Omaha daily bee., 1903-01-07
ONE TWO.HUNDREDTH PART
Tax Committee Says That Portion Repre-
sents Amount Of Railroad Assessment.
URGES REPEAL OF CLAUSE IN cHARTEF
Committee Insists that There IL No
Justice in Making special Ex-
emptiOn for the Beneht
of Railroads.

The tax committee OF the Real Estate ex-
change gave out a letter written in answer
to the inquiry Of @. w. Noble, received last
week, referring to the assessment for city
purposes of the property Of the railroads
in the city. The answe is as follows:
Answering your inquiry as to statement
that the railroads are only assessed at
Will say. That is correct II the directions
in the charter for metropolitan cities are
followed In the assessment of all railroads
extending out of Omaha. The facts war
ranting the conclusion are as follows: Re-
turns Of TIE state board, Sl3O,246; value OF
same in. Omaha, oyer $26, 900, 600 which is
two hundred times the state boards figures.
The returns made by the state board to
county clerk are matters of record In that
by testimony Of oficiais of the various rail-
roads in the maximum freight rate cases In
1894, of record In the supreme court. Further
by the income they bring as indicated by
contracts with other railroad companies;
and further by the price per square foot
at which they value their ground in making
contracts with other railroads..
The only thing we can see by which the
railroads can Justify such assessment is
the claus in the charter. reading thus:
Provided that the tax commissioner shall
take the valuation and assessment OF rail-
road property within the city limits from
the returns made by the State Board of
Equalization to the county clerk
Effect of This Provision.
mus YOU can see tIdt AnC lOtSBOAhB piO-
vision is in effect saying: The assessment
or railroad property within the city limits
shall be 1-2OOths of Its value" AS you say,
this is certainly ridiculous! Yet this pro-
vision has been followed by the tax COM
missioners and boards of review since 1897,
until this year, when, thanks to Tax Com
missioner Fleming and the Board of Re-
view, who, recognizing the great Injustice,
have assessed the railroad property at what
they considered its value, the same as
other property, but unlike other assess
morts, this against the railroads will doubt
lesy have to be defended In the courts at
the expense of the city or citizens just he
should be eliminated. for II Is as unjust
as If It read: provided all property 'front.'
Ing Farnam street shall be assessed at
1-2O0ths of It's value"
The railroads have escaped the payment
of over 1,OO0,00 in the five years that pro-
vision has been in the charter. This may
be repealed II the citizens of Omaha insist
las %county's delegation in the legislature.
Omaha people must not be Indifferent 20
It's repeal. 1t has already gone too long
and must not be longer permitted.
The revising OF the revenue law or of the
city charter should not be confused with
ing this clause. TIL remedy is simply strik-
ing from section 9S OF the charter for
metropolitan cities the words:
provided, that the tax commissions
shall take the valuation and assessment OF
railroad property within the city limits
from the returns made by the State Boa=1
of EQUALIZATION to the county clerk"
Injustice. There is no better way for you
or anyone else to stand up for Omaha
than by seeing to It that the clause is re
pe1led.