USA > California > Placer County > History of Placer county, California > Part 38
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· SOURCES OF REVENUE.
One of the great sources of revenue to the State,
and particularly to the mining counties-the foreign miners' tax, or license-was cut off by an Act of Con- gress known as the "Civil Rights Bill," passed in May. 1870, which provided that " all persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall have the same right in every State and Territory in the United States to make and enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, give evidence, and to the full and equal benefits of all layvs and proceedings for the security of personal property as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be subject to like punishments, pains, pen- alties, taxes, licenses and executions of every kind, and none other, every law, statute, ordinance, regu- lation or custom to the contrary notwithstanding."
The assessed valuation of property in 1870 was :-
TAXES THEREON.
District No. 1.
$1.545,341 83 $ 40,178 88 2,066.291 34 53,723 57
2 3
625,999 00
16,275 97
Total. $4,237,632 17 $110,178 42
The Central Pacific Railroad was assessed at 86,000 per mile, and the assessment was raised by the Board of Equalization in August to $10,000 per mile, but at a re-hearing of the case in November, the order was rescinded and the assessment fixed as before on ninety-two and a quarter miles of road and telegraph.
The report is extant of poll tax collections in Dis- trict No. 1 for the year ending March 1, 1871. Of State poll taxes, 1,004 of $2.00 each were collected. of school and hospital, 1,013, and of road, 1,099; making a total of 3,116. The vote at the recent election in the District had numbered 741, proving that poll taxes were quite thoroughly collected.
TAXES IN 1871.
The tax levy made in March, 1871, was as follows: State poll tax of $2.00, school and hospital poll tax of $2.00, and road poll tax of $2.00, levied on all able-bodied men between the ages of 21 and 50 years of age; State tax of 863 cents; County General Fund, 60 cents; Redemption Fund, 3 cents; County School Fund, 28 cents; Railroad Interest Fund, 2 cents; Railroad Fund, & cent; and Hospital Fund, 5 cents; total, 81.85 on each $100. A tax of 10 cents on each $100 was levied in Township No. 7 for a Bridge Fund, a tax of 15 cents on each $100 was levied in Township No. 5 for a Bridge Fund, and a tax of 20 cents on each $100 was levied in Township No. 10 for a Bridge Fund in that township.
A great controversy existed regarding the divi- dends supposed due the county from the Central Pacific Railroad Company, and in consequence the Supervisors, at their meeting on the 13th of February, 1871, passed the following resolution :-
Resolved, That C. A. Tuttle be and he is hereby authorized and empowered by the County of Placer to commence suit against the Central Pacific Railroad Company of Califorma, to recover from said Company all dividends or other moneys due to
POST OFFICE
WELLS FARGO & C
BUSINESS OFFICE & RESIDENCE OF J. W. CHINN. IOWA HILL. - PLACER ·CU. CAL.
RESIDENCE OF T N. HOSMER, BATH, PLACER CO. CAL.
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FINANCIAL HISTORY
the county by reason of the 2,500 shares of the eap- ital stock of said company owned by said county, and which were sold to D. O. Mills & Co., on the 13th day of April, 1870.
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The further proceedings in this connection were taken on the 12th of June, when a resolution was passed appointing William Van Vactor and W. II. Kinder a committee to wait upon C. A. Tuttle, the attorney appointed by the Board in the above resolu- tion, and with him to proceed, and "empowered to do any and every act they may deem proper on the part of the county in the furtherance of the collec- tion of said money claimed to be due said county from said railroad company, to the end that a speedy settlement of the matter may be brought about."
