Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1911-02-04
The Actual Valuation Of
Railroads Of State
Taken Up In Fullest Detail by
The State Assessors.
Report Ordered by Legislature OF
i909.-prssented Friday.

Not in wears has q document oil 81
great interest been filed with the Leg
islature as the report presented Friday
morning in both branches by the STATE
assessors taking up in detail the valu
alton of all the railroad property
The matter Of railroad valuation il
other states is taken up for purposes
OF comparison and the methods. de
scribed by which such valuation wa:
secured and some space is devoted e
the valuation of the railroads of thu
United States as made by the de
partment Of conme rec and labor.
But two tables are used in the re,
port and these are not complicated
but of the plainest sort so that ths
information conveyed can be Srasped
almost at q glance. One table gives
the miles and valuation OF steam rail-
roads and the other that of street rail-
roads. The various railroads OF the
state are then taken up in detail. The
report is as follows:
To the President of the Senate and
Speaker of the House:
We respectfully submit the following
RAPPORT in compliance with an order OF
the Legislature dated, March j.. 1879,
lHf cl6tt1 dSStSSoiS b'S lilS u III LStA
to ascertain the actual value Of all the
railroad property in the. State Of
Maine OF all kinds. including fran
chisss. real estate. bonds and stock
and report to the next Legislature for
the purpose of taxation"
We have endeavored to place rea-
sonable construction upon the diree-
TONS contained in this order, and from
the discussion which preceded its
passage in both branches of the Leg
islature, end the fact that the ayoEfed
object OF the order was for the pur-
pose of taxation, We are lead to be-
lieve that the Legislature did not in
tend to instruct the State assessors
to undertake the impossible task q,
ascertaining the actual value OF til.
railroad property, but rather that We
should, in the light OF all the informa-
ton ana facts that We could obtain
rsport what We believed to be just
and reasonable value of the property
of each railroad corporation employed
In the opera ton of its business; sucn
q valuation as is defined by the con-
stitution and laws of the State as the
proper basis Of taxation.
~ bsiaFd6C SOtitntiSahiSaA NC
have considered as Of June 30th. 1910.
and we have in subsequent portions
OF this report. made reference to some
changes which have taken place since
that date.
The taxation of railroad property
upon the basis of valuation is not 4
new method. In some form. although
with varying methods of securing the
valuation, il exists in most of the
states of the Union.
In this State the real estate of rail-
roads comprising approximately ten
per cent. OF the investment has been
uniformly taxed upon the value of the
property. One of the early provisions
Of the tax law of Maine was that:
That taxes en- real estate shall be
assessed in the town where the estate
lies" and the first provision for the
taxation OF railroad property in this
State when the total railroad mileage
was enacted by Chapter l65 of the
Public Laws of lS45,-"That the build
ings of every railroad corporation or
association whether within or without
the located right Of way. and its land
and fixtures outside of its located right
of way, are subject to taxation by the
cities and towns in which the same
Ia situated. as other property is taxed
therein"
This provision has been retained ir
OUR statute ever since and this princi
Pie is observed in the case Of all cor
porations taxed directly by the State
on a basis other than the ad valornn
method, so that their real estate shall
be taxed i'll the municipality where
situated on the same basis as othel
real estate is taxed.
Railroad Valuations in Other States
There is little agreement as TO tn
proper method of ascertainng tn
value Of railroads as n basis of taxa
ton in those State that have ad0pte,
the I'D vaiorem system. In some o
them 1t would be little more than tn
mSrest guesswork. In others the re
suit is apparently reached by com
promise Of the varying views of tn
members Of the assessment board
much the same as jury in damag
cases in order to secure an agreemen
makes a mathematical average of I'll
opinion of each member Of the Jury
IN some of the states. however.
sincere effort has been made to arriv
at the proper valuation by diligent IL
yestigation with the aid of expert a,
sistants.
The State of Michigan in 1900 in dt
termining to change from the gro
earnings to the ad valorem system
taxing its railroads. made the mo
elaborate and perfect attempt on re
ord 20 determine what the physic
property of railroads was worth on Il
basis Of the cost of reproduction lie
the normal depreciation for wear al
Use.
But when. at a great expense. til
very elaborate apprisal was made
was at once apparent that it had b
little practical value for the purpos
Of taxation. Manifcstedly other ia
tors than the cost of reproduction
must be recognized in order to dete
mine the value of the Michigan raj
roads. The State tax commissions
readily observed this and while tht
did not make public the means
which their final conclusions we
reached, the real valuation was dete
mined on quite other grounds tha
that Of the cost of reproductit