The Tax Fight That Pitted Seattle Against the County

It has been finally decided by the county that the tax levy for 1893 would be made upon the property of the entire county, including the city, as a bridge fund. This would make the tax for that purpose 1 mill, if the plan suggested by Prosecuting Attorney Miller is sustained by the superior court, or by the supreme court of the state. The matter submitted to Mr. Miller was one of the most important issues that has puzzled the county for some time. The road law as altered by the last legislature makes it mandatory upon the county commissioners to levy the tax for the bridge fund upon the whole county, including the city. The county commissioners were very unwilling to do this, deeming it unjust that the city should be made to pay a portion of the tax of which it received the least benefit, and so they postponed extending the rolls until advice from the prosecuting attorney could be secured. The latter also found the question a puzzle, many additions and amendments to the original act having been made, but in the end he decided that the only thing to be done was to follow the letter of the law and allow the supreme court to pass upon the question.