Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-03-30
STATE 1O SUE linn
Executive Council Will See
Whether County Has Right
to Set Aside Assessment
TELEPHONE LINES INVOLVED
Supervisors Of Linn County Took Mat
tors in Their Own Hands and Set
Aside Assessments Made by Execu-
tive Council on Rural Telephone
Lines-An Interesting Case.
TELEPHONE LINES INVOLVED

Des Moines, March 30.-The execu-
tive council has directed the attorney
general to bring suit against the board
of supervisors and other county Off
GERS of Linn county to enforce the as
sessment Of telephone lines made by
the council last year.
Attorney General Mullan was en-
gagged yesterday in the investigation of
the case and has sent to Cedar Rapids
for q. certified copy of the proceedings
of the board of supervisors wherein
the board directed the cancellation Of
the assessment made by the executive
council.
There are about 100 telephone and
telegraph lines in Linn county. OF
these some are incorporated and some
are not; some are farmer and rural
lines and some are exclusively COM
mercial. The Linn county authorities
decided to spread the councils assess
ment of the commercial. companies.
only and adopted Il resolution provid-
ing that the assessment Of the rural
and farmer lines and those concerns
not incorporated should be cancelled
for the reason that such assessment
was erroneous.
This action was first called to the
attention of the executive council thru
a newspaper report OF the proceedings
of the board when the assessment was
cancelled. The state authorities were
astonished and the attention of the
Linn county officials was called to the
matter and a certified copy Of the res
olution OF the board was asked by the
auditor of state and was furnished. The
attention of the council was directed
to the action Of Linn county ard it
was decided to take the matter into
the courts.
tits the theory of the state officers
that the Linn county authorities had
not the legal power to cancel an as
sessmeiit made by the executive coun-
Gil and, that the, board of supervisors
might be prosecuted in criminal court
as we'll as compelled by mandamus to
spread the assessment. The character
of the action to be brought by the
state has not yet been determined by
the attorney general. The states
right arises thru it's claim for the tax
es due to the state treasury on the
levy fixed by the state for state pur-
poses to be collected on basis of
all assessments.
Big Sum Involved.
Probably the assessment fixed by the
council on the 100 companies which
We're exempted from taxes by the ac-
ton of the, Linn county supervisors
would foot up to about $4,000. The
assessment against the large conlpan-
les was enforced by the board Of SUI
pervisors. These companies included
the Western Union and Postal Tele-
graph, the A. ID. r., the Iowa Tele-
phone, the American Telephone. and
Telegraph. the Cedar Rapids and Mar
ion Telephone, the Johnson County
Telephone, the Linn County Telegraph
and Telephone, the Springville Tele-
phone Company and the Lisbon, the
Mt. Vernon and the Vinton and Ben
ton county companies. The assess
ment on the properties Of these COM
panies, of course, amounts to twice as
much as that on all of the other far
mer and rural Companies combined.
This case; will raise q very import
ant questtpn-the right Of county Off
GERS to change the assessment made by
and certified from the executive coun-
Gil. The question of special charter
cities does not intervene.
The state authorities believe that
the board of supervisors had no au-
thority in the matter and that it was
the duty of the county auditor to
spread the assessment made by the
council among the districts in which
the property assessed was located.