Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1920-03-11
ALDERMEN ACCEPT
RAILROADS. OFFER
Matter of Taxes for Years 1911
to 1919 Adjusted, Central
Vermont to Pay $9,O2S and
Rutland $3,703, Pending Suits
to Be Withdrawn

Tho board Of aldermen Monday evening
ut a special meeting voted to accept
che offer Of the Central Vermont ana
Rutland railroads in settlement of oack
taxes for the years 1911 to 1919. In
elusive. h Central Vermont offered
10 pay on CT before April ! the sum oil
Ss,0es. ane :be Rutland railroad Will
rey Sa.7Oa and withd.a" suits for che
taxes paid In .wo ysl-S under protest.
The claims OF the city in the central
Vermont cage amounted 60 about S2E,-
CSC end In :ne Rutland caso s5.96s.
The coiloction CT these taxes has
b.va hanging fire since 1871 and II
carried i..o court would mean almost
endless litigation as numerous ques-
sioue arise over disputed ownership OF
property. tho question as to what the
railroads should pay taxes on and what
not, and many other complicated ques-
lions.
W. y. MoFvotere appeared for the
Central Vermont. Ho sal that the
proporty on which the a Champlain
YAdh. club was situated was assessed
At $4,000 when tho railroad received &
dolia- q. year for It's rental. In his opin-
Ton IL was not taxable but was held
for railroad purposes and when prop
prty was held In this manner it was
VI '"O k1t
municipal taxes. Another piece of prop
prty was the land on which the ware
house Of the J. o. Middlebrook com
pany was located. This the railroad
was willing should be taxed n would
nay the full amount. Then thore was a
large amount of property which the
J. r. Booth Lumber company claimed
as it's property. The railroad also claims
it and is charging the Booths rental
although it is receiving none. 1t was
willing to compromise on the taxes in
this respect and would pay on an as
sessment of sac, 900 instead of $4,000,
as charged. Other pieces of property
were where Athletic park was once,
land along the right of way east of
the tunnel, west of North avenue and
land used by the Crane and the She
pard & Morse companies. 1t was plain
that If the matter was taken into
court, the question of ownership would
come up along with other matters of
long dispute, such as who owns the
terminus of Main street. etc.
The amount of revenue derived from
property was shown to be ridiculously
small in numerous cases. and this tended
to show that the railroad used the prop
erty to help run the railroad and not as
an investment. A recent decision was
quoted, which was made in montpelier,
when the railroad was not obliged to pay
taxes on property which was used as an
aid to handling the railroad traffic by
getting concerns to locate in accessible
places on the railroad tracks.
!, The Rutland railroad did not ask much
Of a reduction. There it had mainly to
do with bringing down the assessment on
land which the Robinson-Edwards COM
pany had relinquished and which was
now bringing no revenue. but was used
solely for railroad purposes. Unless the
resolutions, which were drawn by City
Attorney Hopkins and presented by
Aldermen Hanbridge and Patrick. are
vetoed by Mayor Jackson the money will
be paid the city on or before April l, If
desired, when the city will give the roads
a complete discharge. The same questions
will come up again in two years when the
quadrennial appraisal Is made again and
will be threshed out by the board at that
time. Assessors Beaupre and Nye were
on hand last evening to give information
regarding different pieces of property.
Another matter which came up before
the board was the application for an in
crease in the salary of the policewoman.
IT was voted to increase her pay $500 per
year. making it s25 per week. The vote
was unanimous.