Salt Lake Tribune | 1919-09-13 | Page 18 | County Heard in Sugar Case

Former Assessor Parsons Ex'pains Meaning of Intangible Assets. Presentation was begun yesterday of the case of the county in the suit brought by the Utah-Idaho Sugar company to enjoin en-join the county treasurer from collecting taxes upon the $10,000,000 assessment of the company's "intangible assets" by former for-mer County Assessor A. H. Parsons. Mr. parsons was the first witness called for the defense. Pie explained tliat the item of $10,000,000, added to the regular assessment against the company's tangible tangi-ble property holdings, under the characterization charac-terization of an assessment of "intangible assets was uesigneu lu cu ei aui pms, solvent credits and capitalized good will. The former assessor explained that the $167,180 assessed in a separate item against the company's West Jordan plant as an item separate from the other assessment as-sessment against the plant was not meant as a valuation of "intangible assets." He said that, inadvertently, the assessment of the year RUT had been copied through the blotter and rolls, with regard to the West Jordan plant and that he had added the $167, ISO to bring the total assessment ! of the plant up to $050,000, putting the in- j crease separately in the column of "persona "per-sona property not otherwise assessed," to avoid the necessity of changing the previously written figures throughout the tax rolls. During the morning, W. T. Pyper, assistant as-sistant secretary and treasurer of the plaintiff company, was recalled for further examination, and Francis M. Benton and William S Selley of the assessor's office and John C. Cutler, Jr., a broker, were called as new witnesses for the plaintiff. plain-tiff. Mr. Benton testified that he had known the item of $10,000,000 a ssessed against, the company as being a valuation placed upon "intangible assets" without designation as to the nature of those assets. as-sets. Mr. S'eiley testified that the words "intg assets" had been erased from in front ot" the item of $ 1(57, 10 against the West Jordan plant. Mr. Cutler testified that at the time of trie assessment of the property of the company in IMS the stock of the company was selling for from SS.r5 to $S.90 a share, par value being be-ing $10.