April 23, 1964 (24 pages)

Serving the communities of Nevada City, Grass fit Ge cui Pen A » Soggsville, ar, ll Hill, Bourbon Hill, Scotch Hi Remington Hill, Anthony House, Delirium Tremens. ay ees gi VOLUME 39 NUMBER 17 ee, Dog, You Bet, Town Talk, Glenbrook, Little York, Cherokee, Mooney Flat, Meadows, Cedar Ridge, Union Hill, Peardale, i ‘orth Columbia, Columbia Hill, Brandy Flat, Sebastopol, 10 Cents A Copy Summit City, Walloupa, Gouge Eye, Lime Kiln, Chicago Park, Wolf, Quaker Hill, Willow Valley, New The $10 Million Assessment Question Kitts Believes State Sampling In Error “We are not about to turn our local tax assessment to the state without a struggle," Nevada County Assessor Charles Kitts statedin concluding a talk Monday to Grass Valley Rotary Club members, Kitts told the Rotarians that his belief that the State Board of Equalization'ssampling last year wasin error must be documented by facts---not insults. The assessor dev oted half or more of his talk to explaining the theory of property assessment, noting that the State Board has not issued an order at this time. He explained that estimates in January and March of each year by the State Board “gives the assessor 2 chance to try to avoid an equalization order after the roll is delivered to the supervisors. " Kitts said that last year, after four years of trending in'which the county roll was on or ex~ tremely close to the state average, the State Board certified a factor to the Superintendent of Public Instruction that resulted in aschool equalization, or Winton tax, of 18 cents per $100 assessed valuation on all property in the county. “This we certainly want to avoid or reduce as much as possible”, he said. The State Board's estimate is based on a random sampling of the county assessments and on the annual growth trends of the county's economy. "In effect, they seem to be saying our economy has expanded by one-third in the last year, “ he said. Kitts said he doubted that a one-third increase can or should be added in one year. At the same time, he pointed out that an increase in the local assessment roll does not neces-~ sarily mean a corresponding increase in the taxes to be paid on a particular property. Asthe assessment roll goes up, the tax rate should drop so that the resulting tax bill would be similar to that of the previous year, Kitts explained. Only the basic county tax rate is controlled by the board of supervisors, henoted, That rate--~$2.51 this year---might drop to correspond with an assessment increase. But other governmental bodies in the county have already indicated they need more revenue, Kitts explained. This intimation that the tax bill would likely rise, but toa level of less than the increase in assessments was the closest Kitts came to forecasting the effect on individual tax(Continued On Page 23) Ee CERTIFIED..Newly elected Nevada City Councilmen Beryl Robinson (left), Dan O'Neill, and re-elected Councilman Ben Barry look over the resolution which certified their election. = a C* . Published Thursdays, Nevad&\@yy April ~ Is Blected ® NC Mayor STATE'S PERFIDY BLASTED BY NEVADA CITY CHAMBER The Nevada City Chamber of Commerce will "go to the top” with a protest against delay in construction of the Nevada City freeway, and against “broken promises" of the Division of Highways. A letter will be directed to Governor Edmund G, Brown out~ lining specific charges against the Division of Highways. It is in preparation asthe result of action Cassettari Resigns County Post The resignation of William J. Cassettari from his part-time job with the Nevada County District Attorney's. staff had the board of supervisors closeted in executive session for considerable time yesterday. The resignation, effective May 1, came after District Attorney Harold Berliner reassigned Cassettari and took over the task of advising the board of supervisors himself. The district attorney explained the reassignment as having re~ sulted froma move by the super. visors to replace Cassettari by hiring a county counsel, This intention was voiced at a recent meeting of the supervisors. Berliner was on hand yesterday to advise supervisors during their adjourned meeting. * ‘$ = . ke * v « ONE OF THREE SOARING TOWERS..which lord it over the railroad tracks and the surrounding smog-bound community of Watts, near downtown Los Angeles. (See California on Page 10.) ———— ———— ea tne ican: anaes are eee Tuesday noon by the chamber's board of directors. Copies of the letter will be sent to-Comgressman Harold T, Johnson and Robert Bradford, chief of the California Department of Public Works. Chamber action came at the request of Dick Knee, who led the group that favored the downtown freeway route at the time the freeway route was the subject of city controversy. Knee told the chamber meeting at the Townsman that from his observation the Division of Highways had liedto the city, had made promises that it was now not keeping. Parking and landscaping will be specifics of the letter, in addition to a protest of the current freeway timetable. Six directors of the chamber, a bare quorum, took unanimous action on Knee's suggestion, ordering preparation of the letter as soon as