Principles of railroad property taxation with particular application to the state of Washington

Abstract

The constant increase in the magnitude of American governmental expenditures because of the increased demand on thepart of the public for enlargement of the protective, developmental, and commercial functions, in all likelihood will be aecompanied by a continued upward trend of the nation's tax payments. Although the general property tax is not relatively as important today in the state and local fiscal systems as it was before 1930, it is nevertheless still the bulwark of state and local taxation. The owners of railroad property, as well as the owners of other property, must bear their share of this increased cost of government. It is logical, therefore, that coincident with the need for more revenue there has arisen a demand for a more equitable distribution of the tax burden--in short, a demand for "scientific taxation". Taxation can not be called an exact science, yet most of its problems are susceptlisle of more or less scientific analysis.