Omaha daily bee., 1902-05-18
RAnrrn

ment Of the property of the railroads Of
Nebraska, the people are entitled to
know upon what the board has based its
findings. The board makes no secret
Of it that 1t has assessed only the
tangible property Of the corporations
but as yet the people are completely In
the dark as to what the board consid-
ers tangible property and what value
has been placed upon It.
. To come to the point. the people of
Nebraska would like to know whether
the board appraised the right-of-way of
each road according to its dimension and
location, or whether it appraised the
right-of-way in a lump regardless of it's
length or breadth, or actual market
value. The people would like to know
at what rate the board assessed the
main tracks Of the railroads and at what
rate it appraised the sidetracks. Were
the main tracks all appraised at the
same value for each and every road
whether the rails weigh fifty pounds to
the yard or eighty pounds to the yard,
or whether the trackage traversed
bridges, culverts and tunnels, or only
an ordinary roadbed7
Did the board assess the sidetracks In
Omaha, Lincoln, Grand Island, Kearney,
Hastings and Beatrice at the same price
per mile as 1t did the s%idetracks ada
cent to little hamlets and water tank
stations? Did the board classify the
engines into first, second and third
classes, according to size and power or
did they adopt one price for all classes
Of engines-passenger, freight, new. old,
mammoth, or pony engines?
Did it classify the passenger coaches
and fix a price upon each according to
its dimensions and standard, or were all
passenger coaches, whether they were
palatial passenger coaches or WORKOUT
emigrant cars, entered undo. rne one
head? Did it make a separate computa-
ton Of the value of the other equip.
ments of the respective roads, or did
it simply appraise all the railway equip
ments in bulk regardless of their rel
alive value?
Did the board endeavor to ascertain
and assess the value of depot grounds
according to their respective locality, or
did it pool all of the depot grounds on
each road and assess them at acre sand
hill land prices?
These questions are very pertinent be-
cause they go to the very bedrock of
the whole mode Of assessing the tangible
railroad property. A suspicion is abroad
that the board has absolutely ignored
the various elements in the tangible
property of the railroads and simply
copied the assessments of last year with
q few variations, adding a bagatelle to
the general valuation in order to make
1t appear that it was an entirely new
assessment. That suspicion cannot be
dispelled unless the board favors the
public with a specific detailed state
ment Of the exact figures at which the
various tangible railroad properties are
appraised.
According to the testimony Of an ex-
pert in valuations of railroad property
who testified on behalf of the Union
Pacific in the maximum rate case, the
terminal facilities of the Union Pacific
railroad at Omaha and South Omaha,
exclusive of the bridge. were worth any.
where from 100000 to $1O.OOO,OO0 five
years ago. That was before the new
union station was built. Nobody will
dare contend that these terminals are
worth less this year than they were in
1897. But under the assessment just
completed by the State Board of
EQUALIZATION the amount Omaha will be
permitted to levy a city tax against will
be $40, 700. This will be one-tenth of
/ per cent on a valuation Of $10,000,0O0
or one-ifth Of / per cent on q valua-
ton of $5,OOO,000. For county purposes
the t~hirty-three miles of the Union Pa
cihc in Douglas county, including all
the terminal facilities and bridge, will
be assessed at $323.400. When it is
borne in mind that the thirtythree miles
of road alone are capitalized at $780,
600 and the terminals and bridge are
worth at least from $6,000,O00 to $10,-
100000, the rank injustice done to other
taxpayers is so apparent that 1t requires
no discussion.