The Taxman Cometh: A Battle Over Corporate Accountability
An attorney challenges Bellingham newspaper editors to account for the lopsided taxation of railroads versus local farmers.
So far the supporters of the administration have fallen badly in their attempt to disprove Mr. Black's revelations. In a letter to the Herald, Alfred L. Black stated: 'I cited the B. B. B. C. as an example and gave the figures of the aggregate tax on their real estate used for railroad purposes. The tax records for 1905, page 145, show 23 miles of main track valued at $5,280 per mile, while 26 miles of main track were valued at only $3,520 per mile. The records for 1907 show 28 miles of main track valued at $1,752 per mile, and 21 miles of main track valued at $2,112 per mile. You admit my figures were correct. The fact is I stated at Everson that the ranch property in that locality and in fact all over the county had been largely increased in valuation, more than doubled in several instances. I then stated that no such increase in value appeared on the real estate values of the railroads. You owe me an apology as open as your accusation. Will you be a man, fight fair, or?'
“The fact is I stated at Everson that the ranch property in that locality and in fact all over the county had been largely increased and in several instances had been more than doubled.”
Alfred L. Black’s 1908 critique of how rail companies were assessed compared to residents mirrors ongoing modern debates in Washington regarding corporate tax exemptions and the burden placed on homeowners. The tension between local boosters and regional newspapers over 'cheap advertising' versus facts remains a perennial feature of civic life.
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