The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1917-01-04

state, under the authority of No. 242
acts of 1915, will be submitted to you
Il for your action. As this work will sup
ersede the public statutes and the session
laws of q public character enacted since
1906, it should receive early and careful
consideration by the appropriate com
mittee, and by the legislature itself
The permanent edition, to be published
! after the adjournment of the present SEES
sion, will also include all the legislation
of public nature which you may enact /;
and special care should be taken that the
public acts of this session are framed
with reference to the proposed revision,
so as to be in harmony with ii.
Taxation of Hydro Electric Properties.
"a situation confronts us at the pres
ent time, which should receive the atten-
ton of your body. During the last few
years we have witnessed the develop
ment of several of our waterpowers by
foreign and other corporations. These
corporations have spent immense amounts
of money in the development of these
water rights, and as result the state
will be immensely benefited, ii proper
policy of control and taxation is adopted
''In the future there is bound to be
more development along these lines, and
it seems to me that the time has arrived
when the state should adopt definite
policy of taxation of these hydro electric
plants and other waterpower develop
ments There are two reasons why this
should be done; First, fairness to the
state; second, fairness to the corpora
tions who are making these investments.
"The state is obliged from time to
time to levy direct taxes upon the va
rious municipalities for the support OF
schools. upkeep of highways, and the
general expenses of administration. Tn
der the present system of taxation, these
properties are subject to as many varied
appraisals as there are towns and mu-
nicipal subdivisions in which these prop
critics are located. The respective boards
of listers exercise their best judgment in
arriving at valuations OF these proper
ties; but, without much expert knowl-
edge as to their real values, there is
bound to be divergence of opinion, with
the result that all state taxes assessed
are not uniformly collected
''Then, too, the corporations find them |
selves subject to the multifarious meth /
DDS of varying assessments, and the
OF being obliged to pay their !,
taxes to several different municipalities !
at as many different dates.
''In my judgment, the state, through |
It's method of collecting the tax due from
telephone companies and other |
public service corporations, has solved |
the problem OF the taxation of these
hydro- electric plants, and other water
power developments. These properties
should be assessed and taxed in practi
ally the same manner as railroads, tele-
phone companies, and other public sery
ce corporate property is now assessed
md taxed The state, through its ma
,hinery already developed, can readily
lrrive at a uniform valuation of these
properties The result win be that the I,
corporation will have received fair treat
nent, and the state will have received
he benefit of the tax to which it is en-
titled.
ut may be urged that few towns
will lose the benefit of the tax which
hey are now receiving, that it must not
" forgotten that the collection of tax
IN the part of the state from these prop I
rites will serve to lessen by so much the j
AK to be collected from the towns for I
he various purposes for which the state