Archive Record
Metadata
Object ID |
1984.4.14 |
Title |
County Tax Assessor's Books |
Description |
These field books contain detailed descriptions of real, personal and other taxes collected by Contra Costa County. Some are labeled "duplicate copy". Others are labeled "Supplemental Assessment Book". Some volumes use separate empty pages within the volume to include "delinquent taxes", often for a previous year. Certain volumes are exclusively Poll Taxes; others include the Poll tax within the primary volume. All show internal evidence of being the original bound books used by the tax collector, containing notes, scribbles and marks to show that they had been copied into a final, clean assessment book. Only three final books are currently in the collection, obtained by gift in December, 2015. Some early books are written in pencil. From 1853 each volume contains a name index arranged by the first letter of the surname, referencing the page number on which the individual tax payer's details are recorded. Details are recorded in columns that initially included: Name of Tax Payer/Acres of Land/Description of Real Estate/Value of Land/Value of Personal Property/Estate Value/Personal Property/Total Value of Assessment. From 1859, multiple volumes are used to cover the entire county. They are arranged by locality with the barest description of the locations on the cover. As the population grew, more volumes were used each year until 16 volumes were needed in the later period. A closer analysis will allow an estimate of the number of missing volumes and for what areas. Places contained in given volumes evolved through the years resulting in research complexity by locality or surname. Taxes were later assessed for purposes other than real and personal property. By 1853, a County School Fund began to be taxed for. Road Districts were established and began to be taxed for county roads in 1855. A county "Sinking Fund" was created and taxed for beginning in 1858. A county "Contingent Fund was collected for during and after the Civil War. The Board of Supervisors ordered the construction of a County Hospital in 1863 and added a tax for that purpose. The excess Coyotes and other predators resulted in a County Bounty Fund in 1871. Finally (for purposes of this collection) a Squirrel Tax was collected from 1874 to 1878. Each of these taxes added to the columns contained in the Assessment Books. Other, non-taxed information became common, including whether a man was eligible for military service, the specific school, road and tax district, the Supervisor's District in which the person lived. Each of these data points provide increased value to the researcher. |
Collection Name |
County Tax Assessor's Books |
Year |
1850-1923 |
Search Terms |
tax assessment maps |