Imperial Valley press., 1927-12-28
TRUCK OWNERS OF STATE
FACE SERIOUS SITUATION

Truck haul charges in but few
instances have made allowance foI
the -four per cent gross revenue tax
provided by the 1928 law and
amendments. Now that. the re
straining orders sought bv the
truckmen have been lifted and the
law declared constitutional by the
United States supreme court, truck
owners for hire who failed to build
up reserve for the tax during the
elapsing years face a difficult sit
nation. This is the information con.
tanned in letter from State Con.
troler Ray l.. Riley to Assembly,
man Nj. ID. Witter. of Brawlev.
A week ago. notification to sus.
pend the licenses on all trucks whose
owners had not paid the old tax
was sent by Controller Riley to the
Motor Vehicle department. This
immediately created furore among
the true kmen. aside from those
whose machines are on standard
schedules ard classed as common
carriers, thereby coming under an.
other provision of law.
Witter. on beh.lf of his eonstitu-
en's, sought further information
from the state authorities Riley
declares his opposition to the law
but SAYS he has no alternative bat
to collect the tax.
In many instances truck owners
who have not built up a reserve
will be compelled to sell their
trucks to pay the tax.
Witter cited ease where n
truekman operating on contract,
will be compelled to pay four per
cent gross revenue on five trucks,
while the fruit company for which
he operates, ESCAPES with merely "A
license fee and the usual gasoline
tax
Following is Riley's letter to
Witter:
1.-THE 1923 act and the 1925 act.
having been held up by restraining
orders obtained at the behest of the
trackmen for four years. have now
bncn declared constitutional by the
United States Supreme Court and as
consequence thereof the money is
due and must be paid.
81 am advised bv the Attornev
sieneral that unless we avail our
selves of the machinery passed by
the last legislature for the collection
of this tax that the repeal, without
a saving clause, also enacted by the
same legislature will leave US with
out authority to proceed after jan
tary 1st other than by suit and at
tschment. and in the same instance
tae statute of limitations will run
against portion of the back items
now due.
~ can understand the difficulty
confronting the men who are operat-
ing contract trucks. Having not set
'tp reserve | can also understand
Tie competition of the privately
owned truck. Furthermore. | can
not understand the position of the
truck owners who secured referen-
dunn of the Wagy Bill which inten-
sifies the competition by making
anc class of truck owners pay a sub
s1antial tax for the next ten months
while the others escape entirely.
''You may say to the truck
haulers if they are operating
purely as contract haulers and
not holding themselves out as
common carriers, that they will
operate for the next ten months
succeeding January 1st without
paying any tax whatsoever.
Opposed Legislation
''The discussion before the COM
mittee when the Wagv Bill was up
vas not that the state had made no
serious move to collect the tax be-
cause of a difficult situation but
that the nature of the tax was such
that it would not possibly operate
successfully because of the charac-
ter of those affected, many Of them
being transient and changing their
location from place to place during
the year.
II have constantly opposed this
type of legislation for four years