Omaha daily bee., 1902-12-30
FOR EQUITABLE TAXATION
Real Estate Exchange Committee Begins
Campaign Against the Railroads,
WILL URGE CHANGE IN CITY CHARTER
PrinsipaI Undertaking IL to Amend
Law so that Railroad Property
May BE Assessed Same az
other Property.

n = NDUlAIANhtb VI ~ = 1oNoNN
exchange has begun an active campaign for
the repeal of that provision Of the city
charter which compels the tax commits
sioner to accept as the assessed valuation
Of the railroad property within the city
limits the returns Of the State Board OF
Equalization.
In furtherance Of It's plan a meeting was
held yesterday at the Commercial club rooms
between the committee and the Douglas
county delegation to the legislature. All
members Of the delegation we're present
except Riggs and Mangold. The meeting
opened with a short talk by W. @. Ure,
secretary OF the committee, in which he
outlined the object Of the committee and
stated the conditions existing in Omaha by
reason Of the provision Of the charter,
which he maintains was In contravention
Of the provision of the state constitution.
Mr.. IRE submitted a statement Of the
taxes paid by certain people and firms
compared with the taxes of the railroads.
Few Legislators Talk.
After citing the constitutional, statutory
and charter provisions in regard to taxa
tion and assessment, Mr.. IRE said:
RaiIroads Get on Easy.
For the 1903 city assessment Tax Com
missioner Fleming has listed all property
at what he considered fair cash value. As
a matter OF Iaca; %e s an Know af MICH Oh ine
the State Board Of Equalization con-
sixth OF fair Cash Value. Rnd as a matter
of fact, assessed It at one-eleventh of fair
cash value, for l am reliably informed that
railroad and kindred property in Nebraska
is worth 1926 100000 for urposes of income
and sale, and this value is confirmed by In
%vestigation made by The Omaha Bee. All
the railroad DrOnprfV In the state and
kindred property Is assessed in 1902 at $29,-
100000. which is a little less than one
the charter provision the railroads will
pay a tax of a certain Number OF mills on
one-eleventh OF fair cash value, while
pay a tax Of the same number of mills on
full value.
than this Is evident when we look into
the method of the state board assessment.
They assess the railroad as a unit, that
track and the right-of-way; they add to
this the value of all side and passing
Of the rolling stock. This total Is divided
by the number of miles of main track,
and the assessment IL apportioned to the
counties through which the road passes,
according to the number of miles of main
track each has. The result of this method
is that SO, 600 600 worth of property entirely
within the limits of Omaha Is taken by
the state board and distributed over the
state, and the city of Omaha gets back, an
assessment OF Sl3O,24b on the Union racine,
Northwestern and Burlington systems, the
only Omaha roads over which the state
board has Jurisdiction. Thus IT is seen
that the railroad property In Omaha is not
assessed at one-eleventh of fair cash value,
but at the fraction that $l3O,246 Is of $685.
100000; or one-one hundred and ninety
more than one-half of 1 per cent of fair
cash value. II we. must. continue to be
governed by this clause in the charter 1t
means that the property which Tax Com
missioner Fleming and the Board of Re-
view has found to be worth $25,Ooo,CO shall
&C Scott free OF taxes, for the tax the
railroads will pay on the $3.50, 246 assess
ment is inconsiderable.
Comparison of Assessments.
Compare II with some other assessments.
The First National Bank building and Cox
1 T5,s rect St,, 81 grGu1 %h, Is assessed ass meet s a. sS4V ~
Board OF Tradel and 66x132 feet of ground
IL assessed at $165, 900, and the New York
Life building Is assessed at $6OO.@O, or Just
five times as much as the state boards
assessment of the Omaha terminals of the
three railway systems, which include more
heart OF the city, 1870 miles of track, three
freight and three passenger depots, and
the west half of the Missouri river bridge.
The NJ. u. Smith company is assessed on
merchandise S3l2, 500; Paxton g. Gallagher,
$4,000, and 7; p Kirkendahl, $4,000
including about $50 acres of land, thirty
miles OF track. the new passenger station
and the large freight depot, is assessed at
at SIS, 1890, Guy c.. Barton's at $3.50 and
q. w. Wattles' at so, as. The fact is, gem
tlemen, there Is nothing in ell the list that
appeals to you for relief as does this
matter of the repeal of this clause in our
charter, because II II must remain and II
we must be governed by 1t every taxpayer
in Omaha directly and every citizen indi-
rectly is made 10 carry a burden that is
not his own. By ills method the street
car company must pay about $I2, 900 tina
the railways ought to pay, the gas company
about 5000, the telephone company about
1900, the First National bank about $500
and any taxpayer who pays So city taxes on
his home. his vacant lot or his household
goods pays at least 81 that the railroads
ought to pay; or put 1t the other way, pays
u for the railroads.
No Eject on state.
Possibly the impression is out that the
railroads pay their share of taxes. And
doubtless the argument will be advanced
will be that much less for the other coun-
ties. In reply to this WI have only to say
that the state-county. taxing district is
entirely separate and distinct from the city
taxing district. The state and county gov
ernments collect taxes for purposes entirely
distinct and separate and perform offices
of city government. All property within
the corporate limits of Omaha enjoys spe-
Increased protection for which the city Of
Omaha pays and all property within the
eost. Without taking up the question of
whether or not the railroads pay their
share OF taxes in the state, we want TO say
that the Union Pacific railroad In the fiscal
year ending July 80, 1902, made a profit on
operation of a little less than $22, 5000. II
receives benefits from the city of Omaha
Il does not pay for. II It. is made to pay
and out OF their $22l OOO,O 900 profits Il would
never be missed. Under the present
methods the Union Pacific receives the
BENEFITS and other people pay the bills.
To show we are not asking too much, We
want to say that the assessment OF railroad
property by the State Board of Equaliza-
ton not only results I'm inequalities, as l
have shown in the city taxes, but the
county OF Douglas suffers by this method
as well. There Is 2 .OO0,O00 TO $4,000. 900
worth OF railway property In Douglas
assessment by the State Board OF Equaliza-
ton this Is taken out of Douglas county
and distributed over the railroads of the
state and the state board sends back to
Douglas county an assessment on railroad
property for county and state purposes OF
S59S. 2SS.S2. which brought to fair cash value
shows that while we have probably $4,000
900 worth OF railroad property In the county
Ne get an assessment from the state board
on 1851 1862 OF Il. The balance, the
greater part. is distributed over the state
district through which the roads pass levy
taxes ON Douglas COUNT propert.. Unfair
as this Is. we do not make complaint and
do not now ask an adjustment oft Posi-
bly, Il Is right that the railroads be assessed
as units for said purposes. but there is no
~N AHAH ~