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Show Commission OK's Columbia v Iron Mine Levy The state tax commission Thursday sustained its original mine occupation and net proceeds pro-ceeds tax assessment against Columbia Iron Mining Co. based upon what the commission "felt truly represented the actual value val-ue "of ore mined" rather than price paid for the ore under a contract. Under a contract with Geneva Steel Co., the mining company received cost plus 10c per ton and reported gross proceeds of $1,325,917. The commission set "actual value of ore mined" at $1.55 per ton and upped the company's com-pany's gross income to $2,893,312. This had the effect of increasing increas-ing the mining company's mine occupation tax from $12,759 to $23,433 and raising its net proceeds pro-ceeds valuation (against which property taxes are levied) from $604,203 to $1,649,133. The company raised immediate objections, maintaining that the commission has no authority to go into relative value of ore mined; min-ed; that the commission penalizes penal-izes efficient operation by arbitrarily arbi-trarily raising the value of ore mined without considering increased in-creased costs, and that the contract con-tract setting the price of ore was bona fide, being entered Into by Reconstruction Finance Corp. In 1943 and assigned to Geneva when the plant was purchased. The commission based its assessment as-sessment against 'Columbia on the $1.55 per ton price of ore paid by Kaiser to the Excelsior mine. "The iron ore produced by the Columbia Iron Mining Co. is not sold on the open market, but is used by the Geneva Steel Co., both wholly owned subsidiaries of the U. S. Steel Corp." the commission com-mission said. "In view of the fact that the sale of ore by the Excelsior mine to the Kaiser interests appeared to be the only arms-length sale between interests which were not affiliated in any way, the commission felt that this more truly represented the actual market mar-ket value of the ore than the figure reported by the Columbia Iron Mining Co." the commission decided. In the same minute decision, the commission upped the reported re-ported price paid by Colorado Fuel and Iron Co., which mines its own ore In Iron county, from $1 to $1.55 the additional 10c added because of a greater iron content than that produced by the Excelsior Mine. The C. F. & I. has not registered register-ed a formal protest against the assessment the commission said. Tribune |