State Tax Commission v. Assessors of Haverhill
| Decision Date | 01 November 1954 |
| Citation | 122 N.E.2d 377,331 Mass. 685 |
| Parties | STATE TAX COMMISSION v. ASSESSORS OF HAVERHILL. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court |
George Fingold, Atty. Gen., and Joh V. Phelan, Asst. Atty. Gen., for State Tax Commission.
Salvatore Faraci, City Sol., Haverhill, for Board of Assessors of City of Haverhill.
Before QUA, C. J., and LUMMUS, WILKINS, WILLIAMS and COUNIHAN, JJ.
This appeal by the state tax commission from a determination by the Appellate Tax Board of the valuation of the 'machinery, poles, wires and underground conduits, wires and pipes' located in Haverhill belonging to New England Telephone and Telegraph Company on January 1, 1954 presents questions similar to those decided by us this day in State Tax Commission v. Assessors of Springfield, Mass., 122 N.E.2d 372.
On March 5, 1954, the tax commission certified to the assessors that the valuation as of January 1, 1954, at which the assessors should assess the property pursuant to G.L. (Ter.Ed.) c. 59, § 39, as appearing in St.1953, c. 654, § 32, was: poles, wires and underground conduits, wires and pipes $575,200; machinery $44,400; total $619,600.
On March 12, 1954, the assessors appealed to the Appellate Tax Board, which conducted a hearing on the same day as the hearing in the Springfield case. Again the only witness to value was one Hill of Chicago, Illinois, who testified on behalf of the assessors that in his opinion the fair cash value should be: overhead plant $190,293; underground plant $1,451,906; machinery $45,872; total $1,688,071. Again the Appellate Tax Board on June 22, 1954, in a majority decision adopted his exact figures as the fair cash value of all the items of property.
1. There was no error in the failure to rule that the burden was upon the assessors to prove that the original determination of value made by the tax commission was in error, unfair, or unreasonable. The tax commission's motion to dismiss was rightly denied, and its requests for rulings in substance to that effect could not have been given. State Tax Commission v. Assessors of Springfield, Mass., 122 N.E.2d 372.
2. The tax commission also argues the same question of evidence. The testimony of value summarized above was received subject to the tax commission's exception. The witness testified that in 1951 he was engaged by the city of Haverhill to investigate the taxable property of the telephone company; that he made a...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Assessors of Haverhill v. New England Tel. & Tel. Co.
...306, 118 N.E.2d 745; State Tax Commission v. Assessors of Springfield, 331 Mass. 677, 122 N.E.2d 372; State Tax Commission v. Assessors of Haverhill, 331 Mass. 685, 122 N.E.2d 377. In the case of Commissioner of Corporations & Taxation v. Assessors of Haverhill, 330 Mass. 553, at page 555, ......
-
State Tax Commission v. Assessors of Springfield
... ... 419, 108 N.E.2d 670; Assessors of Springfield v. New England Telephone & Telegraph Co., 330 Mass. 198, 112 N.E.2d 260; Commissioner of Corporations and Taxation v. Assessors of Springfield, 330 Mass. 433, 114 N.E.2d 550; Commissioner of corporations and Taxation v. Assessors of Haverhill, 330 Mass. 553, 116 N.E.2d 151; State Tax Commission v. Assessors of Haverhill, 331 Mass. 306, 118 N.E.2d 745 ... On March 5, 1954, the tax commission certified to the assessors that the valuations as of January 1, 1954, at which the assessors should assess the property pursuant to ... ...
-
Board of Assessors of Holyoke v. State Tax Commission
...306, 309, 118 N.E.2d 745; State Tax Commn. v. Assessors of Springfield, 331 Mass. 677, 122 N.E.2d 372; State Tax Commn. v. Assessors of Haverhill, 331 Mass. 685, 122 N.E.2d 377; Assessors of Haverhill v. New England Tel. & Tel. Co., 332 Mass. 357, 124 N.E.2d 917. In reaching its decisions i......