The assessed valuation of property in 1871 was $4,149,185, and the tax levy 86} for State, and 98} cents for county purposes. The tax collected on property, real and personal, was 871,723.31, and $3,125.30 of the delinquent tax of 1870, leaving $6,403.55 delinquent. From poll taxes of the three several classes there was collected $17,535, from licenses, 87,367, and received in the Treasury from other sources, $19,448.32. Deducting commissions to collectors of poll taxes amounting to 82,428.45, the total receipts of the Treasury were $113,665.18. The County School Fund received from all sources $19,290; Distriet School Fund, $5,196.36. The war- rants redeemed by the School Fund during the year amounted to 822,149.59, with a balance in the fund of 88,169.51.
The county indebtedness was represented by $4,641.50 of outstanding warrants on the County General Fund, and 816,000 of outstanding railroad bonds-a total indebtedness of 820,641.50. In the Treasury at the close of the year was $31,648.33 belonging to the State, $12,004 in the General Fund, and an aggregate of $57,571.22.
WILLIAM VAN VACTOR
Is a native of Ohio, born in Butler County, August 26, 1828. When he was five years of age he removed with his parents to Shelby County in the same State. Up to his twenty-sixth year he was a resident of that county, engaged in teaching and agricultural pursuits. In 1854 he eame to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama. He was a passenger on the ill-fated steamer Georgia, at the time she was wrecked off Cape Hatteras, and landed at Norfolk, Virginia. From this port the passengers were taken to Aspinwall on the steamer Empire City. finally reached San Francisco in the month of March. After a few days in that city he proeceded to Grass Valley, Nevada County, and thence to Iowa Ilill, Placer County, reaching the latter place in the same month of his arrival in California. He has made this his home sinee that time. He has always been largely interested in mines, which is the case at the present time. Mr. Van Vactor was one of the projectors of the Iowa Hill Canal, of which he has heen the superintendent sinee 1873. He was also a
Supervisor from his District in 1869 and '70, and from 1860 until 1864, held the office of Justice of the Peace. In 1864 he was elected Assessor of his District, a position he creditably filled until 1869. He has spent two winters in southern California. having some valuable interests at Santa Barbara. He was married to Mrs. Elizabeth M. Blackburn, a native of Ohio, January 6, 1860. Their family consists of three children, two boys and one girl, aged respectively sixteen, twelve and six years.
A view of his Iowa Hill residence will be found in this volume.
CHAPTER XXVI. FINANCIAL HISTORY. (CONTINUED. )
Taxation in 1872-Supreme Court Decision-Large Assessment -Railroad Assessment Contested-Property in 1873-Joseph P. Hoge Engaged-The Financial Problem in 1874-Railroad Troubles Continue-Valuations and Taxation-Financial Con- dition in 1875-J. T. Ashley-The Financial Condition in 1876 -Compromise with Railroad Company-Sheriff ex officio Collector-Willard Loring Munson- Assessment and Taxation -Taxation in 1877-Financial Condition in 1878-Property in 1870-Financial Report in 1879-A. J. Soule-Financial Condition in ISSO-State Board of Equalization-Finances in 1881-Railroad Litigation-Receipts and Disbursements- Causes of Financial Embarrassment-Conclusion. Joseph Walkup.
THE system of levying taxes was changed by the Legislature in 1872. By the new law, taxes were levied after the assessment was completed and adjusted by the Board of Equalization. The Legis- lature fixed the sum to be raised. Stamps were abolished after 1872; poll taxes went to the counties and to the School Fund. All licenses also went to the county, and all property was required to be assessed at its full cash value.
SUPREME COURT DECISION.
By a decision of the Supreme Court, rendered in the Tax Suit against the Central Pacific Railroad Company instituted in 1868, the county and State recovered the tax as levied and assessed by the Assessor of that year, amounting to $28,070.75. This decision maintained the constitutionality of the Revenue Law, and the legality of the assessment, which was at the rate of $12,000 a mile. Through the neglect of Assessors, or the action of the Boards of Equalization in reducing assessments, the county had suffered an estimated loss of $288,000, and the State 8264,000. From the amount recovered, the District Attorney of the time of instituting the suit, received a fee of $3,661.40. This case, however, was appealed by the railroad company to the United States Supreme Court.
