| Show State files answer in assessment suit Of interest to all rural residents in the Uintah Basin is the news that the State Tax Commission has answered the complaint of the Moon Lake Elect-trie and the Uintah Basin Tek phone Inc as filed with the Utah Supreme The state denied the allegations of the which charged that the tax commission was proceeding illegally in its plan to assess REA Coops on the same as private Utah specifically and of the Utah Code provides for special formulas to be used In the taxation of nonprofit electric and telephone These two sections of the Utah Code have been declared unconstitutional by the Attorney E. R. George E local is the counsel for the two who have filed a writ of prohibition with the Supreme Court of Commenting on the contention of the Attorney General that the special formulas for taxing cooperatives is Stewart acts were set up under the state law so that these REA both electric and telephone companies financed by the Rural Electrification would get a tax that they could stand to The ore they serve very thinly populated Most of the towns and cities where the population is thick are served by private power and telephone Our average per mile of line h about two-and-a- half persons for every of makes a very big investment for the number of persons served As a the legislation was passed so that these electric companies were taxed so much per line mile and the telephone companies were taxed at bo much per circuit mile of It was these acts that the Attorney General declared now proposed that the REA power and phone companies be taxed in accordance with the formulas of the tax commission used for private power and telephone This ff applied to the rural electric and telephone would assess on an ad valorem set up in accordance with the number of dollars invested in the systems of the Stewart said tax in this form-j were to set up proper i See STATE bock STATE FILES from Page weight given to the gross income of either the electric or the tele phone then the tax wouldn't oe on other if the ton mula up the total investment ao a basis without consideration being given to the gross income of the rural serving as they do the ind districts of the then the tax would be General declared these acts but w.-re r bo-foie a either a district court or the supreme court to what the courts sav in relation to these acts The of contend that they are constitutional because they come under a classification set up by the and the under the state aas to of the fact that these acts had never been before a the State Tax Commission notified the that would not assess under acts as they had in the but would I tO taxes under the formula used for the private companies The Moon Eli Association lad the Uintah Basin Telephone tore the Supreme Court and obtained a writ of to top the tax commission from proceeding further under a method of and collection ap-tag to The Court granted the Attorney Stewart has until March 13 to prepare a and the office of the Attorney General has until around April 13 to fUe its brief After that lime ine court will act a date for I |
