The Settlement of the Bank Tax War
After months of legal gridlock in federal court, Walla Walla's prominent banks capitulate and pay thousands in delinquent taxes to the county.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
By paying into the county treasury over $8,000, the First National and Baker-Boyer National banks of this city have practically put an end to the litigation now pending in the United States circuit court between the banks and Walla Walla county over the taxes on the stock of the banks. Saturday afternoon, the First National bank paid to Treasurer Hawley the sum of $4,660.20 in full for the assessment of 1902 on shares of stock of that institution. Today, the Baker-Boyer National bank paid $3,455.36 in tax and $275.82 in interest and penalty. When the county board of equalization met in August 1902, the banks, through their attorneys, Sharpstein & Sharpstein, appeared before the board and asked that the assessment on the bank stock be reduced, for the reason that they deemed the figures returned by the county assessor excessive. The board refused the request, and the banks allowed the tax to become delinquent, later taking the case to the United States court. This payment settles the litigation, and the cases will likely be dismissed.
“The banks allowed the tax to become delinquent.”
Tax disputes between corporations and local government remain a staple of municipal friction. While these banks settled their debt, the struggle to ensure private institutions pay their share of public services remains a perennial debate in Walla Walla's civic life.
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