LARGE ASSESSMENT.
The assessed value of property for 1872 was 88,146,336. This was an increase in accordance with the new law adopted in the Codes, ordering all
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HISTORY OF PLACER COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
property assessed at its full value. The prior custom had been to assess at about one-third or one-half, as such assessment would produce sufficient revenue, the rate of taxation being fixed before the assessment was made. By the law of 1872 the rate of taxation would be fixed after the amount of property was ascertained.
In this assessment the railroad and telegraph line was assessed at $12,000 a mile, but this was raised by the Board of Equalization to 825,000, aggregating for the Central Pacific 82.812.000, and for the Oregon Division from Roseville to Bear River, $264,000.
The details of the assessment are as follows: The number of acres of land assessed in District No. 1, 174.403; No. 2, 64.613; in No. 3, 16,482, total in the county 255,588. The value of real estate, District No. 1, 8916,132; No. 2. 82,077.516; No. 3, 8421.265, total $3,414 813. Improvements on real estate in District No. 1, 81,089,664; District No. 2, 81.128,037; District No. 3. $21.800; total 82.230,491. The value of personal property District No. 1, 8859,238; District No. 2. 81.214.507; No. 3, 8344,269; total 82.412,014. The amount of money assessed in District No. 1, 823.633; District No. 2, 81,170; District No. 3, 855,- 205: total 880,008. The total valuation of all property in the several Districts was as follows: No. 1, 82.885,- 667; No. 2. 84 418,230; No. 3. 8842.430; total 88,146 .- 336. A comparative statement shows Placer to rank as the fourteenth county in the State, in the assessed valuation of property.
The rate of taxation was fixed in October as follows: For State Fand, 50 cents; County General Fund. 50 cents; School Fund, 10 cents; Hospital Fund, 20 cents; Railroad Fund, 2 cents; Railroad Interest Fund, 3 cents; total 81.35 on each 8100. In addition to these, several special taxes were levied, on petition of the inhabitants of the different local- ities where levied. as follows: Road taxes in Road Distriet No. 1. 8 cents; No. 2. 10 cents; No. 3, 10 cents: Colfax District 10, cents; Dutch Flat District 10 cents; No. 5, 12 cents; No. 6, 12 cents; Last Chance District. 12 cents; Tahoe District, 15 cents; No 9. 6 cents; No 10. 5 cents, and for bridge pur. poses, 5 cents: No. 11. 10 cents. School Districts: Alta, 40 cents: Blue Canon, 35 cents; Christian Valley, 40 cents; Coon Creek, 30 cents; Central, 25 cents; Dry Creek, 40 cents: Excelsior. 25 cents: Franklin, 20 cents; Fair View. 25 cents; Gold IIill, 20 cents; lowa Hill, 10 cents; Last Chance, 15 cents; Lincoln, 5 cents: Lone Star, 40 cents; Michigan Bluff, 13 cents: Neilsburgh, 40 cents; Mt. Pleasant, 35 cents; Newcastle, 25 cents; Norwich. 13 cents; Pleasant Grove, 35 cents; Rattlesnake, 15 cents; Rock Creek, 35 cents; Rocklin, 7 cents; Smithville, 35 cents; Stewart's Flat, 14 cents; Union, 20 eents; Valley View, 25 cents; Wisconsin Hill, 30 cents; Washington, 15 cents; Yankee Jim's. 10 cents, all on each $100 worth of property.
These special taxes were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, in October, 1872, but were
generally paid in Placer before the decision was rendered.
RAILROAD ASSESSMENT CONTESTED.
