The San Francisco call., 1899-07-01
of its own, independent of the domi-

I'd
In the light of the above provisions
will now answer, seriatim, the questions
contained in your communication:
!. Refrigerator cars owned by persons
or corporations not railroad corporations
or engaged in railroad BUSINESS are " De
assessed by the County Assessors
.. Oil cars, owned by toreign or 4S 90.
mestic individuals or corporations (other
than railroad), are to be assessed py the
County Assessors.
g. Beer cars. for the shipment of beer.
owned by local breWerieS or by persons
or corporations (other than. railroad). are
to be assessed by the County Assessors
4. Ordinary freight cars, owned py rall- ran
road companies, domestic or IorelgT,d n aof of
Equalization. irrespective OF the use 10
which such cars are placed. oo
;. Stock cars, used for shlpment .I[1re ol aar,e-
horses or owned by persons or corpora
tions (other than railroad). are 10 De as
sessed by the County Assessors.
In each of the above classes Whlch are
the property will be assessed the same as
any other personal property, as proVlueu
by law.
The class above mentioned, to be as
sessed bV the State Board of EQUALIZATION
will be assessed by ths board In the same
manner as other rolling stock owned py
railroads), in the manner as proVloeu oy
law.
The fact that any of the above property
is taxed In other States is no reason why
such property should not be assessed 1or
and taxes IN tn1S SldIe, IOl LIZ 20
son that the constitution of the state OF
California, article XIII, section l. pro-
yides: co..
Section / All property in this state,
not exempt under the laws of the
United States shall be taxed In pro-
portion to its value, TO pe ascellaineu
This the LEGISLATURE has done. as pro
vided in the sections of the Political Code
above quoted. u
127 L. s.. 117-123, the Supreme Court OIL
the United States lays down the 1ollo"-
ing rule:
that the State of Virginia has rightful
power to levy and collect tax upon
such property used and ttciI found arndrt[ Wienm
was used and found, If ana whenever
it may choose, by apt legislation, to
exert its authority over the subject
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Com
pany is in the State of Maryland that
also. upon general principles, is the
situs of all It's personal propertyi but
for purposes of taxation. as well as
for other purposes that situs may De
fixed in whatever locality the prop
erty NAV be brought and used by It's
owners by the law OF the place where
1t is found. 60.
panv VS.. Penna.. al L. S. 1929; Cleye,
land Railroad Company VS.. Backus' l'f
In Heinhart VS.. McDonald' 20 r GU heP''
404. the court says: .
The claim of exemption from taxa s5o
tOn of the property desCrlped IN me
complaint is based on the folloWlng
grounds: First. that the property is
engaged in interstate commerce; sec
ond that its situs Is o1a NeT Eoen MeHit9: na!d
third. that the Atlantic and Paclnc
Railroad Company is not the owner
of the railroad, and; un4eI ~aIifornia oIif %
tbe rolling stock can only be assessed
to the owner of the railroad. os
The first two grounds are answered.
h,i the cases of Marye VS.. Railroad
Company supra, and Pullman Palace
Car Company VS.. Penna.; supra
See also Smith VS.. Rackllfe' eo eu'
In cases where it is proper for the state
Board Of Equalization to act as hereIn-
Tided in section 1865 of the POLITICAL Code,
as amended in 1897 Statutes lS9O, page
4O2 Very truly yours.
Attorney General
BY WILLIAM NJ. ABBOTT,
Deputy Attorney General
It. o. Toland, member OF the a1r1 Boa1Te
of EQUALIZATION from the Los Angeles
district. gave the following views on the
opinion: . .Lo A++or
new GaneraI iere on the subject of the sys-
te,9 IF the various kinds of cars other
than cars and rolling stock OF d raiiroaas a,,ls
owned by and assessed to raiIroad GTrsi
by the State Board of Equalization.
at is clear that it is the opinion OF the
Attorney General ana Is a9nosie9f Iass Of cars
nbicb have not heretofore been assessed
bv the State Board of Equalization ana I'd
are the regular freight cars of companies
organized and operating IN the EaSIeIii SeIi II
States. which send their cars INTO Ill rItIi ;
foTnia loaded with freight and perrtilt PERM
Them to be here during the assessI1efIiI fd,I
time, The State Board of EqualzalLoiIl !
will make every effort 10 asGef tdia an e. g .,d
apta
Of California subject to assessment Oh Oh
the first Monday in March, and TO assess
the same. -. ,,,b,;o has hAen
very much engrossed recently by the con
sideration of the question OF tne .'.i ldAdliQll ~
of the refrigerator cars: % .tel "a ars -
II Is clearly the opinion of the Attorney
General that these cars must be assessor
bv the County Assessors, Tor the reason
that they do not come within the oesItlP-
tion If nroperty which under the consul
tution and statutes of this State may ana
must be assessed by the Board or Equal-
zation, namely, they are not Ine I roIlIrs
connttes Of this State The difficulty, II
any. that shall be found to exist IN the
assessment of these cars VIII he IN az de'eI-
mining where they are in fact located, or,
in the language of the opinion, Wnere
their 'situs was on the first Monday In
March.
"a member of the Board of Equaliza-
SCISSOR to ascertain whether or not certain
cars which in the contemplation or the
Attorney Generals opinion ought to be
assessed by a County Assessor We're as.
sessed in his county. his county being that
in which the company owning the cars
has its principal place of business ana It's
largest output of material handled by
these cars, and received the reply that
none of them are so assessed and that the
company claims that the cars are not
located in that county. The question
naturally arises, Where are those cars
located if not in that county? This |
apprehend will be the main difficulty OF
County Assessors in assessing these cars,
namely, to determine where their location
was on the first Monday in March 1t
will certainly be necessary for them to be
very diligent and determined in their eff
forts to establish the location of these
cars. otherwise they will be told by their
owners that they have no location in one
county after another until 1T shall result
as practical fact that they have no
location anywhere, and will therefore
escape assessment and taxation as hereto
fore.
These remarks apply equally to every
class of cars referred to in the Attorney
Generals opinion. and it would seem that
the only course for the Assessors of the
State to pursue is to ascertain what cars
1 Ntfac. Of ~