South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1917-06-04
WIDE VARIANCE IN
RAILWAY TAXATION
Public Service Commissions
Report Shows Percentages
From POI to 25.3.


INDIANAPOLIS. Ind. June a.
An examination OF the gross revenue
and taxes paid by the various rail-
roads operating in Indiana. which
has been paid by Carl II. Mote, sec
rotary Of the public service commits
sion. discloses that for the fiscal year
ending June 30, 1915. the percent
ages OF taxes 10 gross revenue varied
all the way from 2.07 per cent in the
case Of the Chesapeake a. Ohio Rail-
way Co. OF Indiana, 10 25.5 per cent
in the case of the Chicago e. Wabash
Valley Railway Co. These glazing
inequalities in the taxation Of rail-
roads in this state go 10 prove that
Gov. Goodrich was entirely correct
in his statement made on various
occasions during the last meeting Of
the general assembly when he said
that the burdens of taxation, espe-
cially among public service corpora
tions. are unevenly distributed.
II is generally recognized that.
under normal conditions. according
70 Mr. Mote. there is "A rather fixed
ratio between the physical value OF a
railroad and the gross revenue
which it will produce i'm a given pc
Rod For this reason. gross revenue,
in the absence Of any better stand
ard. is taken to indicate a rather
accurate indication of value. So
little progress has reen made in the
valuation of railroads that this ratio
sTrT s.Trr In# Cd
but IL nevertheless is admitted that
the gross revenue is a fairly con-
elusive evidence Of the value Of the
property and. therefore. under the
Indiana tax system, the value for
purposes Of taxation.
Wide Difference Shown.
The report of the Chesapeake x
Ohio Railway CO. Of Indiana TO the
public service commission for the
fiscal year ending June 80. 1916. Mr..
Mote points out shows that this COM
pany collected as gross revenue the
sum Of S3.4s2,941.39 on its Indiana
business and that during the same
year IL paid in taxes the sum of ST.
1872. or 2.07 per cent of it's gross
revenue. At the same time the
Chicago q Wabash Valley Railway
CO. collected S12.927.27 gross rev
snue and paid S3.271.S9 in taxes, or
25.3 per cent. To use a less striking
but perhaps fairer example. the
Chicago & Eastern Railway Co. col
lected S4.26O.O9S.O5 in gross revenue
on its Indiana business and paid out
in taxes S261,225.S4. or els per
cent Of its gross revenue.
II is clearly apparent from this
contrast. according to Mr.. Mote.
either that the Chesapeake & Ohio
Railway Co. is assessed too low. or
The Chicago x Eastern Illinois Rail-
way co. is assessed too high. They
are not assessed on anything approx
mating a basis OF equality
The two largest railway systems
in Indiana are the Cleveland. Gin
cinnau. Chicago and st. Louis Rail-
way CO. and the Pittsburgh Cincin-
natl. Chicago and st. Louis Railway
Co. the first of which pays 81 per
cent Of its gross revenue in taxes,
and the latter 3.4S per rent. At the
same time the Monon Railway CO.
paid AIS per cent of its gross rev
Western Railway Co. 5,17 per cent,
the ILLINOIS Central So per cent,
and the Vandalia Railroad Co. 4.64
per cent.
Total Percentages.
The total amount Of taxes paid by
Indiana railroads i'm this state
amounts to SIS per cent of their
total gross revenue on Indiana busi-
ness.
The state of California assesses
railroads 5.25 per cent of their gross
revenue and the money collected
fror, this tax is paid into the state
treasury for the support of state
government. The railroads of Cali
fornia are wholly exempt from other
taxes.
The state OF Connecticut collects
three and one-half per cent of the