The assessment of the Central Pacific Railroad at the rate of $25,000, as fixed by the Board of Equal- ization, was resisted as usual by the company and the case carried to the Courts. That part of the road in Nevada County had been assessed at $12,000 per mile, and that was also objected to by the com - pany, who refused to pay only on an assessment of 86,000 per mile. 'In January, 1873, the railroad company gave bonds in the amount of $50,000, and enjoined the sale of the railroad property for the collection of taxes. In February, 1873, suit was commenced in the United States Circuit Court in San Francisco, against the Tax Collectors of the several counties through which the railroad lay, to declare a perpetual injunction against their collecting taxes from the railroad company. In Santa Clara County the assessment was at the rate of 87,000 per mile, but this was deemed too much and the pay- ment of the tax was refused. This suit forced the counties to defend, and entailing additional expense and trouble. The amount of tax at issue was about $100,000. In the following January the decision was rendered that the assessments of the railroad prop- erty was illegal, because assessed in a body and not as real estate and improvements separately. The decision was rendered by Judge Sawyer, continuing the injunction in force.
PROPERTY IN 1873.
The amount of property assessed in 1873 aggre- gated 87,145,479. The railroad was assessed at the rate of $12,000 per mile, and this was raised by the Board of Equalization to $25,000 per mile. The tax was levied in October, as follows: State Fund, 50 cents; County General Fund. 29 cents; County School Fund, 133 cents; Railroad Fund. 6 cents; Railroad Interest Fund, 22 cents; Hospital Fund, 4 eents, making a total of $1.05 on each $100 of valu- ation. This low rate was so fixed, for the reason that the railroad company had recently paid into the Treasury about $30,000 on back taxes, in accord- ance with the decisions of the Courts. The rate was the lowest of any county in the State excepting one, which was the same.
By a decision of the Supreme Court, solvent debts including those secured by mortgage, were declared not subject to taxation, and the Assessors of Placer County were ordered not to assess that species of property. This deduction from the property of the county was one of the reasons why the assessed valuation appeared less than the previous year. By a subsequent decision of the same Court, in Decem- ber of the same year, the former decision was reversed. The finances at the close of the year were in a very favorable condition, there being $19,906.46 of county money in the Treasury, and only $41.00
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FINANCIAL HISTORY
of outstanding warrants, and $13,000 of outstanding railroad bonds.
JOSEPHI P. HOGE ENGAGED.
The Supervisors, in carrying on the suit against the Central Pacific Railroad Company, engaged J. P. Hoge, a lawyer of San Francisco, to aid the District Attorney, agreeing to pay him $2,000 for the service, $1,000 in advance and $1,000 when the case was won, excepting that he should not be required to attend to the suit or suits if appealed to the United States Supreme Court. The suit was, in this case, before the United States Circuit Court in San Francisco, where Mr. Hoge was a practitioner, and with the proceedings in which he was familiar.
THE FINANCIAL PROBLEM IN 1874.
The light rate of taxation and the large amount of property in Placer County in the past year placed it among the first in wealth and prosperity in the State. The very fact of its constant war with the Central Pacific Railroad Company brought the sub- ject of public business affairs very prominently before the people, who were thus impelled to greater care in the selection of officers, and the officers were also held to strict accountability for their actions. For two years the Board of Equalization had fixed the assessed value of the railroad and telegraph of the Central Pacific Company at $25,000 a mile, but this was so firmly resisted by the railroad company, who would pay without compulsion only on 86,000 a mile, that no revenue had been derived from that source by the large assessment, although it was not what the law demanded, the full value of the prop- erty, nor more than one-half the comparative rates at which ordinary property was assessed.
RAILROAD TROUBLES CONTINUE.
The Assessors of Districts Nos. 1 and 2, wherein lay the railroad, assessed the road and telegraph at the rate of $12,000 per mile. Against this the rail- road company, as usual, protested. and asked that it be reduced to $6,000 per mile.
Messrs. Hugh Burns and J. A. Filcher, taxpayers. applied to the Board of Equalization to have the assessment increased to 825,000 a mile. The appli- cations of both parties were denied. and the assess- ment fixed at $12,000 per mile by the votes of Super- visors V. V. Mann, A. J. Soule and S. B. Harriman. The following dissenting opinion by Supervisors E. Barrett and James Laird was put upon the records :-
We dissent from the conclusion arrived at by a majority of the Board in the assessed valuation per mile of that part of the Central Pacific Railroad lying in and traversing Placer County for the following reasons: The Constitution says that all property within the State, not exempt by law from taxation, must be assessed at the full cash value, and the Code defines " cash value" to mean the amount at which the property would be appraised if taken in the pay- ment of a just debt due from a solvent debtor.
value of property, for the purpose of taxation, and it appearing from the sworn statement of its officers to the Secretary of State that its net earnings would pay 10 per cent. on a valuation of 818,000 per mile, including the value of permanent improvements, it is manifest that the assessment of $12,000 per mile is 40 per cent. too low, and is unjust and oppressive to the rest of the taxpayers of the State and county. 1
VALUATIONS AND TAXATION.
The Assessors in 1874 reported 268,447 acres of assessable land in the county; value of real estate, $3,415,994; value of improvements on real estate, $892,937; value of personal property, exclusive of money, 82,321,811; amount of money, $184,753; total value of property, 56,844,895.
The rate of taxation was fixed at 64 9 cents for State purposes, and 8525 cents for county purposes, a total of $1.50 on each $100 of valuation. By a statute of the last Legislature an increase of 25 per cent. was added to all taxes delinquent after the 31st of June of each year.
The decreased assessment of the railroad brought the total assessment of the county below that of the preceding year. when, if it had been the same as that, the gross amount would have exceeded that of any year. During the year there had been many extraordinary expenditures, which necessitated an unnsual rate of taxation. By the reports of the Treasurer and Auditor the average sum required during the preceding five years for county expend- itures had been 839.115.02, but the expenses for the year ending September 30, 1874, was 851.409.42. The extraordinary expenditures occurring were: Unusual expense of the election of 1873, 81,234 35; back salaries due Assessors, 81,869.35; Attorney fees in prosecuting suits for taxes against the Central Pacific Railroad Company. 82,265; collecting the money from the bondsmen of ex-Treasurer Dickerson. 8745; enlarging and refurnishing hospital, 83,905.65; quiet- ing title to hospital lot and fire apparatus, $350; two more Supervisors than before, salaries extra. 82,614: increased number of patients in hospital and prison- ers in jail, $4,189; increased expenditure of schools from 813,485.67 in 1873 to $19.733.26 in 1871; con- viction, etc .. of criminals in extraordinary cases, 81 500, aggregating 821.202.89 of unusual expend- itures.
The condition of the Treasury at the end of the year 1874 was as follows: Total cash on hand Decem - ber 31, 1874. belonging to the county 89,119.35; belonging to the State, 810,017.88; outstanding war- rants registered, 83, 412.13: railroad bonds outstand- ing, 810,000.
The county now appeared to have passed its period of greatest depression and was on the progressive road of prosperity. The year 1871 was regarded as the dullest business year since the Frazer River exodus, and from that time population, values. pro- ducts, improvements, children, schools, and general wealth have been steadily increasing, with a healthy
This being the rule and principle governing the | growth from a substantial basis.
168
HISTORY OF PLACER COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
FINANCIAL CONDITION IN 1875.
The year opened with a slight debt against the county, principally for railroad bonds outstanding, which, drawing eight per cent., per annum, interest, were beld as investments, having been issued for a term of twenty years. The struggle with the rail- road company for the collection of taxes still con- tinued.
At a meeting of the Board of Supervisors on the 3d of February, 1875, it was ordered that "the District Attorney furnish the Board with a certified state- ment showing the number of suits now pending in the courts of this State, in which Placer County and the Central Pacific Railroad Company are parties in interest; their titles, date of commencement, and the respective amounts involved; the amounts paid out by the county in prosecuting and defending said suits; to whom paid, and by whom received, and their present stage for final adjudication before said courts."
