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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1948 THE DAILY TIMES-GAZETTE PAGE FIVE , WHITBY NEWS Independent Report On Assessment Is Important Document Printed below is the complete text of an independent report on the state of assessment in Ontario county, which was made a few months ago by the provincial board of assessors acting after a request of the Ontario county council, a section of which is dissatisfied with varied fea- tures of the equalized assessment system recently put'into |. Since assessment is a subject concerning every citizen of the country, The Times-Gazefte prints the whole report with the recommendation that it should be carefully read in entirety. It is expected that the county council now in session will discuss the report tomorrow. Particular attention is called to the last three paragraphs under the sub-head of "conclusions" which may form the basis of effect. discussion tomorrow. T. R. Hunter and myself made a survey of the sixteen municipal- ities comprising the Ontario County Unit. In addition, we valued some properties in the urban hamlets of Pickering, Brooklin and Sunderland which are part of Townships in the above County Unit. We valued properties of three classes in each municipality unless the municipal- ities were distinctly urban or rural and these classes of properties were commercial, residential and farm. Before making any observations on our inspection, it might be of in- terest to the members of the On- tario County Council to quote pertinent parts of Section 39 of the Assessment Act, under which as- sessors must make their valuations: Quotes Act 39 (1) Subject to the provisions of this section, land shall be assessed at its actual value. (2) In ascertaining the actual value of land without buildings thereon consideration shall be given to the present use, location, revenue, normal sale value and any other circumstance affecting the value. (3) In ascertaining land having buildings thereon the value of the jand and buiidings shall be ascer- tained by giving consideration to present use, location, cost of re- placement, normal rental value, normal sale value and any othen circumstance affecting the value and the value of the buildings shall be the amount by which the value of the land is thereby increased and the actual value of the land and buildings so ascertained shall be set down separately in the columns of the assessment roll and the assess- ment shall be the sum of the values. In other words--land must be assessed at its actual value and the value of the buildings would be set at the difference between the actual value of the whole property and the value of the land itself. Records In addition to the actual inspec- tion of some properties we inspected a portion of the assessment records -in the County Assessor's office and we also used the municipal assess- or's appraisal cards for the proper- ties we valued in the various municipalitjes. We found the assess- ment records which we inspected in the County Assessor's office in excellent condition as were also all of the municipal assessors' apprais- al cards which we used with the exception of Scugog Township where the properties have not all been measured. We would strongly recommend that where buildings are being measured with a tape line that this work be carried out by two persons to insure accuracy in measurements. Praises Manual The Manual in use in Ontario County was prepared by the County Assessor himself and is not a copy of the Manual that was prepared by an ex-official of this department and which was not authorized for issue. The Manual in use in On- tario County is prepared on the square foot basis for dwellings, farm buildings and ordinary height commercial buildings and the cubic foot basis for over-height commer- cial and industrial buildings. This method is recommended by this de- partment. The Manual mentioned before as prepared by an ex-official of this department was entirely on the cubic foot basis. Building Values Where urban hamlets are located close to large urban municipalities where there is industry and oppor- tunities of employment, these urban hamlets owing to the good highways of today which offer good motor car and bus services are in a more preferred position for residential values than much larger urban hamlets with few or no industries of their own and remote from large urban municipalities, The County Assessor has made some allowances for this and our only question on the percentages of obsolenscence he has allowed are: (1) Does not the Town of Uxbridge offer the same advantage as Port Perry for all year location taking into consideration such factors as--population, indus- tries, municipal services, cerXre of shopping and trading areas, etc? (2) Has Beaverton been allowed enough obsolescence considering that it is really a summer town and is without industries and is quite remote from Toronto and other centres of employment? The County Assessor has altered these percentages since the first printing of his Manual and with these two exceptions we agree with his revised percentages. Land Values -- Commercial The reverse argument to location obsolescence is true we believe for the value of commercial lands in urban hamlets located close to large