62

THE  A  B  C  OF  TAXATION

land)  in  order  to  secure  floor  space  worth
112,000  a  year?
What  Does  the  Business  Man  Think  of  It  ?
The  following  facts  and  figures  are  given  for  business
men  to  consider,  being  careful  to  avoid  hasty  conclusions, ­
  and  to  remember  that  the  more  nearly  the
value  of  buildings  approaches  the  value  of  the  land
the  better  it  appears  to  be  for  business.
Comparison  by  Counties
Massachusetts  has  fourteen  counties.  In  every
one  of  thirteen  of  these  counties  the  assessed  value
of  the  buildings  exceeds  and  in  most  cases  largely
exceeds  the  assessed  value  of  the  land.  In  the  one
other  county,  Suffolk  (Boston,  Chelsea,  Revere,  and
Winthrop),  containing  49  per  cent  of  the  whole  land
value  of  the  state,  the  buildings  fall  far  below  the  land
in  value.
The  Small  Towns
Again,  eighty-eight  towns  (out  of  Massachusetts’s
354  cities  and  towns),  having  lowest  valuations,  show
average  assessments  as  follows:  of  buildings,  $  130,000;
of  land,  $145,000.  A  single  tax  assessment  based
upon  site  value  of  uncultivated  land  and  exempting
not  only  buildings,  but  all  other  farm  improvements, ­
  would  reduce  this  average  land  value  for
these  eighty-eight  towns,  so  far  as  they  represent
farm  land  foe  assessment,  from  $145,000  to  probably ­
  less  than  $75,000.  The  following  figures  show
Winter  Street  in  company  with  the  three  smallest
of  these  towns: