Railroad Taxes Double Following Statehood
Northern Pacific pays $13,646 in county taxes as the transition from territory to statehood hits corporate balance sheets.
Q. S. Fernald, general tax commissioner of the Northern Pacific, was in the city Monday and paid to treasurer Cary $13,646.30 as taxes on property in this county. The total taxes of the Northern Pacific in the state of Washington, as assessed in the various counties, amount to about $300,000, being about double the amount ever paid by the company before, the increase being mainly due to the change from territorial to state government.
“The increase [is] mainly due to the change from territorial to state government.”
The transition to statehood fundamentally shifted how Washington extracted revenue from the industrial giants that built its infrastructure. Today, these debates over corporate tax proportionality remain a cornerstone of Washington's legislative sessions.
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