possible. In other action, the directors noted there is pressure to keep the chamber office open longer hours, and asked for volunteers to assist in keeping the office open. May 15 is the target date for preparation of a new city map, delayed because of the time necessary for the volunteer help to finish the map. The directors tabled a suggestion to purchase 600 Osborn/Woods maps until the schedule of printing on the new map can be confirmed. President John Reed announced the second annual Junior Rodeo will be held in cooperation with the Nevada County Horsemen's Association July 19. He reported that allinvolved in the rodeo are most enthusiastic about its recep~ tion this year. 23, 1964 erson Nevada City's new ly elected council chose Arch McPherson as mayor and Ben Barry as mayor pro tem in the only action taken after swearing in ceremonies of the Tuesday night reorganizational meeting. Retiring Councilman Craig Davies moved that the report of last week's city election be certified by the council. After newly elected Councilmen Beryl Robinson and Dan O'Neill, and re-elected Ben Barry, were swor in, Davies gave up his council seat. “IT wish all the council and administrative officers every suc~ cess," Davies told the council, He said it had been a “pleasure” to serve the city. The newly formed council adopted a resolution "unanimous~ ly expressing thanks to Craig Davies for his fine service to the city”. Balloting for mayor ended with McPherson obtaining three votes, the other two favoring re-election of Robert Carrtothe mayor's seat. “What do we donow?” McPherson asked. “Trade seats,” Carr told him. And as they traded seats, Carr. quipped, “I hope you don't have as much trouble as I did.“ Barry was chosen mayor pro tem on the second ballot. The first found him tied with Robinson, two votes each, with the fifth vote going to Carr. Pass Plan For School Unification By a count of 19-1 the augmented committee on school district organization voted to submit the master plan for unification of the schools in Western Nevada County tothe State Board of Education for consideration. After almost two years of study and discussion, a majority of the committee members decided to submit the plan. It goes first to the Yuba County com mittee for approval, because Camptonville is included in the plan, then to the State Board for approval. Finally, the plan will be submitted to the voters of Nevada County for approval or rejection. Mrs. Molly Shine, chairman of the committee, said the plan may be put tothe vote of the people in the spring of 1965--one year from (Continued On Page 23)

Serving the communities of Nevada City, Grass fit Ge cui Pen A » Soggsville, ar, ll Hill, Bourbon Hill, Scotch Hi Remington Hill, Anthony House, Delirium Tremens. ay ees gi VOLUME 39 NUMBER 17 ee, Dog, You Bet, Town Talk, Glenbrook, Little York, Cherokee, Mooney Flat, Meadows, Cedar Ridge, Union Hill, Peardale, i ‘orth Columbia, Columbia Hill, Brandy Flat, Sebastopol, 10 Cents A Copy Summit City, Walloupa, Gouge Eye, Lime Kiln, Chicago Park, Wolf, Quaker Hill, Willow Valley, New The $10 Million Assessment Question Kitts Believes State Sampling In Error “We are not about to turn our local tax assessment to the state without a struggle," Nevada County Assessor Charles Kitts statedin concluding a talk Monday to Grass Valley Rotary Club members, Kitts told the Rotarians that his belief that the State Board of Equalization'ssampling last year wasin error must be documented by facts---not insults. The assessor dev oted half or more of his talk to explaining the theory of property assessment, noting that the State Board has not issued an order at this time. He explained that estimates in January and March of each year by the State Board “gives the assessor 2 chance to try to avoid an equalization order after the roll is delivered to the supervisors. " Kitts said that last year, after four years of trending in'which the county roll was on or ex~ tremely close to the state average, the State Board certified a factor to the Superintendent of Public Instruction that resulted in aschool equalization, or Winton tax, of 18 cents per $100 assessed valuation on all property in the county. “This we certainly want to avoid or reduce as much as possible”, he said. The State Board's estimate is based on a random sampling of the county assessments and on the annual growth trends of the county's economy. "In effect, they seem to be saying our economy has expanded by one-third in the last year, “ he said. Kitts said he doubted that a one-third increase can or should be added in one year. At the same time, he pointed out that an increase in the local assessment roll does not neces-~ sarily mean a corresponding increase in the taxes to be paid on a particular property. Asthe assessment roll goes up, the tax rate should drop so that the resulting tax bill would be similar to that of the previous year, Kitts explained. Only the basic county tax rate is controlled by the board of supervisors, henoted, That rate--~$2.51 this year---might drop to correspond with an assessment increase. But other governmental bodies in the county have already indicated they need more