Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1901-01-14
REPORT
READY
Tax Commissioners Makes
rIany Important
Recommendations
To Be Read to the L.egls-
lature this After
noon.
Work to be Supplemented
by a Detailed
Statement.

That the license fees collected from
RAILWAYS be increased 100000 per an
mum.
That the license fees collected from
.4,ae+ RAILWAYS be increased $4,000
per annum.
That the license or tax collected
from TELEGRAPH and telephone compa'
MES be increased $4,000 per annun1.
That the license fee system OF tax
ino certain quasi public corporations
be maintained--at least until It DC
Given test under conditions that VIII
make the returns from it approximate
+he amount which the same properties
would pay if taxed on the ad vaIorem
basis.
That the payment by the railroads
of a license fee shall not be waiver
of the states right to collect more u
investigation prove that more ought 70
have been paid.
That telegraph companies be as
sessed by a state board, the same as
sleeping car, express, freight line ana
equipment companies.
That foreign corporations be re-
CURED to file their charters and pay
the fee for so doing, the same as DO
mestic corporations, before doing bust
ness in tn estate.
That "doomage" power OF assessors
be Increased to aid them in reaching
a larger share Of intangible personal
property for assessment; and that as
SCISSORS be held to stricter response.
bility to some central authority for
the performance of their duties.
These are the recommendation
briefly summarized which the tax COM
mission makes in it's report to be read
to the legislature today.
The report is not a voluminous one.
and the commissioners say the pref
ace that, beside supplementary re-
port which will contain all the stats
tical matter collected and the results
of several unfinished Investigations.
and will be published early in the
spring, they will within a few weeks,
probably before the last of this month.
send to the legislature several chap
tiers which rightfully belong to this
in time to go to press with it. Among
these incompleted chapters is one re-
lating to the taxation of life and fire
insurance companies upon which the
commission are now busily engaged.
This preliminary volume, while not
large one-t contains It's pages
will prove exceedingly interesting
reading to those affected by it's con-
illusions, and by those who have made
or desire to make, study of the tax
situation in this state. To recommend
an increase of nearly 100000 in the
taxes of few classes of property is
no trifing matter, and the painstaking
and very conservative manner in
which the commission progress to
their conclusions indicate that they
appreciate the Importance of the work
in which they were engaged.
Considerable space is given in the
Introductory chapter, to an expIana-
ton of how the commission came to
select the particular features of the
work for treatment. The commiSs. "
was first organized in June, 1913. The
and preliminary work, which was
brought to an abrupt close at the end of
the year by the death of Gen. Griffin,
who was at the head of the commits
sion. When the commission was reor-
ganized about Feb. /, 19vO, it had vir-
tually to begin anew; and in order
that it might have a report ready for
the legislature when it met this
month, it had to prescribe such limits
to the scope of it's work that concrete
results could be reached in the eleven
months remaining. The subject OF
corporation taxation had been before
the legislature repeatedly without any
satisfactory conclusions having beer
reached, and the commission deter
mined to investigate that and be able
to present lie results of their work
when the legislature should meet
Whether certain of the leading pub
lie service corporations were paying
taxes relatively equal to those paid by
the properties reached by the ad
Valorem system the commission con
ceiyed to be a question of fact and not
one of law or legal construction, and
the facts must be discovered by
thoroughly impartial investigation
To determine this fact, then. the com
mission chose their chief work.
AS a secondary work to be carried
on collateral with the chief undertak
ing. the commission decided upon an
investigation of the subject of the tax
!, alton of intangible personal property
with the view Of discovering what pro
portion escapes taxation in Wisconsin
and Of making recommendations to