Evening star., 1955-09-05
By tn. Associated Press

ment probably belongs to. the
modern real estate assessor.
After the property owner,
having received his assessment
notice, comes down of the cell
ing, the assessor must explain
the financial facts of life to him
with the patience Of a saint.
Such scenes of explanation
have become fairly common in
Baltimore County. About 100. 900
pieces Of property lie there.
Supervisor of Assessments
Howard E. Burkhardt Of Balti-
more County says he and his
star OF 18 have reassessed every
one under Maryland's new pro-
gram Of annual reassesSment.
"Sure, we've had a lot of COM
plants and quite a few appeals,
he says, but very few of the
people who come in here to
complain go away dissatisfied
after we explain our formula TO
them"
Burkhardt believes the for
mula is as equitable as any
which could be devised to meas
ure the market value of real
estate.
Files Open to Public
"If anybody thinks somebody
else is getting a better break
than he is." added Burkhardt
with q wave toward the mass of
filing cabinets in his office. "all
he has to do is check our cards.
They're public property and
open to everybody any time"
The Baltimore County formula
is similar to those used in other
counties.
In general, it takes into ac-
count three major factors-Size,
"class," and depreciation.
Size is measured in, cubic foot
age. Glass is determined by type
Of construction and location.
How Formula Works
The basic assessment is OBJ
tained by multiplying the cubic
footage by the standard rate for
that class of home. Fixed
amounts are added to or sub
tracted from this for various
features.
For instance, an extra bath
means $500 more on the basic as
sessment. If the roof is non
standard, or made of something
other than slate, 5000 is de-
Quoted. If the home has no cook
ing gas, 500 comes on.
iOnce the basic assessment has
been established in this manner,
the home is given a fiat depreci-
alton allowance of one per cent
per year from the day it was
built. This allowance is limited
70 80 per cent.
1.-TWO other factors which some
times figure in the assessment
are obsolescence and imitation
II an expensive home through
the years becomes surrounded by
cheaper ones, cutting its market
value, this is taken into consid-
Grafton. II it would cost a great
deal more to reproduce a home
than the original cost. say f1ve
years ago, this also is figured into
the assessment.
Builders Consulted
sBurkhardt says his office fire..
quently consults leading builders
ahd real estate companies about
current building costs and fiuc-
taations in the property market
This helps make the obsolescence
and imitation factors something
more than guesswork.
To show how the formula is ap-
piled, let's look at an assessment
card pulled from the Baltimore
County files by District Supt
Gordon H. Cade. 1t is for a brick
and frame bungalow with full
cellar. finished attic, asphalt
shingle roof and standard utili-
ties.
Taking the location into ac-
count, the assessor figures that
If this home we're all frame, il
would be in Glass B, which signi-
fies a good property and calls for
a basic assessment Of As cents a
cubic foot.
If 1t were all brick, it would be
in Class A-minus very good prop
erty, so cents a cubic foot.
Range OF Glasses
Glasses range from D below
average, 80 cents a cubic foot. tc
A so cents a foot. For lavish
mansions, plus signs are added to
the A and each plus sign means
another nickel a cubic foot.
But the exterior of this home
is about two-thirds brick Glass
A-minus. so cents and one-thiro
frame Glass B, As cents, so the
total cubic footage must be
broken down accordingly.
The outside foundation mea-
sures 20 by So feet. The overall
height is figured at % feet-eight
feet each for the full cellar ano
first floor, four feet for the fin
ished attic Diminished, it would
be two feet). plus two feet more
because a full dormer runs across
the rear Of the attic.
Multiplying 20 by 80 by %. We
get 22.968 cubic feet. Another