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56 stories matching deduct
- The Case of the County's Vanishing Funds
A local editor questions why county attorneys are pocketing tax collections while leaving the county treasury empty-handed.
- The Boss’s Math Lesson
A worker asks for a raise and receives a bizarre, exhaustive breakdown explaining why he supposedly never works a full day.
- The Income Tax Comes to Seattle: Men of Means Ordered to Report
Deputy Collector S. P. Gleason is preparing to summon about 100 Seattle-area individuals and corporations for sworn income returns under the new federal tax.
- Japanese Laborers Defy Armed Extortion at Ashford
Contracted workers at the Tacoma Eastern rail site force a confrontation over predatory wage deductions and fees.
- The Right to Offset Benefits in Land Seizures
A landmark Washington Supreme Court decision settles a heated dispute over whether the city can lower compensation for seized land by claiming the public improvement adds value to the owner's remaining property.
- Seattle’s Half-Million-Dollar Canal Fund Ran Short—and the Committee Wanted Locals to Finish It
Boosters behind the Seattle and Lake Washington Waterway had raised nearly $500,000 in citizens’ subscriptions. With outside money slow to arrive, the committee urged Seattleites to double their pledges and close the tide-flat canal fund by Saturday.
- One Lawsuit Over Jackson Street Stops Every Big Street Project in Washington
The state supreme court voids the 1893 eminent domain law, and Seattle's half-million-dollar regrade — along with the ambitious improvements of every city over 1,500 people — is suddenly unfundable.
- Washington Asked Congress for $34,500 to Finish Carving Up the Colville Reservation
An 1894 dispatch from the capital details the surveying and allotment machinery behind opening the northern Colville Reservation to settlement — right down to the promise that the cost would be repaid 'from the proceeds of the lands when sold.'
- The Taxpayers' League vs. The Railroads: A Battle for Fair Valuation in Columbia County
In May 1903, local citizens and tax experts challenged the massive capitalization of the Oregon Railway Navigation Company, arguing that its true value warranted a higher tax assessment to fund public services.
- The Price of Education in Early Seattle
A concerned citizen calls out the School Board for slashing teacher wages to settle district debts, highlighting a lopsided austerity that spared no professional pocketbook.
- The Shingle Trust: Northwest Millmen Build a Blacklist for Eastern Buyers
Twenty-three firms controlling nine-tenths of the Pacific Northwest's shingle output meet in Seattle to form an association, blacklist short-paying Eastern dealers and face down the railroads.
- The Price of Incompetence in Chehalis County
The local press takes the county commissioners to task for allegedly mismanaging public funds and obscuring delinquent tax revenue.
- A Seattle Utopia Sold in One-Cent Shares
A society of unemployed men pools its wages and plots a Bellamy-style commonwealth of railroads, coal mines and common tables — starting from $5 of capital and 500 one-cent shares.
- The Rifle War: Knights of Labor vs. Mine Owners in Newcastle
A bitter feud between rival labor unions in King County erupts into armed conflict, with rifles smuggled from Seattle to support striking miners.
- The $3 Million Strike: How the Great Northern Railway Bet on Breaking Workers
In the winter of 1893, the railroad’s board calculated that paying workers less was cheaper than losing millions to a strike. They were right—and Seattle paid the price.
- The Brutal Reality of the Cigar Factory
The Cigar Makers' Union uncovers the exploitation of children and girl laborers working grueling hours in Seattle.
- Exploiting Labor at Grays Harbor
A scathing report reveals how labor contractors are cheating workers with predatory 'discounts,' abysmal living conditions, and wage theft on harbor improvement projects.
- Tacoma's Two-Million-Dollar Question: Buy the Water Works, or Fix the Sewers?
On the eve of a bond vote, Tacoma's taxpayers are told they can have the private water and electric plant and new sewers too. The arithmetic says otherwise: after the purchase, $3,707 is left for sewers.
- The Board of Health Weighed Closing Every School in Seattle
Scarlet fever was moving through the city's classrooms in May 1895, and the men who ran public health argued over whether to send thousands of children home for six weeks — and whether parents could be trusted to report the sickness at all.
- The Price of a Life: Labor Fights Back Against Dangerous Legislation
Organized labor in Everett rallies against a proposed senate bill that would cap death and injury payouts for workers at $5,000.
- The Contract Proof of a Hidden Strike
A labor newspaper exposes the desperate tactics used by the Sumner Iron Works to recruit strikebreakers through shady employment contracts.
- The Powder Barrel Scandal: Seattle’s City Council vs. The Police Chief
A fiery public dispute over missing dynamite and unauthorized absences exposes deep friction in the Seattle city government of 1885.
- Hardship and Deception at the Cascade Tunnel
Laborers arriving at the Northern Pacific site find empty promises, cold conditions, and a 'regular gouging' by company management.
- A Packed Council Chamber, a Railroad Franchise, and a Fight Over Public Streets
Newport's city council meeting drew a standing-room crowd as aldermen tangled over an Idaho Washington Northern street-vacation request, a conflict-of-interest accusation, saloon licenses, and an electric-light contract.
- Sheriff Blocks 28 Miners From Landing — a Newspaper Calls Out the 'Chronic Pauper Hunter'
In 1877, a steamboat captain brought 28 out-of-work miners from Victoria to Port Townsend. The sheriff said they were paupers and refused to let them off the boat. This Seattle editor wasn't having it.
Also about this, in other words
- The State Tries to Soften the Panic for Delinquent Taxpayers
The Senate passes a bill remitting penalties and interest on delinquent 1893–94 taxes, citing “great financial stringency” and declaring an emergency.
- The Heated Debate Over 'Shaving' Greenbacks
Washington Territorial legislators clashed over a bill aimed at criminalizing the devaluation of federal currency, pitting economic protectionism against constitutional theory.
- The Struggle for Tax Equity in 1876
A Seattle editorial argues that delinquent property taxes and legal loopholes are placing an unfair burden on the public, demanding legislative reform for the growing territory.
- State Eases Burden on Delinquent Taxpayers
New legislation reduces interest penalties and provides more breathing room before property can be sold for unpaid taxes.
- Legislature Offers Tax Relief to Struggling Property Owners
A new bill aims to waive penalties and interest for delinquent taxpayers, while proposing a shift to semi-annual payments to ease the burden on residents.
- The City Collector’s Year-End Deadline
With the dawn of 1877 approaching, Seattle’s City Collector issues a final warning for delinquent taxpayers: pay up or lose your property.
- The Great Delinquent Tax Sale of 1888
A sweeping list of hundreds of 'Unknown Owners' and Seattle residents facing the auction block, revealing the precarious nature of early land speculation in the city.
- Seattle’s 1878 Auction of Delinquent Tax Properties
When the city's growth outpaced its residents' pockets, dozens of Seattle properties were put on the auction block to cover delinquent taxes.