Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-08-13
PUBLIC UTILITIES
Board of Tax Assessors Max
ing an Investigation.
DECIDES ON AN INCREASE
Property of Pennsylvania Railroad
Company Affected.
VALUE OF THE BELONGINGS
Reference to Conduits and Meters Of
Power Company-Holdings Of
Other Corporations.
DECIDES ON AN INCREASE
VALUE OF THE BELONGINGS

Since the discovery made by the District
boa I'd of tax assessors that the Washington
Gas Light Company had escaped taxation
on 81 100000 worth of property and the
Georgetown Gas Light Company $S9,39G
worth of property, in the form of service
pipes and gas meters which omission re-
suited in large financial loss to the Dis
trict. the board has been investigating the
various other public utilities in the District.
and startling results are expected.
Already the board of assessors has de-
cided to increase the assessed value Of GER
tain belongings Of the Pennsylvania Rail-
road Company and is considering an In
crease OF the assessed value Of the prop
erty Of the Potomac Electric Power Com
pany, especially the conduits and meters
belonging to that company, which corre-
spond to the service pipes and gas meters
OF the two local gas companies.
Calls for Sworn Statement.
Assessor Griffin said today that a commu-
nication has been sent to the officials Of
the Potomac Electric Power Company ask
ing that the board of assessors be furnish
ed with sworn statement relative to the
conduits.
The rigid investigation which is being
made by the board in connection with
the holdings of the various public util-
ity concerns was suggested by Commits
sioner West yesterday. When Mr.. West
learned that the service pipes and meters
belonging to the local gas companies. of
which there are nearly 10000 each, had
escaped taxation, he called for an ex-
PLANTATION from the assessor, and directed
the board Of assessors to investigate all
the property and holdings Of the other
public utility corporations operating in
the District of Columbia.
He stated that 1T might be likely that
similar holdings Of the other corporations
in the District may be escaping just taxa
ton.
To Increase Assessment
The decision Of the board Of assessors
to increase the assessment against the
holdings Of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company came as a surprise to officials
at the District building today. Hereto
fore this railroad has been making state
ments to the board Of assessors every
year as to the mileage of tracks within
the District. The railroad placed the value
Of the double trackage at $4,000 a mile
For two days the assessors have been in
vestigating that item. and today notified
the railroad company that the assessed
value Of the double trackage for the fiscal
year commencing July last will be in
creased to $4,000.
There are six and seven-tenths miles of
the trackage In the District, which will
make an increase in the assessed value of
the tracks Of little more than $4,000 and
an increased revenue to the District of
more than 81 800 year.
The board of assessors states that in
creased assessment will not be applied for
three years back, as in the case of the in
creased assessment against the holdings of
the gas companies, for the reason that the
old tracks on which tax has been paid have
been taken up. The assessors say the val
uations of the main tracks Single
tracks and siding tracks belonging to this
railroad will be correspondngly increased.
Tracks Of Another Road.
Regarding an increase of assessment on
the valuation Of the tracks belonging to the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company the
board of assessors stated today that salts
factory returns are being made by that
company for its new tracks, and there
is no likelihood of an increase.
Regarding the authenticity of the sworn
statements of the public utilities, the board
of assessors of the District ia of the opinion
that they need careful scrutiny.
According to Assessor Griffin, no word has
been received from either the officials of
the Washington Gas Light Company or the
Georgetown Gas Light Company. He said
he Is of the opinion that the companies will
submit to the increased valuation of their
property for the time being. and will
protest later. In the event of the increas-
ed taxation not being paid before next
March the board of assessors will advertise
the properties of the local gas companies
fnr cal