Omaha daily bee., 1905-12-18
MAY WIPE OUT UNIT PLAN
Change Proposed in the NOthod Of Assess
ing Railroads.
LEGISLATURE MAY AuvPT OMAHA lDER'
Intention to Allow Each County TO
Assess All Propcrty Lying
within Its Bound
(From a STAFF Correspondent

hOiltiOhb VI Nilt ullN NitbiS 'o AtAN S"N''
for the assessment of railways is regarded
by state officials one of the possibilities
Of legislation at the next session If the
present development of public sentiment
against the nontaxpaying corporations con-
tinues. The relegation of the unit theory
as the basis would leave the roads to the
judgment of the local assessors and enable
the larger cities, such as omaha and Lin
coin. to obtain their fair share OF the
taxes on the value OF the terminals, which
are at present supposed to have been dis
tributed to all OF the counties Of the state.
although as a result OF the undcrassess-
ment of the companies this distribution is
largely fiction. The present system of
leaving the assessment of the corporations
to the State Board of Equalization will
be abolished and the precinct assessors
will have the power to assess each piece
OF track in their districts
The theory Of such legislation has come,
in recent sessions of the state legislature,
to be known AS the Omaha idea The
demand has been based on the theory that,
at least so far as municipal taxation Is
concerned. the valuation adopted by the
state board ought not to control because
the corporations the real benefciaries
of a large share OF the municipal activity
and ought to bear their proportlonate share
of the expenses thereof. The railways
have been able through the lobby and
their allies among the members OF the
lawmaking body to defeat such measures.
The abolition Of the unit system as the
! basis OF railway taxation will be carrying
the idea a step farther. Then, such in
terests will be placed on a par with all
others. and despite the inconvenience and
| Il; ,t-iIl No anrn1ntarp6 the
| corporations can be assessed at their full
| value.
Local Assessing VIII BE Legal.
"The assessment OF the roads by the local
! officials will be perfectly legal said a
state official today. The legislature has
| the power to provide by statute methods
! for the assessment of various classes Of
/ property and as long as these methods
/ are uniform as to the class, the legisla-
ton will stand. All that the next legisla-
ture will need tc do will be to repeal the
! present law placing the assessing function
1 in the hands of the state board Then the
! railways will be left to the precinct as
/ SCISSORS without any further legislation, al
! though II is probable that an enactment
would be framed 10 provide some means of
assessing the property which is shifted
! from one place to another, such as the roll
ing stock.
"1he present method of assessing the cor
! porations is not ordained by the constitu-
ton and ii Subject u change at amy time.
II has been to the advantage of the rail-
! ways to have the power reposed in the
! state boards composed of few officials
z since II is easier 10 retain control of such
an assessing body. The railways have AL
I ways taken the greatest interest in state
politics and one of their reasons for doing
so has been the desire to control the as
scssing body. Their plans have always been
laid to secure places for their partisans on
that board. Were the matter left with the
deputy assessors Immediately responsible,
I to their constituents, the railways could
have no hope Of avoiding taxation on the
same basis all other property. That is
one of the primary reasons which led the
railways to secure the adoption of the unit
system as the basis oc taxation of their in,
terests. They were not interested so much
in the efficiency of me plan as a part of the
taxing machinery, as they We're in securing
mechanism which they could hope &c
control in their efforts to evade taxes.
win Be an Impartial Legislature.
The next legislature will be free from
railway influence to a very marked degree
sizing up the situation. II is predicted that
the result Of the present condition of the
public mind will be TO send in fair-mindeC
unprejudiced citizens anxious 10 enact legis
lstion in the interests Of the public. The
lobby will he shorn of its power because Of
the tremendous force OF an awakened pub
lie sentiment, which will forbid any furtheI
legislative daIliance with those corrupt in
terests which have in the past been sue
cessful in preventing most OF the leEisa
tion dema nded in the interests Of the gen
eral public II is from a Legislature of thi
type, aroused by the railway unwillingnes,
to stand its fair share of the burdens O
government, that sweeping enactments ar,
! expected.
General Manderson, in his published argu
ment in reply to the Butler county resolu
tions, has furnished one of the stronges
Z reasons for the abolition Of the unit theor,
| Of assessment, which demands that all o
the railway property held under one cor
porate name shall be assessed together AM
distributed mile for mile on exactly tn,
same basis. regardless Of the value OF tn
mileage in any given section Of the coun
try traversed by It. He has called atten
ton TO the disparity between the assess
ment OF the Omaha & North Platte in But
Ter county ana the character or the line a.
compared with other lines. The answer O
the state board has been that the Omah;
} & North Platte corporation covers a stretcl
OF immensely valuable track beyond Ash
land and another portion like that Butle
county of less value, and yet the uni
theory has been interpreted TO require tn
same value 10 be placed on II all regardless
Of differences, a palpable injustice under
system which in all other revenue matter
requires that burdens be in proportion 4
value.
The result has been an injustice. espe
; cially TO the sections which had the NOR
valuable property. like the terminals an.
large bridges. The cities especially hav
suffered under this arrangement In Lin
coin and Omaha the railways ownini
millions of dollars worth of propert
have paid less in taxes than many com
r merciaI corporations Of comparativel
J small capitalization. In the past the rail
: ways have always been able 10 make us
J of their favorite tactics by playing OF
1.-The city against the country. The farm
ers In the legislature were told that III
value OF the terminals was distributed an
that a grant OF power to the cities I
tax those properties would deprive tn
4 country districts Of just that amount o
2 revenue. However. there is a fast de
| veloping realization that as a matter o
.