urban municipalities. While the County Assessor has revised his value of commercial land since the first printing of his manual and he undoubtedly did this after securing all possible information such as the sale prices of commercial land or buildings, or the rental revnue from commercial bulldings or an approx- & A 4 imate idea of gross trade, etc., and he is therefore in a much better position to uphold his values than we are--who did not secure this in- formation, but we question his ra- tio of values for three municipal- ities. Commercial property .in some ur- ban hamlets located close to large urban municipalities is not as valu- able as commercial property in more remote urban hamlets located in good trading areas. ' This is due to the fact that people for their ordinary household sup- plies will shop in their own centres but for clothing, furniture or other supplies will proceed to the larger urban centres. Therefore, we ques- tion that commercial property in Pickering and Brooklin is as valu- able as In Uxbridge, Cannington, Port Perry, etc., due to the proxim- ity of Pickering and Brooklin to Whitby, Oshawa and Toronto. Residential Property We agree wtih the ratio of value here for under the same argument as for location obsolescence with the | exception of the two points which we noted under that hearing. i Farms The value of farm land poses a very stiff problem for the assessor. If the best farm land is rated at $40 or $50 an acre, what effect on the original assessment valuations has the quite common sale prices today of $200 to $300 for }2 an acre plot off the front portion of a farm to a prospective home builder? Farm land takes its value from its pro- ductivity angle and the buildings, especially barns and out-buildings, are only valuable as an adjunct to this productivity--such as storage of grain or feed or other crops, stor- age and stabling of stock, storage |. of equipment and machinery, ete. Farm land is rated for assessment purposes 'in Ontario County from $50 an acre down. While we acknowledge that farm land in Ontario County is, in the majority of cases, selling above these figures today, we feel that land values are rated high in the manual for assessment purposes. Any re- duction if desired can be placed on the farm buildings which now en- joy up to 50% obsolescence. If this were done it would bring the as- sessed value of the buildings slight- ly closer to the actual replacement cost. However, with the exception of two cases where the land was assessed at $47.50 and $47 an acre respectively, the great majority of land which we valued was assessed at less than $40 an acre and none 'at the top figure of $50 an acre. Wise Changes The County Assessor has very wisely made two important changes from his original Manual. The first is his allowance in land value for hydro towers located on the farm. The second is in his reduction in the values of swamp lands. The effect of this should be noted in future equalization reports. We feel that when placing values on swamp land some careful scrutiny will be necessary by the municipal assess- ors to properly value any wood that may be growing. This careful scru- tiny of course would also apply to the value of the various types of scil on a farm but ordinary farm lands are not as difficult to pro- ceed over as swamp land. Repudiate Suggestion We cannot agree with the sugges- tion that the farm lands north of the three most southerly townships of the county should be assessed at a lower value, and we feel that no definite geographical line can be drawn in a county if soil conditions are similar to make an arbitrary difference in value. We found very good farm land in Brock, Scott and Thorah Townships and in these days of good transportation with good marketing and shipping cen- tres located close by, a few miles makes little difference in the value of farm properties. The County Assessor has allowed discounts for distance to schools, 'shipping and marketing centres, etc. We would suggest that further consideration be given to a reduction in the value of farms located on roads off the Provincial Highways or County road systems which are sometimes inaccessible, particularly in the win- ter months and in some cases also in the spring and summer months owing to unopened township roads due to swamp or bad brush condi- tions. These conditions not only add to the distances to schools, market- ing gad shipping centres but tend to e travelling more hazardous and also lead to partial isolation. As we stated before in outlining Section 39 that the value of property is a combination of the value of land and buildings. Therefore to the average taxpayer the total amount of assessment is the important basis and not the individual amounts placed on land and buildings but if it is land without buildings the value placed on the land is very im- portant. i While in our opinion the assess- ment of property is generally a lit- tle high, they are within their Whitby Carriers Of The Times-Gazette The above group shows some of the Whitby carrier boys and girls of The Times-Gazette, who are now enjoying the excellent facilities provided for them in the mew office of the newspaper. Those in the picture are: front row, left to right, Anthony Smyth, Sandra Smyth and Joan Powell; back row, left to