State ex rel. Hellar v. Jackson

Citations

• 82 Wash. 351
• 144 P. 48
• 1914 Wash. LEXIS 1507

Syllabus

<p>Taxation — Railroads—Apportionment oe Operating Real Property — Statutes—Construction. A “line” of railroad owned and operated by one railroad company, but leased to another railroad company under a joint user contract, is not subject to apportionment for taxation against the lessee as well as the lessor, since the intent of the legislature to restrict the apportionment to lines actually owned, as far as real property is concerned, is evident under the terms of Rem. & Bal. Code, § 9151, providing that “it shall be the duty of the state board of tax commissioners to apportion the value of the operating properties of such railroad to the county or counties through or into which the lines thereof may extend, according to the classification and value thereof in such proportion as the length of the line in each county may bear to the entire length of line within the state,” in view of Id., § 9152, classifying operating property into real property and personal property, the former comprising all the land occupied and claimed exclusively as the right of way for railroads, with all the tracks, side tracks, depots, or other buildings belonging to the road, used in the operation thereof.</p> <p>Same — Lease. A lease of a railroad right of way and lines for 999 years would not constitute the lessee an owner of the land or of an interest in the railway, since the ownership of the fee still inheres in the lessor (although the period of the term substantially amounts to a grant in perpetuity).</p>