Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 83.djvu/508

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504
THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY

Twenty-four years show a total increase of slightly more than 100 per cent.

The land values of Boston are therefore increasing at less than half the rate of those of New York. During the years for which comparison may be made (1906-1911) the land values of New York rose 38 per cent., while those of Boston rose less than 8 per cent.

Two other cities in the East make separate assessments of land and improvements. The increase for these cities is:

Trenton, N. J.[1] Newark, N. J.[2]
 
1906 $21,866,000 1907 $122,904,000
1907 21,707,000 1908 121,465,000
1908 21,735,000 1909 125,515,000
1909 21,866,000 1910 129,469,000
1910 22,140,000 1911 134,764,000
1911 23,530,000 1912 141,059,000
1912 23,561,000

Although the period covered in both cases is short, the rate of increase is very similar to that of Boston for a similar period. The seven years in Trenton show an increase of slightly less than one tenth and in Newark of one seventh.

The records of some western cities furnish a striking contrast in this ratio of land value increase. Milwaukee in the Middle West assessed land in 1890 at $52,386,000. For succeeding years the assessment was:[3]

1895 $74,229,000 1905 $85,961,000
1900 75,816,000 1910 99,502,000

For 1911 and 1912, the basis of assessment was increased from 60 per cent, to 100 per cent. The 1912 valuation was $193,799,000. The rate of increase for Milwaukee is somewhat greater than for Boston, though not so great as for New York. (Between 1891 and 1912, the area of Milwaukee was increased from 21 to 24 square miles.)

The three far western cities for which separate land assessments were secured[4] (Dallas and Houston, Texas, and Seattle) report far more rapid rates of increase.

  1. Letter from Commissioners of Assessment of Taxes, December 18, 1912.
  2. Letter from the Board of Assessment and Revision of Taxes, December 27, 1912.
  3. Letter from the Deputy Tax Commissioner, December 31, 1912.
  4. The facts for San Francisco are likewise available, but are rendered very inconclusive because of the fire. The land assessments then were:
    1905-06 $304,135,000 1910-11 $288,095,000
    1906-07 237,038,000 1912-13 301,196,000
    1908-09 258,652,000

    (Annual Financial Statement of San Francisco, 1911-12, p. 156.)