may be shown by opinion evidence. Real estate experts figure largely in eminent domain proceedings. They are, of course, well qualified by the nature of their occupation to estimate the market value of real estate with considerable accuracy. Assessors and other local officials are allowed to give opinion evidence of value.

When an entire parcel of land is taken by eminent domain the only question to be determined in awarding compensation is the value of the land; and the same is true when part of a parcel is taken and there is no contention that the remainder of the parcel has been affected by the taking, favorably or unfavorably.

Damage to Remainder.-When, however, it is contended by the owner that his remaining land has been damaged, or when a parcel of land, no part of which is taken, suffers special and peculiar damage for which the constitution or laws of the state allow compensation, it is necessary to ascertain not only the value of the land as it originally stood, but also the damage caused by the taking.

Evidence of damage falls into two classes: (1) Evidence of the decrease in market value of the owner's land as it stands on account of the construction of the public work. (2) Evidence of the cost of restoring the injured property to the same relative position to the public work in which the injured property stood before the construction of the public work.

When the injury inflicted upon a parcel of land by the exercise of eminent domain cannot be economically repaired by the restoration of the property to the condition in which it stood before the taking, the issue narrows down to the decrease in market value of the land as it stands, so far as such decrease is due to the construction of the public work which caused the injury.

CHAPTER XXXVII

THE ASSESSMENT OF REAL ESTATE

By LAWSON PURDY 1

Real estate owners, agents, and brokers are vitally interested in the fair and accurate assessment of real estate. They ought to know what constitutes a good system and help to improve the assessment of their own city. They ought to know the problems of their own assessors, how they are being solved, and be ready to give credit where it is due and assistance when it is needed. This chapter is intended to help the real estate owner and the assessor.

Under the constitutions and statutes of all the states, real estate is taxed on its capital value and provisions are made for assessment. In some states the county is the assessing

1 Lawson Purdy, New York, N. Y., Secretary, General Director and Chairman of the Tenement House Committee of the Charity Organization Society of the City of New York. He received a B.A. degree from Trinity College in 1884 and an LL.D., in 1908.

From 1896 to 1906 he was Secretary of the New York Tax Reform Association. He was admitted to the Bar and to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States.

From 1906 to 1917, he was President of the Department of Taxes and Assessments, City of New York. In this capacity, in 1909, he procured the publication of land value maps, these being the first publication of the kind.

In 1902 and 1905, he represented the business men of Minneapolis before the legislature of Minnesota in advocacy of an amendment to the Constitution designed to permit the classification of property for taxation. The Constitution was so amended, in 1905. At the request of Governor Johnson, of Minnesota, he appeared before the legislature to recommend appropriate legislation after the Constitution was amended. The measures which he advocated, were enacted.

From 1916 to 1919, he was President of the National Municipal League, in 1921 and 1922 was President of the National Conference on City Planning.

unit and in others, the town or city. In many cases assessors are elected; in others appointed.

There are examples of very excellent real estate assessments where the form of administration is most undesirable; there are examples of wretched assessment where the form of administration is excellent. No city should be discouraged because it cannot at once obtain a good form of administration. If it has the will it can achieve a good assessment in spite of poor administrative forms.

The rule is practically universal that real estate shall be assessed at its market value. This idea is phrased in various ways in different statutes. One of the best phrases, perhaps, was formerly contained in the tax law of New York to the effect that real estate shall be assessed at "the sum for which it would be appraised in payment of a just debt of a solvent debtor." It is commonly provided that real estate shall be assessed at "its full value" or "fair cash value." The judges have sometimes said that all these phrases mean the same thing and in common language signify "market value." Sometimes it may truly be said that certain real estate has no market value in the sense that there are no buyers ready and willing to pay any reasonable sum for it. In such cases it is proper to fall back upon the other phrases of the law such as “full value” and the sum for which the real estate would be appraised in payment for a debt.

The end and aim of real estate assessment is to secure such a valuation of every parcel that the tax imposed upon it shall bear a proper relation in proportion to its value to the tax imposed on every other parcel within the tax district. To achieve these ends an efficient administration is important, the employment of skilled assessors, and the use by the assessors of those methods and tools of their profession which experience has shown of value. The assessment should be made annually and the assessors should be busy every day in the year except for three weeks' vacation.

THE BEST FORM OF ADMINISTRATION

In every city the assessing department should have as its executive head a single person. It is highly desirable that he

should be intelligent and experienced, but it is vital that he should be within the control of the voters. Therefore, he should be appointed by the executive head of the city. Associated with the executive head of the assessing department should be two or more to compose a board of review, the number depending upon the size of the city. In the largest cities such a board need not exceed five and should, ordinarily, not exceed three. In a small city the two associates of the executive may be elected officials who hold this office ex-officio because of another office or they may be appointed for this duty exclusively and paid a correspondingly small salary.

It is very important that the board of review should include the executive head, for otherwise they may disturb a whole assessment roll and make chaos of it. The work of review should be bound up with the orderly direction of assessment.

In small cities the duties of the executive head of the assessing department may be light. He may, therefore, be paid a small salary and allowed to engage in other business. In a large city he should not engage in any other business; the salary should be sufficient to enlist the services of a competent man who will devote his entire time to the service of the city. In a small city the head of the assessing department may also do the actual work of assessing, with perhaps some clerical help. In larger cities, of course, his duties will be supervisory and the department will employ assessors.

Assessors should be appointed after a thorough civil service examination designed to test their ability to appraise real estate. They should be removable only for cause. Their position should be such that they should be able to look forward with confidence to a gradually increasing salary which should be sufficient to offer them a satisfactory, permanent career.

Tax Maps. To any real estate man who knows his business it must seem incredible that any city or even any town should be without a tax map showing every parcel of real estate within the city or town. It is nevertheless true that in many cities of over 10,000 population there is no tax map at all, or none worthy of the name. In the absence of a city map the city is fortunate if there is an insurance atlas, for

that may serve the purpose so far as buildings are concerned, though the insurance atlases do not profess to be and are not absolutely accurate concerning land areas.

In small cities the city engineer's department may prepare the maps for the assessing department and in a city of large size the department should have its own surveyor. It has happened in many places that the cost of preparing a tax map has been more than met in the first year by taxes being paid on land which theretofore had never been assessed.

A map is essential to the geographical arrangement of the assessment roll. In small places it is common to arrange the roll alphabetically in accordance with the names of the owners. This makes it very difficult to compare assessments. In such cases pressure should be brought to bear to have a geographical roll, even when the alphabetical roll must be maintained. The city should be divided into blocks of comparatively small size and lots numbered consecutively within the blocks. The block areas never should change. If there is in the city a system of block indexing of deeds, the tax blocks should correspond with the blocks for deed registration. The block system of indexing conveyances is much superior to the ordinary system of indexing alphabetically because it narrows the field of search.1

Without proper tax maps the assessment is generally in personam, that is, it imposes a personal obligation upon the owner and an error in the name often invalidates the assessment. With proper tax maps the law should prescribe that the assessment shall be made against the land itself and the validity of the assessment should not be affected by any error in the name of the owner. In the assessment roll, lots should be described by block and lot number, in accordance with the tax maps, and the law should prescribe that "such numbers shall import into the assessment roll of real estate any necessary identifying description shown by the tax maps."

Determination of Value.-The best evidence of the value of real estate is furnished by a number of sales made under ordinary conditions. The law of every state should require

1 See Chapter XXIV. Charter of the City of New York sections 891–a and 891-f provide for tax maps.