revenue, Kitts explained. This intimation that the tax bill would likely rise, but toa level of less than the increase in assessments was the closest Kitts came to forecasting the effect on individual tax(Continued On Page 23) Ee CERTIFIED...Newly elected Nevada City Councilmen Beryl Robinson (left), Dan O'Neill, and re-elected Councilman Ben Barry look over the resolution which certified their election. = a C* . Published Thursdays, Nevad&\@yy April ~ Is Blected ® NC Mayor STATE'S PERFIDY BLASTED BY NEVADA CITY CHAMBER The Nevada City Chamber of Commerce will "go to the top” with a protest against delay in construction of the Nevada City freeway, and against “broken promises" of the Division of Highways. A letter will be directed to Governor Edmund G, Brown out~ lining specific charges against the Division of Highways. It is in preparation asthe result of action Cassettari Resigns County Post The resignation of William J. Cassettari from his part-time job with the Nevada County District Attorney's. staff had the board of supervisors closeted in executive session for considerable time yesterday. The resignation, effective May 1, came after District Attorney Harold Berliner reassigned Cassettari and took over the task of advising the board of supervisors himself. The district attorney explained the reassignment as having re~ sulted froma move by the super. visors to replace Cassettari by hiring a county counsel,

This intention was voiced at a recent meeting of the supervisors. Berliner was on hand yesterday to advise supervisors during their adjourned meeting. * ‘$ = . ke * v « ONE OF THREE SOARING TOWERS...which lord it over the railroad tracks and the surrounding smog-bound community of Watts, near downtown Los Angeles. (See California on Page 10.) ———— ———— ea tne ican: anaes are eee Tuesday noon by the chamber's board of directors. Copies of the letter will be sent to-Comgressman Harold T, Johnson and Robert Bradford, chief of the California Department of Public Works. Chamber action came at the request of Dick Knee, who led the group that favored the downtown freeway route at the time the freeway route was the subject of city controversy. Knee told the chamber meeting at the Townsman that from his observation the Division of Highways had liedto the city, had made promises that it was now not keeping. Parking and landscaping will be specifics of the letter, in addition to a protest of the current freeway timetable. Six directors of the chamber, a bare quorum, took unanimous action on Knee's suggestion, ordering preparation of the letter as soon as possible. In other action, the directors noted there is pressure to keep the chamber office open longer hours, and asked for volunteers to assist in keeping the office open. May 15 is the target date for preparation of a new city map, delayed because of the time necessary for the volunteer help to finish the map. The directors tabled a suggestion to purchase 600 Osborn/Woods maps until the schedule of printing on the new map can be confirmed. President John Reed announced the second annual Junior Rodeo will be held in cooperation with the Nevada County Horsemen's Association July 19. He reported that allinvolved in the rodeo are most enthusiastic about its recep~ tion this year. 23, 1964 erson Nevada City's new ly elected council chose Arch McPherson as mayor and Ben Barry as mayor pro tem in the only action taken after swearing in ceremonies of the Tuesday night reorganizational meeting. Retiring Councilman Craig Davies moved that the report of last week's city election be certified by the council. After newly elected Councilmen Beryl Robinson and Dan O'Neill, and re-elected Ben Barry, were swor in, Davies gave up his council seat. “IT wish all the council and administrative officers every suc~ cess," Davies told the council, He said it had been a “pleasure” to serve the city. The newly formed council adopted a resolution "unanimous~ ly expressing thanks to Craig Davies for his fine service to the city”. Balloting for mayor ended with McPherson obtaining three votes, the other two favoring re-election of Robert Carrtothe mayor's seat. “What do we donow?” McPherson asked. “Trade seats,” Carr told him. And as they traded seats, Carr. quipped, “I hope you don't have as much trouble as I did.“ Barry was chosen mayor pro tem on the second ballot. The first found him tied with Robinson, two votes each, with the fifth vote going to Carr. Pass Plan For School Unification By a count of 19-1 the augmented committee on school district organization voted to submit the master plan for unification of the schools in Western Nevada County tothe State Board of Education for consideration. After almost two years of study and discussion, a majority of the committee members decided to submit the plan. It goes first to the Yuba County com mittee for approval, because Camptonville is included in the plan, then to the State Board for approval. Finally, the plan will be submitted to the voters of Nevada County for approval or rejection. Mrs. Molly Shine, chairman of the committee, said the plan may be put tothe vote of the people in the spring of 1965--one year from (Continued On Page 23)