The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1922-03-30
FE SENDS
$4,000 CHECK
TO CURRY COUNTY
Railroads Attorney
Says Assessme n
Complained of Will
Be Adjusted


The santa Re Railway company
has e. mi It's voucher to the Treas
urcr Of Curry county for SEQ
ta3.iN and thus viii pay an of the
first half Of les taxes In that
~. except a small amount which II
claims Co be based upon Illegal
local leyics
About January l.. when taxes
were due In Curry county. the rail
way company refused To pay so per
cent Of the taxes assessed against
IL. claiming that local property was
assessed AT not more than onc-half
OF It's actual value, while that OF
the Railway company was on tho
roll at fun value. Following this,
4 mass meeting OF nearly i.OUo Az
payers was held at Clovis. at which
resolutions were passed calling up
on the district attorney ana attor-
ncy general TO bring suit against
tho railway company and direct
Ing the assessor 10 assess property
FOR the year 1899 AT the same val
ues a. In 1921. A few weeks ago,
tho state Tax commission held
hearings for two days 1T Clovis re-
gnrding the assessment Of local
property and. although no definite
action was taken by the commits
sion. II was stated that the results
Of this investigation tended strong
~ to verify the contentious OF the
railway company
owing to the general shortage In
school funds, due partly 10 the rail-
way company refusal. II was Ca
pcctcd u would De necessary 10
close the Curry county schools On
April J.. The action ef the railway
company will enable the county nu-
thoritics ia Keep the school open
for the full term.
George $ Downer Of Albuquer-
Cue. taN attorney for the santa ne,
asked today az 10 the reason for
the payment Of the balance OF the
taxes stated
tudc
"A press report from Clovis dat
ed Mach "a stated. In effect. that
the Santa Fe's refusal to pay It's
taxes In Curry county was based
on the belief that school costs were
excessive and that school authorl-
ties in that county we're wastofnl
aud eNtrnvaEant. but that the vom-
HhfN HNu hf'H NNlANAlAfA AAAhN "AhAA
was not the case and had, ncace,
decided to pay itH taxes. This state
ment had no foundation 90 fact.
and was entirely erroneous The
company refused to pay ne-half
OF its taxes upon the sole ground
that local property was systcmat-
icaily and purposely assessed ai not
more than one-half value. while
sawNNE..A H.EaanUTFH UgMa An al IuNl
value. The under assessment of
locally asscssed property is not en-
tirely peculiar to Curry county
many other counties being In the
same condition In the same. OF TO
a reate degree. tho railway
company would have perhaps
hocn Justified in taking similar
action In many other counties, hut
refused to pay In only Curry and
Torrance counties under the he
lief that those counties were per-
haps the worst offenders, A care
fol and thorough investigation
which has been since Inado ~
Curry county shows that local
property IL assessed az about 80
per cent Of IL actual value, The
company's decision % now pay
its taxes II based solely upon de-
finite assurances Of responsible
citizens OF curry county that the
discrimination against the iail-
way company will be eliminated
either entirely or to a large de-
gree. by a raise and adjustment
OF the values OF localiy-asrchAed
property this year.
'The railway company n no
desire 20 hamper any community
or 10 avoid paying It's proper SHARE
OF taxes. and although. technically,
In the position 20 perhaps defeat
the collection Of ono-half OF thF
1921 taxes In Curry county. n u
willing TO forcgo that riEht u the
iniusticcs and discrimination VIII
be eliminated for the future. II q
my belief that other counties WI
also properly assess their Local
property this year, having been
| furnished with adequate money
| and facilities Tor that purpose uh'
| der the new tax law.
'sThe only connection between
the decision OF the railway com
| many 20 now pay the taxes form
| erly refused and the school situa'
| ton Is that payment II being made
at this time In order TO supply the
| necessary cash to enable ths
schools to run the fun term The
| problem OF school costs IL not ons
/ ~neruliar "a Curry eouptN. hut a