The Daily Alaska empire., 1949-02-15
HEAVY TAXES ARE0pp05ED
 BY B0ATkEN
Claim Proposed Rate on Boats Twenty Times that
 Levied in Wash. State
By BOB DeARMOND

Three Alaska boat owners, two of them fishermen, appealed to the Senate Committee of the Whole yesterday afternoon for a reason able rate of taxation on boats, but they appeared to have made little progress.
 The only other witnesses to ap- rear yesterday were Kenneth Ka- dow, Coordinator for the Interior Department in Alaska, and George Sundborg, consultant for the Alaska Development Board. Both assured the senators that the proposed 10 mill tax is very low rate of property taxation and that the tax is not likely to keep out new in- dustries.
 With Senator Howard Lyng of Nome in the chair, the Committee of the Whole hearing opened at l D. m. There was an initial furry
 when Senator Victor c. Rivers questioned the Chairman as to who ,, was going to be allowed to testify before the committee.
 "The law prohibits paid lobbyists appearing before us unless they are registered" Senator Rivers stat ed.
 Senator Lyng settled that matter by ruling that anyone who wished to could appear before the Commit tee of the Whole, whether regis tered or not.
 Boat Costs High V. F. Red" Williams, Juneau fisherman and barber, was the first to appear before the committee. The tax rate on boats, he felt, should be lower than on other types of property because of high insur- alice rates for boats The best rate foi a new boat operating on inside waters. is or 81z per cent, Will jams said, and compared the $3e premium on a $10,0O0 residence with the $500 premium on a boat of
 the same value.
 The proposed 10-mill rate in AL aska will be 20 times the tax rate on boats in Washington State, Will jams asserted. He said that he does not advocate an exemption for boats, but feels that the tax rate should be the same as in Wash ington in order to keep the boats here.
 Tax On Paying Ability In reply to statement by Sena- tor E. B. Collins that miners also
 have high expenses and a question as to whether they should be ex-
 empted also, Williams replied that each industry should be taxed ac-
 ccrding to it's condition and ability to pay.
 Senator Gunnard Eng ebre l.
 pointed out that property with high insurance rates usually have high depreciation rates to help offset the cost. He felt that compar- ison between boats and business property. so far as insurance rates go, would show less of a spread than that cited by Williams.
 Many people don't realize how
 much taxes boat pays" said Lee
 Ellis, Wrangell guide and charter
 boat operator who followed Will jams on the stand.
 Ellis said that he paid about $500 in Federal and Territorial gasoline
 taxes last year and that his boat
 is not exempt from the Federal tax
 as fishing vessels are. Nothing To General Fund Senators Barr and Rivers pointed
 out that the Federal tax does not aid the Territory and that motor fuels tax revenues go into a spec ial fund.
 You realize, do you not, that the Territory provides 75 per cent oi the funds to support the Wrangell school and that, except for a $ school tax. you are not contributing any of it." Senator Rivers said.
 Senator John Butrovich picked up the theme there. You aren't -----------