New York State Tax Commission Exhibit Relating to Real Estate Transfers and the Rate of Assessment of Real Property in the City…

The State Tax Commission succeeded the Board of Tax Commissioners and headed the State Tax Department (Laws of 1915, Chapter 317), which assumed duties of the Comptroller relating to corporation taxes. The commission constituted the State Board of Equalization, which was concerned with local government property assessment after the state property tax was discontinued in 1928.

This single volume exhibit was presented before the State Tax Commission on December 1, 1931 by several transportation and utility companies as the commission decided the matter of the tentative rate of equalization of special franchises in Buffalo for 1932 (on assessments made in 1931).

The series includes columnar tabulations, graphs, and one map. A sworn deposition by the consulting engineer who prepared the schedule, Arthur Tyng, dated November 30, 1931, explains the methodology and source data used in preparation of the schedule, and the statement itself includes additional summary and distribution tables.

Information includes: a schedule containing a summary and analysis of over 28,000 real property sales in Buffalo for 1915 and 1916, and for 1920 to 1931 inclusive; figures and tables given in support of detail sheets showing parcel sales for 1921 to 1925 inclusive, and also for detail sheets covering sales for 1915, 1916, 1920, 1926, and 1927 (the actual sheets were filed with the commission on November 23, 1926 and November 22, 1927 respectively); summary sheets showing sales by years and by tax districts, giving amount of real property assessed in each district (expressed as a percentage of total assessed valuation of real property in Buffalo), weighted rate of assessment, and average rate of assessment for property generally throughout the city; and summary sheets for the whole city for 1915 to 1931 inclusive, showing total assessments of real property in Buffalo, indices of construction costs, total real property assessments, real property assessments excluding new property, real property values, and real estate activity, and rates of assessments shown by annual sales, five-year average sales, and as a fixed rate set by the commission.

The 82-page exhibit was presented by the following companies: Buffalo General Electric Company; Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company; Erie Railroad Company; Iroquois Gas Company; New York Telephone Company; New York Central Railroad Company; and West Shore Railroad Company.

All sheets in the series are blueline copies, often on graph paper. Some of the tables are color shaded in yellow crayon. The one map found in the series is a map of the city of Buffalo showing tax sections. It is a copy of a printed annotated city street map and measures 43 x 28 cm. Tax sections listed in certain tables and schedules in the series refer to the numbers on this map.

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