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tECIAL NUMBER
Augusta Making Remarkable Strides in Building Operations
hat The Adoption of The Somers System
of Tax Assessment Has Meant to The
City o! Augusta—A Big Step Forward
lontinued from Preceding Page.)
sinent should be low because they
ill no revenue. This does not ap
to me either in the light of equity
ihlie policy. It is not to the city's
>st that a property owner should be
ed to carry vacant property from
to year at a minimum tax, but
r that he should improve it so it
bring in more revenue both to the
, ami the city.' A man buys a va
lot in the city for i few hundred
s. and lets it lie there unimproved
alter year until more progressive
e build up around it, and it be
s worth thousands instead of hun-
What has lie done to bring- about
enhanced value? Not a thing. To
, is ne indebted for the enhance*
? To the community. Then he
i! pay the community in adequate
for what it is doing in increasing
alue of his property.
■ Somers System meets this con
icy by fixing a unit of value on the
, or the block, and every lot on
dock is calculated on its frontage
lentil, and is assessed on the same
whether improved or unimproved.
Assessment and Tax Rate.
hi the increased real estate digest
'l, under the Somers System we
ed the basis of assessment from SO
nit of full value to 66 2-3 per cent,
ny own inclination is towards full
assessment and a reduction in tlie
ite. Anghstai would have-a larger
. and a very low tax rate. There
be no confusion and no mistakes
iking tax returns if full value was
asis.
jssments at any per centage of
lead to misunderstandings—espe
on the part of The uneducated,.
n t hose unfamiliar yvitli matliema
oalculations. Such persons when
g an assessment regard this as the
valuation of their property and
it understand that it means' two
of tlie real value. It would be
more intelligible to everybody if
ments were at actual value. Then
any property owner gets bis as
MORRISON
SATISFACTORY
CONTRACTOR
Best Work Fair Prices
I have been doing the best build
ing for the best people in
Georgia and South Carolina for
nearly a quarter of a century.
H. C. MORRISON
102 Ninth St. : : : Phone 2475
sessment, be knows what value is placed
on his property and can say at once if
he considers it too high or two low. Any
seller or buyer of property could then
consult the city’s assessments and get
at values without entering into calcula
tion of per centages.
The advantages of this system of as
sessment are apparent without argu
ment, and tlie sole objection that s ef
tered to it is that tlie state and county
would likewise increase assessments to
full value. This does not seem to me a
valid objection, nor a reasonable prob
ability.
State and County Bugbear.
The state and county are not foreign
and inimical corporations, but in so fur
as Augusta is concerned are represented
by citizens of this community. The
county commissioners, the county tax
receiver, the new boaid of equal,
izers. and the ■ county tax collector,
are citizens and property holders in Au
gusta—some of them large property
holders. They certainly have no de
sire to tux their own property unrea
sonably. and could not treat other tax
payers' property differently from their
own. 1 am sure a conference between
these county officers and the city and
county boards of assessors would result
in the county's agreement to accept unl
fonnerly a return of one-half of tlie
city's full value assessment.
Our values are not state values, but
city values, and the state must accept
city property on the same reasonable
basis it does country property, for no one
will contend that the* property in Geor
gia is returned for as much as 50 per
cent of its true value.
This'is recognized and acted on in Pul
ton county, and no doubt is practiced
ip other cities. In Atlanta property
.valued SIO,OOO is returned to tlie city at.
$6,000. and to the state and county at
75 per cent of the city assessment, or
$4,500. which is only 45 per cent of the
full city value. This is a uniform and
officially accepted practice. If it is law
ful for Fulton county authorities to ac
cept 45 per cent of full value in At
lanta it is lawful for Richmond county
officers to accept 50 per cent in Augusta,
and I am sure this agreement can be ar
rived at and will save great annoyance
and prevent the future necessity of city
property owners trying to keep tlie coun
ty from getting their city assessments
The state cannot demand full value re
turns in Augusta until they are made all
over the state, and when this is done
the state and county tax rate will be
correspondingly reduced, and no more
burdensome than on the reduced as
sessment.
REVENGE
(By Ralph Methven Thomson.)
Suppose, whenever you leave home,
Afar to roam.
And fail, as you so often do,
However true,
To let me hear,—l should awake,
And sometimes take
You at your word, and cease to write
As frequently, but, instead, slight
You, and in apparent delight,
Simply for spite!
You think vindictiveness can free
Of misery;.
Or, pique bring solace to the breast
That knows unrest?
Since when did malice ever still
One hint of ill;
Or, ruthless rancor’s poisoned dart
Presume to soothe a single smart,
Or comfort, and in any part,
A lonely heart?
This is not God’s appointed way,
Even today;
And although in no wise divine,
It is not mine.
Sooner would I keep on, as now,
True to the vow,
Which hias sutsained me through
these years,
Than by one hurtful act, which sears
The soul, to fill your mind with
fears,
Arid eyes with tears!
GETS HIS.
The early bird acquires the worm
And waxes fat.
But pretty soon, along near noon,
He feeds the cat.
THE AUGUSTA HERALD, AUGUSTA, GA.
W. Z. WILLIAMS COMPANY
INCORPORATED
CIVIL ENGINEERS AND GENERAL CONTRACTORS
MACON, GEORGIA
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The above cut shows front view of gate and retaining wall built by us In the rear of the Sibley Mills, In connection with the levee
for thy City of Augusta. This structure contains 3,750 yards of re-inforced concrete and is over 50 feet in height.
Following is a list of contracts we have executed in the past few years:
Three miles of heavy grading and concrete work on the Carolina, Clinchfield and Ohio Railway Co., near Spartanburg, S. C.
The following contracts with the Atlantic Coast Line Railway Company:
Concrete sub-structure viaduct across Santee River in South Carolina.
Ten miles of second track work between Ashley Junction and Mt. Holly, S. C.
Fifteen miles of second track in Virginia, between Petersburg and Stony Creek.
Bennet Yard. 25 miles of track, near Charleston, S. C. Loading Ballast at Huske, Va.
Yards at Wilmington, N. C. Second track, between Selma and Dunn, N. C., 24 miles.
Southover. Yard, 15 miles of track, near Savannah, Ga. Loading 100,000 cubic yards ballast at Fayetteville, N. C,
Yards, 14 miles of track, at Augusta, Ga. Concrete work between Charleston and Yemassee.
Trestle Filling, Doctortown, Ga. Trestle filling on the North Western R. R., near Sumter, 3.C.
Fecond track, masonry, Parkton to Selma, N. C., 63 miles. Concrete work. Little River, N. C.
Two miles of new line into Macon, Ga., and concrete sub-structure across Ocmuigee River for Macon, Dublin & Savannah R. R. Co.
Revision and reduction of grades for the Wrightsville & Tennille R. R. Co., between WrightsvilJe and Eastman, Ga,
Gravity yard for the C. of Ga. Ry. Co., at Macon, Ga., containing 32 miles of track. -
Gates rear of Sibley Mills for City of Augusta.
TRADE
LUDLOW
Sw MARK
This stamp on your
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Bird's Eye View
THE LUDLOW
VALE MANUFAC
TURING COM
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For Water, High Pressure Steam, Oil, Gas, Air, Ammonia, etc.
All styles; any size, All Pressures. Hand, hydraulically o r
electrically operated. Shear Gates, Sluice Gates,Fire Hydrants.
The Ludlow Fire Hydrant
is simple in construction
frost-proof and reliable. All
parts are removable with
out digging up hydrant
Special device prevents
street from being flooded
should standpipe be broken
Minimum expense to install
and maintain. When hy
drant is open the face ol
the rubber valve is protect
ed from injury by gritty or
cutting substances passing
tnrough the hydrant. The
hydrant flushes itself clean
There is no rocket in which
foreign substances can
lodge and interfere with
working parts.
THE LUDLOW VALVE MEG. CO.
TROY, N. Y.
Branch Offices: —New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadel
phia, Pittsburg, Kansas City.
Represented by
Smith Courtney Co., Reichinan Crosby Co., *
Richmond, Va. Memphis, Tenn.
F. W. lleitmann Co.,
Houston, Texas.
* 11
£
Indicator Posts,
Float Valves,
Foot Valves,
Vertical and Hori
zontal Check Valves.
Automatic Drip
Valves,
Tide Flaps.
“AUGUSTA IN 1914*
r TRADE
LUDLOW
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This stamp on your
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