The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-08-26
TAXATION AGAIN
Likely to Come Up at the Next
legislature Because of At
torney General Grey's
Opinion.
Especial to arhe Jersey city News."l

Especial to The Jersey City News."]
TRENTON, Aug. rs, 1Se7.-The recent
decision OF Attorney General Grey COM
STRUNG for State Comptroller Han cock
the equal taxation law passed last
March, Will, in all probability, precipi-
tate in the next Legislature a revival OF
last winters fight over the measure, The
Attorney Generals opinion undoubtedly
postpones the time when Jersey City and
the other municipalities will REAP the
practical benefit of the law one year be-
You'd what was contemplated by the Hue
son county members of the Legislature,
or for that matter. the members from any
ether county, when the bill was passed.
The law, which gives up to the different
municipalities in which second-class rail-
road property is located, the one-half %of
one per cent. tax on such property, which
has heretofore gone into the State treas
ury and which amounts to 500, goo a year,
has a provision that it shall SO into EFF
feet November l. 1885,; but 4-.GiEg to
attorney Grey's opinion he tax VIII not
be available to the different municipalities
until near the end of the fiscal year which
closes October 81, 1889. The Hudson coun-
ty members of nexl years Legislature
ltdy OI Ildy MT ldhS Tic POSitlSAi iol 49,
Attorney Generals opinion is bad law,but
there is little doubt that they will under
take to nullify the opinion, even if it be-
comes necessary to Introduce an amend
ment to the existing law.
The Attorney Generals opinion is based
on that part of the law which reads: The
taxes which shall hereafter be assessed
in conjunction with the provision that the
law shall go into effect on November 1,
1897. The law provides that the taxes
thereafter assessed shall, when collected,
be paid over to the several municipalities.
The assessments of railroads are filed with
the State Comptroller as of October 81,
and the Attorney General holds that the
assessments to be filed October 81 next do
not come under the law, which goes into
effect on the following day. Hence the
first money available under the law will
be the assessments filed as of October 81,
1898, and the payments of which will not
be made until several months later.
This is certainly not what vas under
stood by the Hudson county members
when the law was passed. The bill as
first introduced provided that it SHOULD go
into effect at once, and in this shape it
passed the house. AS the bill was about
to pass the Senate, everything was
thrown into excitement by a claim that,
as the bill read, the money would belong
spions of the bill disclaimed this. They
pointed to the phrase, taxes which shall
hereafter be assessed, and instanced that
the taxes which would be collected this
year had already been assessed. They
did not want the bill sent back to the
House, and feared that the point raised
was some trick to privately defeat the
measure. Whey they had been assured
that this was not the case, they consented
to a section being added to the effect that
the bill should go into effect November /,
after the present fiscal year had expired.
1t never occurred to those who were fight
ing for the measure that the change
would accomplish what Attorney General
Grey,s opinion indicates.