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Show CITIES ESCAPING TAXATION Between tax-exempt securities and 'tax-exempt municipal property the rest of the taxpayers are hard hit. Seattle is estimated to own $117,-000,000 $117,-000,000 of tax-exempt property, and seeks to acquire more. What right has a municipality to do those things and shift taxes to others who are not exempt. Seattle and Tacoma having municipally muni-cipally owned street cars, light and power plants have secured permission permis-sion to engage in competitive light and power business outside their limits. lim-its. The legislature was willing to grant this right only on condition that it did not increase the tremen-duous tremen-duous amount of property already taken off the tax rolls by the cities of Seattle and Tacoma. These raat amounts of property, taken from the tax rolls, necessarily increases the taxes paid by farmers, homeowner! and business men of all the rest of the state. Were all the tax-exempt property of Seattle and Tacoma upon up-on the tax rolls, the state tax alone derived annually from them would equal the state tax now paid by 10 counties of Washington. Making more property exempt from state and local taxes to favor these large cities will go to a referendum refer-endum vote this fall. . a |
