Southwest Washington labor press. [volume] (Hoquiam, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1924-10-31
CONFISCATIONO OF POWER
PLANTS NOT POSSIBLE


Supreme Court Judges and that is
apparently what they are bent upon
doing. The various Citizens Com
mittees" are merely straw men.
The state is being flooded with
propaganda holding up the menace
of a Seattle or Tacoma invasion of
other cities and the condemnation of
private plants in those cities.
The city of Seattle has, under ex-
listing law, authority to condemn the
private plant of that city, but has not
even thought Of doing so, preferring
to construct and operate their own
plant in direct competition, rather
than to condemn the plant and create
a monopoly. With consumers of that
private company almost equalling, in
volume, the consumption of the city
plant, all that city would need to do
would be to take over the private
utility in its own city and provide
market for its power.
Before any city could condemn any
private plant, in any other city, I'M
der the Constitution of this State,
it is necessary to show that public
interest requires such condemnation,
which could never be shown over the
protest of such city.
Such condemnation action would
have to be brought in the county
where the plant is located and sub
mitted to a jury of that county, which
would be an unthinkable proceeding
in hostile community.
Furthermore such city would have
the preference right of condemnation
over any outside city and could ac-
quire such plant by purchase before
such plant could be acquired by Sc
attic or Tacoma. The home city
would still have a right to either con-
struct its own plant or grant a new
franchise to a private company. So
that these safeguards absolutely
prevent the remote possibility of any
such attempt ever being made, be-
cause it could only result in ulti-
mate defeat.
The purpose of this section of the
power bill was to enable cities to
get together and take over a system
rather than an isolated plant. The
whole purpose of the power bill is
to enable cities to ultimately own
their own distribution systems and
make available the great resourcer
of power supply at cost for consum.
ers.
The state law providing for regula-
ton of private utility corporations
contains a specific provision that the
valuation for rate making purposes
made by the department, shall be con-
elusive evidence of such valuation in
any hearing or proceeding except in
hearing or inquiry for the purpose
of assessing taxes. The result is a
discrepancy between valuations for
rate making purposes and valuations
or taxation purposes that are abso-
utely shocking. The record in 1921
! bowed one steamboat outfit that had
a rate base of almost 100000, and
paid tax so small as to be approx
mately a SO mill levy on a valuation
of 100000.
The private power companies of
this state claim in their literature to
have $3O0,0O0,000 of actual property
devoted to and used and useful in
public service. The record at Olym-
pia indicates that they paid to the
state and it's political subdivisions
tax last year of 1861, 568.90. The
average tax levy in the state of
Washington is II mills, according to
hose fighting the so-called 4O-mill
bill. Assuming this to be true, the
total tax paid by the private power
companies on their generating and
distribution systems would amount to
70-mill levy against a total as
sessed value of $9,45O,000. For the
purpose Of this argument( let us as
sumo that the private power compan-
les actually have $500, 100000 of val
ne. You can be sure that if they
have, they have that value established
flor rate making purposes, and are
taxing the public on it in the form of
rates. The law, regardless of its
wording, and because OF the way It
is enforced, allows the companies to
walk out from under their taxes in
exactly the manner have indicated.
The total amount of tax paid by
all of the private power companies
ofthe entire state only amount to ten
cents on every $40 of taxes paid. In
other words, if under public owner
ship, all the light and power COM
panies were condemned and removed
entirely from the tax rolls, it would
only add ten cents to the average tar
payment of ten dollars or twenty
cents to every twenty dollars now
piad. But public competition could
not run the private plants out fol
years to come. All the cities ask i:
the free right of competition with
the high priced electricity now being
sold to the consumers who are paying
all the taxes of the private companies