City Assessors Under Fire Over Bank Tax Evasion
A legislative loophole, allegedly 'smuggled' into law by bankers, has sparked a battle over local tax revenue in Walla Walla.
Last winter, state bankers secured the passage of a law compelling assessors to accept a bank's statement regarding the market value of its own stock. This provision was allegedly smuggled into a bill ostensibly meant to assess bank stock at full value. While local banks persuaded assessors that this new law applied to this year's assessment, in fact, it did not. The assessment should have been based on values from March 1, at which time the new law had not yet gone into effect. The city council, acting as a board of equalization, compromised at sixty cents on the dollar. With the county facing a lawsuit from the First National Bank over previous tax collections, commissioners are now urged to restore full valuation to shore up the county's dwindling funds.
“It is said that the county will soon have to begin issuing warrants to pay current expenses and it therefore behooves the commissioners to get all the money that is legitimately coming to the county.”
Tax assessment battles between local government and powerful financial interests remain a persistent thread in civic life. Just as this 1903 dispute centered on the 'valuation' of assets to fund municipal services, current debates over property tax caps and business exemptions continue to highlight the tension between public revenue needs and private corporate influence.
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