture the Aldermen made. Each citizen-speaker was greeted with cheers.
 While the crowd was hrge-esti- mated by police as ranking upward to S0O-Inany authorities and citi- zens today took riote of the fact that 800 out of t5,500 taxpayers who received increases represented a. small group of protestantS.
 Last nights gathering was made up of residents of many areas. Atty. Hector P. Auray, representing the Bunker Hill Improvement Associa- tion, directly blamed the Board of Aldermen for the manner of con- ducting affairs of the city.
 Lacked Earlier Action
 MT. Auray scored the board for the city's l946 budget con- taining the estimated $25 million increase in the Grand List. He cit- ed Bridgeport as a city with a tidier presence than Waterbury, yet with lower assessments.
 Some aldermen today criticized this attack by pointing to the fact that not one citizen of the city, official title, attended the customary public meeting of the board at the time the budget waSS adopted.
 Aldro Jenks, chief assessor, was the center of attack last night from the majority of speakers. MT. Auray accused the city assessor of attempting to scare the people of the city. He referred, to MT. Jenk's ] recent address over WATR when he told the people that in some casesgI when appeals were looked into, the assessment may again be raised.
 People, Board Blamed
 Floyd Rasmussen, member of the State Central Commit. tee, blamed the people for being lax in not being more aware of the process of their city government, AS representative of some taxpayers in the Bradley avenue section of the city he blamed the Board of Aldermen for the present assess ment situation.
 He claimed the board should have probed the $25 million increase when it first was submitted to the board in an attempt to determine | what it was going to mean to the people.
 He asked the board to set aside | the current tax rate and take &C., ton on the current assessment.
 Agree With Taxpayers
 Members of the Board of Alder men, in many instances, were in | partial agreement with taxpayers.
 Majority Leader James M. Lynch | (D) said he felt that many assess ments were ridiculous and repre- Sented a gross injustice to many | residents" He urged they adopt the regular procedure of appealing l to the assessor. then to the Board | of Tax Review and finally, if neces- Sary, to the Common Pleas court.
 Alderman Burton Walker (R) | pointed out that with the exception of Minority Leader Richard Bensen (R) all present COP aldermen are He urged the peo- pie to press the Assessors Office on their complaints and told them to stick t0Qether"