Omaha daily bee., 1902-05-15

or would give Douglas county. for the ives,
half Of the Union Pacific bridge an asbess-
ment OF about 81. 500. The county OF Doug
las issued $3.50, 900 OF bonds as a donation,
or a subsidy, for the construction Of that
bridge, and at this time, have a certificate
with me from the country treasurer. of.the
amount paid out by the taxpayers Of Doug
las county, amounting to S7S0,OOO, and ye.
the west half Of the bridge is to be re-
turned for assessment at $500, and the
total tax. II 1t paid 1T. would amount to
about SeS.
Omaha Depot Grounds.
THE depot grounds at Omaha eohtaIh $50
acres. The depot grounds we're donated
originally to the Union Pacific and the
city. OF Omaha issued $3.50, 600 Of bonds and
the citizens donated $50, 900. The bonds and
interest paid thereon aggregate $500
and yet the depot grounds, ~ they were
assessed at the rate that Is returned by
the company, at 5000 per acre, would ag-
regate about $40, 700 In value, whereas the
terminal facilities Of the Union Pacific
railway at Omaha, according to the testi-
mony taken by an expert who was before
the United States ednrt In Che maximum
rate cases, are between 5000, 900 and S6,-
Q 10000 valuation. The value OF 1t. can be
judged by the fact that the Chicago. Mil.
waukee & 81. Paul railway pays to the
Union Pacific Railway company for the use
Of terminal facilities t45, 600 per abnum.
The Rock Island railway pays S45, 900 per
annum, and all the. other railroads, I pre-
sumo, pay as much II not mors merely for
the use OF those depot grounds and facii-
tiles. But the depot. and those grounds
are dumped into this great dump at $500
per acre" -rfr
Question by the auditor: "You mean in
it's report?" "
Mr.. R%osewater; Yes, sir. 7 want to call
attention to 1t so you can arrive at some
Just conclusion and YOU cannot do II with
out giving serious Thought to all Of these
matters. D.
Value of Adjacent Property.
Now. the tax commissioner OF Omaha
certihes here that the lands adjacent to the
depot, or in that neighborhood, are as.
sessed at the rate Of 1880 at the present
time. being 40 per cent. Assume that you
would only assess at one-hfth, that would
be $3.50 per acre instead Of $500. And
surely when you come to consider the, value
Of the improvements and that figure right
here In the report-the honest figures and
not the dishonest ones. We have been told
that the depot cost s4oO, 900 or $500, 900, bu.
its own showing to the stockholders
shows it cost a little over $3.50, 900; Now
that fact, 1t seems to me. would show that
there should be an appraisement of that
property somewhere nearer or a great dea1
nearer to its producing value than you
have today. I do not believe that the pre-
vioue boards have taken those matters TN
der consideration; I do not believe they
have been presented properly for their con-
sideration. 49,"
One of the Burlington Lines,
Now, we will take another road. Take
the Omaha & Southwestern. The Burling-
ton system has seen 'ht-I say system be-
cause all Of the roads that are owned
by the Burlington Or operated In this state
are one system now and are capitalized
together-it has seen 1T to divide up
its different roads TO make the showing
for taxation the smallest possible. Look
the Southwestern. Nov, 1tsfRay taken
the road from omsha 20 orespcIis aud then
part in Saline and Gage counties and
coupled them together and called it the
& Southwestern. Now tie original
owners have little or nothing to do with
It, but 1t .is the ~sBurHngtonf system and
contains fifty and eighty eight one hum
dredths miles. Il, feturns the Omaha &
road at IS, 800. per mile. That
begins vest Of the BdflfdktoD dep6t, onEfhe
other side of the viaA9et on sTenth street
at Omaha, takesifh the depot and Depot
grounds at Omaha and takes the road; in
clear TO oreapolis, and then again down
In Saline and these other counties. The
total OF $1,000 per mile, ia my Judgment,
would scarcely be Represented in Omaha
terminal facilities and depot salohe. It is
not an extravagant estimate t6tsay that
the Burlington depot or station and the
grounds at Omaha with all their terminal
and tracks, are worth $1,000, 900.
Now, at one-hfth Of that you would have
5000. 900. for assessing purposes, and diyid-
ing that by nifty and distributing II along
you get $4,000 mile for your road, but
you have the ridiculously low estimate of
1884, 900 for the entire iifty miles. and you
have included in this the entire equipment,
passenger and freight. depots.- and includes
! don't know how many acres, but quite
a large acreage Of depot grounds between
Omaha and .oreapolis. and down in Saline
and Gage counties. Now, does II stand to
reason that Douglas county, with four and
eighty-two-one hundredthss miles--that lie
all we should have-gets hut about $34, 00e
OF assessed valuation out Of that Omaha &
Southwestern road, when we have over
1 Zoo, 900 worth OF tangible. property within
the city limits OF omAha2 1t does not seem
to me to be jast and reasonable. 1t is
not reasonable as compared with the assess
ment on all other classes OF property In
this state. We must always, as I said at
the outset, bear In mind the relative value
OF the ground or right-of-way of a rail-
road In the locality IT occupies. II is not
to be strung out propiseuously and be con-
sidered worth $40 an acre from one end
OF the road to the other. but 1t must be
valued according TO the relative value OF
the adjacent property wherever It may be
located. That alone could give any Just
conception or furnish a basis for computa-
A. - - .-AtLK