178 Iowa 859 | Iowa | 1916
I. Jorgen Hansen owned Lot 5 in Block 26 of Missouri Valley. The street in front of it was curbed and paved by the city. The sum of $794.25 was assessed against the'lot as its" apportionment'of the expense according to benefits received. He objected, on the ground that “the said proposed assessment exceeds 25 per cent of the value of said property, as provided by Section 792-a of the Code Supplement,” and requested the city council “to reduce said assessment to such amount as is provided by law.” The record discloses that the value of the lot, according to the last assessment roll, wasp $1,800. Some witnesses estimated that its actual value was more than $2,800. Others fixed it at that sum, and still others thought it much less. "What a thing is worth is largely a matter of opinion, and cannot well be ascertained with absolute accuracy. Much depends on the viewpoint of each of the several witnesses. A careful examination of the evidence has convinced us that the lot with improvements was actually worth $2,800, as determined by the trial court.
II. Appellant contends that the value of the lot was fixed by the assessment roll, and that, though the lot owner might show its value to be less than it there appears, it was incompetent for the city to prove it to have been more. He relies on Section 792-a, Code Supplement, 1913, which reads:
*861 1- mSTio^-pS)"menTs^assessSfts* “assess"eviaenee of *860 “"When, any city or town council or board of public*861 works levies any 'special assessment for .any public improvement against any lot or tract of land, sucb special assessment shall be in proportion to the special benefits conferred upon the property thereby and not in excess of such benefits. Such assessment shall not exceed twenty-five per centum of the actual value of the lot or tract at the time of levy, and the last preceding assessment roll shall be taken as prima-facie evidence of such value. ’ ’