The Two-Faced Octopus
The Everett Trades Council calls out the public utility company for providing wildly different property valuations for taxes versus customer rate-setting.
We do not care at this time to devote much space to the public hearing on light and water rates held last week, but one phase of it strikes us with considerable force: the rapid change of views held by the Stone-Webster octopus on valuation. Just before election, we were solemnly assured by the company that the water system was worth a million dollars. During the hearing last week, the company's expert placed the valuation at approximately a million and a quarter dollars. But there was another valuation placed on the company's holdings not so long ago. The state tax commission set the equalized valuation of the Everett Railway, Light and Power company property for taxation purposes at $890,443.00. Now do you see the grim humor of the situation? The figure set by the tax commission called for a donation FROM the company's strong box. The figure set by the company's expert called for a donation TO the company's strong box. It makes a difference whether the company is paying its taxes or selling its property.
“It makes a difference whether the company is paying its taxes or selling its property or its service.”
The 'Stone & Webster octopus' was the target of early 20th-century progressives for its control over transit and power. The classic corporate strategy of 'tax-assessed value' vs 'rate-base value' remains a foundational issue in modern public utility debates.
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