This resulted in ascertaining that 82,400 bad been paid counsel in the railroad suits, and that suits for taxes in 1872-73 and 1873-74 were pending in the conrts. In the January following the Board peti- tioned the Legislature to empower them to adjust and settle the said suits with the railroad company, and to receive the taxes due the State and county.
The Assessor's reports, made in July, furnished the following statistical information :--
Number of acres of assessable land, 288,836. Saw- mills in the county, 28, of which 20 were steam and eight water-power, which sawed, during the year, 25,000,000 feet of luinber.
Value of assessable land 999.210
improvements on said land 45-1,561
city and town lots 154,927
improvements on city and town lots 348,613
railroad, 1122 miles 1,433,677
telegraph, 1062 miles. 21,400
mining ditches. 337 miles 348,350
mining claims. 436,650
improvements on mining claims 156,430
personal property 2,545,263
Total property .. 86,899,081
The tax levy made in October was as follows :-
State Fund, 60} cents; County General Fund, 413 cents; Hospital Fund. 10 cents; School Fund, 8 cents; Railroad Fund. 5 cents; County General Road Fund, 2 cents; a total of $1.30 on each $100.
The railroad assessments were fixed at $12,000 per mile, while the railroad company asked a reduction to $7,500 per mile.
J. T. ASHLEY
Was in 1876 one of the financial officers of Placer County.
The birth place of John Tyler Ashley was in the old Green Mountain State, he having been born at West Haven. Rutland County, Vermont. June 4,
1830. His boyhood and early youth were spent on his father's farm, among the Green Mountains of that State. After having completed an academic course preparatory to the study of medicine, he emigrated overland to California, arriving in Placer County August 14, 1853.
Ilere be has followed the occupation of hotel keeper and miner alternately, having experienced the varied fortunes incident to all enterprising young men of pioneer days. In 1875 he was elected Recorder and Auditor of Placer County, as a Repub- lican, at an election when the Independent party secured most of the county offices. At the expira- tion of his term of two years, he was re-elected for a second term.
He now holds the position of Under-Sheriff of the county, and resides at Auburn, the county seat.
THE FINANCIAL CONDITION IN 1876.
The opening of the " Centennial Year " was bright to Placer County. Taxes had been light the past year, and the promise was equally good for the com- ing one. The Treasury contained $9,130.48, and but $18.00 of ontstanding warrants, and $7,000 of rail- road bonds, leaving the county with all of its public buildings and other property, and a surplus of 82,112.48 in the Treasury. With the receipts of Jan mary, the Treasury contained the unprecedented sum. up to that date, of 865,753.41, of which 842,862.92 belonged to the county, and the outstanding indebt- edness was the same as at the beginning of the month.
As a measure of economy, the Legislature had again reorganized the Board of Supervisors, and, in 1875, but three were elected, and these, D. HI. Long, W. A. Himes, and J. B. Russell, took possession of their offices and the business affairs of the county on the 7th day of February, 1876.
COMPROMISE WITH THE RAILROAD COMPANY.
The Board of Supervisors in 1875 had petitioned the Legislature for authority to settle the tax suits of 1872-73 and 1873-74, with the railroad company, and this petition had been indorsed by the Board in power. The Legislature, ascertaining that the rail- road company would compromise the cases then before the Supreme Court on appeal from decisions against the railroad company, gave the desired authority. The assessments, as has been stated in the preceding pages, had been at the rate of $12,000 per mile, and had been equalized, by the Board of Equalization to $25,000 per mile; the payment of taxes at this rate refused; snits instituted by the company enjoining the sale of railroad property by the Tax Collectors; judgment obtained in favor of the county in the District Court, and appeal taken to the Supreme Court. As in a case some years before when on the point of a decision the matter was com- promised and the case withdrawn, cach party pay- ing its own costs. At this time the Supervisors | accepted the sum of $29,917.72 in full for the taxes
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