right, Ivan Wallace, Jimmy Powell, Joan Melrose and Eleanor Powell. Murray Wade and Noel Corbett were not present when this picture was taken, and Sarfdra Smyth has recently given up her route as a carrier. _Times-Gazette Staff Photo Has Suspicion But Can't Convict Says Magistrate "As I have stated on former oc- casions after hearing cases where circumstances are similar to those in this instance--I have a strong suspicion. However, suspicion is not enough", said Magistrate Frank Ebbs in police court yesterday dis- missing charges of selling or keep- ing liquor for sale against Fred and Nellie Mikicel, of 423 Perry Street, Whitby. A further charge ot having liquor in an illegal place, preferred against Mrs. Mikicel was also dismissed. Whitby Police Chief William J. Elliott told of keeping the Perry Streev residence under observation for four Sundays in August and September. There was, he said, siderable traffic in and out of the house. Men would drive up in cars. One one occasion he saw several men enter the premises by a rear door and on another, two men leave by the same entrance. Along with Sergeant Ronald Love, the Chief raided the establishment on September 19. Before entering they looked inside, the Chief said, and saw a number of men sitting around a table playing cards. When he entered the men scattered but not before he saw that they had obviously been playing cards for money as was evidenced by $1.90- odd on the table. A search of the house disclosed three water glasses over the kit- chen sink, all of which smelled of liquor; a glass of beer hidden under a couch, a bottle of what one of the persons in the house said was "rhu- actual value and in conformity with Section 39. Conclasions If properties we valued are a fair criterion of values for the County we have come to the follow- ing conclusion: That, in estimating the values of the three types of properties -- residential, commercial and farm against each other--(1) that residential properties are cor- rect. (2) that comimercial proper- ties should be raised slightly. (3) that farm properties should be re- duced slightly. In conclusion, we would like-to express our appreciation for the splendid co-operation and courtesy which we received from the County Assessor and from the municipal assessors and clerks whom we came in contact with. In no case was there any thought of any influence or suggestions made to us to sway our judgment or valuations. We re- quested the type of properties and soil we wished to inspect along Provincial Highways, County Roads, Township Roads, etc., and we picked the properties ourselves that we wished to value. . Doing Good Job We found that the County Assess- or had not only a good knowledge of the County and the property located in it and also conditions in the County and he also had a good knowledge of values and 'the As- sessment Act and its various angles. He is definitely very interested in his work and we believe he is en- |' deavouring to make a good assess- ment in Ontario County. WITT'S PILLS Bladder Troubles # p]3 For Kidney ind barb wine"; a half bottle of rye whisky; nearly a hundred empty and eleven full beer bottles. He later learned, the police of- ficer said, that the bottle of rye had been legally purchased by Mikicel's daughter, Mrs. Rose Paleschuk, of Oshawa. ; . Scout Mothers Arrange Bazaar ---- Twenty-four members of the Boy Scout Womens' Auxiliary discussed plafis for the bazaar which will be held December 2 in the Town Coun- cil chambers. The discussion was held at a meeting in the home of Mrs. H. Rowley Monday evening. Proceeds of the bazaar will go to the benefit of the Boy Scouts' and Wolf Cubs' uniform neckerchiefs and badges. Six ladies were selected to bring card tables for a tea which will be served by the auxiliary at the bazaar with contributions of tea and cakes for a luncheon to be ar- ranged by other ladies. Merchandise and cooking all pre- pared by the ladies' auxiliary will be the chief articles sold at the sale. Other items will consist of aprons, baby clothes and home- made cooking. Each month the ladies send a 20-1b. parcel of food to England. One month the parcel goes to a Scout troop and every alternate month it is sent to a war guest, Peter Wells, who spent the war years in Whitby and who joined the Boy Scout troop here. month the parcel is to go to the Scout troop. » Mrs. J. Sutherland presided at the meeting. The meeting was opened with the Scout Mothers' Promise and concluded with the Scout Mothers' Prayer. This | Pickering Man Cleared On Charge Of Stealing Dog Arthur Cole, Concession 3, Pick- ering Township was cleared of a charge of stealing a hound, valued at $100, owned by Thomas Dwyer, of Pickering. Magistrate Frank Ebbs, after hearing the testimony against the accused and his evi- dence in rebuttal, in police court yesterday, decided there was in- sufficient evidence to convict. Owner of the dog, Thomas Dwyer said that he had had the hound for two and a half years. He valued the trained hunting dog at $100. He lost him one day while hunting ducks in a marsh near Pickering and after advertising the loss in three papers, he again saw the dog tied up at Mr. Cole's home. "He had a chain on him heavy enough to draw sawlogs and he had only an old barrel to sleep in", the aggrieved owner said. There were two other witnesses, | Pickering Township Chief of Police | Jack Irvine and Game Conserva- | tion Warden, J. A. Meighan. The latter said that he saw the dog in, the swamp following Cole and a friend of his. Accused frankly admitted that the dog had been at his house. He saw the dog in his yard the next morning after he had been hunt- ing, he said. It was chasing chic- kens, and in order to stop it, he| tied it up with a dog chain. His friend suggested that he destroy the animal but he did not want to do so, so he secured it until such time as he could make enquiries. | He admitted that he had. never | thought to get in touch with the police. still sells for pLus P¢ a YOU PAY "fe TOTAL | -} Wartime Taxes Authorized bottler of Coca-Cola under contract with Coca-Cola Lid. Hambly's Carbonated Beverages : OSHAWA -- TELEPHONE 755 Miracle of Telephone Described To Club An interesting demonstration of the Bell Telephone maintenance and repairing service was explain- ed by R. H. Hall, of the Custo- mer Relation Department of the Bell Telephone to members of the Whitby Rotary Club at this week's luncheon held at the Royal Hotel. "In Ontario and Quebec 8,500,+ 000 telephone calls are made daily," Mr. Hall said. "With the present day repair service we can repair a defect in wires without interrupting a telephone call." The service men are able to cope with a defect by an alarm system which rings in the station indicat- ing where the defect has been caused. Within an hour the alarm is sounded and the defect will be fixed. More than 3,500,000 miles of Bell Telephone wire, out of a total of 5,000,000 miles, is. now contained in underground cable, Mr. Hall told club members. Under one busy intersection in a Canadian city there are 85 cables containing nearly 190,000 wires, which means that nearly 95,000 conversations can pass back and forth under the city traffic at that cornery Mr. Hall showed members a cab- le the thickness of a man's wrist, containing 3,636 wires, each in- sulated by a thin paper wrapping. Identifying these wires when splic- ing would be a colossal task with methods of earlier days, when wires were matched by the color of their wrapping. Today an elec- tronic oscillator is used. The speak- er proved the effectiveness of this equipment by picking out a par- ticular wire from its 3,635 neigh- bors in a matter of seconds. Telephone cables have their en- emies, he said. Inspection of dam- aged cable has often revealed bul- lets or shotgun pellets in the cable sheath, and nails, tacks and other metal fragments. Until Bell en- gineers began coating cables with a mixture of asphalt and sand, squirrels' were one of the chief en- emies of the company's cables. Mr. Hall showed members a section of cable bearing the tooth marks of the little animals. Many cables are now filled with nitrogen gas to aid in detecting troubles. When the sheath is punctured, escaping gas keeps mois- ture out of the cable, and the pres- sure drop rings an alarm automa- tically in the exchange. Cable splicers then search for the leak with amr exploring coil, sometimes called a "bug." In emergencies, when life de- pends on quick communication the work of the telephone mainten- ance man proves its worth in terms of human values, the speaker con- cluded. After graduating from McGill University Mr. Hall took a position with Northern Electric where he worked for several 'years develop- ing the Telephone Transmission system. He joined the Bell Tele- phone Company in 1935 where he . worked on installation. He served with the Signal Corps during the war, After the war he was engag- ed with the Bell Telephone to de- velop the Mobile telephone until now he is with the Customer Re- lation Department of the company in Montreal, Mr. Hall was introduced by Andrew Gillespie, Manager of the Bell Telephone service in Oshawa. Club Business Jean Ashby who has been acting as the pianist to the Rotary Club for several weeks, was presented with a corsage from the President, Peter Draimin, who complimented her on her splendid work. Tickets for a dw which were distributed last Saturday have yielded $53. Mac Bassett was con- gratulated for his work of selling $13 in tickets since Monday noon. The proceeds of the draw will go to the benefit of the crippled child- ren. Proceeds of the concert' which will be staged by the Motor City Choir on December 13, will also go to crippled children's work. Birthday greetings were extend- ed to Clive Hatch. Stanley Evers- son and Reg. H. Geen of Oshawa were visitors at the luncheon. EMPLOYMENT UP Ottawa, Nov. 2--(CP)--Industrial employment in Canada reached a new all-time high level in 1947, the Bureau of Statistics said Monday in its annual review of employment and payrolls. The Bureau said the general index for eight major divi- sions of industrial employment in- creased by 8.5 per cent over the pre- ceding year. At the same time, the annual index of weekly payrolls rose 21.2 per cent. \ ou Get All HE NEWS ® Whitby and District ® Ontario County ® National and International ® Your Own Local Daily Newspaper \ Fill in This Coupon . . . and e Give it to the Carrier on Your Street Or Send it to the Times-Gazette Office Please Deliver By Carrier ; The Daily Times-Gazette | NAME. «vee cvtvssmmsiismini sade ders sos Loialis I ADDRESS sess sss sss sess rae, ~