Images de page
PDF
ePub

The CHAIRMAN. What would be the loss to your county if there is no State replacement of taxes?

Mr. TEMPLETON. Now, Mr. Chairman, let me remind you of thisand I am not in position to give you gentlemen this information. You are thoroughly cognizant of the fact that the State of Tennessee makes certain contributions to the various counties throughout the State of Tennessee for school purposes and other purposes. We have a tobacco tax over in Tennessee which inures strictly to the benefit of education in Tennessee. Now, the tobacco tax in Tennessee does not take care of the revenue which is sent to the various counties in the State of Tennessee by the State. The balance of this revenue, which inures to the benefit of the several counties, is taken out of some other funds derived from revenue from the State of Tennessee, which is distributed among the various counties of the State. Now, we are not in a position to say just how much we will be affected by a loss in revenue from the State of Tennessee, should you gentlemen see fit not to extend in full the tax loss to the State of Tennessee by reason of the taking over of the Tennessee Electric Power Co. by the T. V. A.

The CHAIRMAN. I suppose your county is not, as you have said, very much crippled with the tax problem, because it has no large power plants or similar agencies in the county?

Mr. TEMPLETON. We are very much crippled, if Your Honor please, for this reason: We are sustaining three losses over in Franklin County, as well as all other counties in the State of Tennessee in this: Our tax aggregate is going down. Our tax rate is going up. The percentage of tax collections is going down, which necessitates these losses to Franklin County.

The CHAIRMAN. Do you not think that condition exists generally throughout the country?

Mr. TEMPLETON. It does in this instance.

The CHAIRMAN. I mean through the whole country, due to the large obligations of the various municipalities?

Mr. TEMPLETON. No, sir; not unless you take into consideration the taking over of property by the Federal Government from private ownership-privately owned utilities.

Mr. ANDREWS. Will the gentleman state what effect that has had on the rates of consumers of electricity?

Mr. TEMPLETON. They have been reduced.

Mr. ANDREWS. How much?

Mr. TEMPLETON. That would be problematical for this reason: They have reclassified the users of electricity over our way, because the first 50 kilowatt-hours carries with it a rate of 3 cents. Now, where you have a home, for instance, and a boarder in that home, they will not let you use the current which comes into that home on one meter. You must have two meters in there, which is to take advantage of the first 50 kilowatt-hours which comes into that home. But if you are a large consumer of electricity, you do get a decrease in the amount that you pay for electricity.

Mr. ANDREWS. Do you think the citizens of your county or your area would generally approve of higher electric rates if they knew that they were going to get the difference back in taxes?

206121-40- -26

Mr. TEMPLETON. No, sir; I do not think that. We were opposed to the T. V. A., without tax replacement amendment, from the very beginning, and, as your distinguished chairman will bear me out, we had considerable correspondence last April and May, when this matter was before the subcommittee of the House Military Affairs Committee, and we expressed the hope that this bill, the Norris bill, would not be reported out of this subcommittee without an amendment taking care of the replacement of taxes. You remember what a struggle we had here at that time. Mr. Chairman.

Mr. ANDREWS. Whom do you expect to take care of this replacement of taxes?

Mr. TEMPLETON. We expect you gentlemen to take care of it, because you are the ones that inflicted this on us.

Mr. ANDREWS. Out of the Federal Treasury or out of the proceeds of the sale of T. V. A. power?

Mr. TEMPLETON. From the generated current of the T. V. A.

Mr. ANDREWS. Do you think the T. V. A. could take care of all the taxes?

Mr. TEMPLETON. Most assuredly they can, if you arrange a yardstick.

Mr. ANDREWS. Without raising the rates?

Mr. TEMPLETON. No, sir; you do not have to raise any taxes.

Mr. ANDREWS. I say, without raising the rates?

Mr. TEMPLETON. Raise the rates. That is all right. Then we pay the bills. You do not pay any of it at all. We are the people who pay the bills down there, who are affected by this raise in rates. We are willing to do that.

The CHAIRMAN. Judge, if you will pardon the Chair for an interruption here we want to get through just as quickly as we can, because there are six or eight gentlemen here to be heard, and we have a limited time-but I want to say, in confirmation of what the judge has said to the committee, that there was discussion before the committee frequently during the last session of Congress on the subject of having the tax bill go along with the bond bill that we reported out, but we were put under such pressure about it that we did not have any time to do it.

Mr. TEMPLETON. I understand that.

Mr. THOMAS. May I ask a question on that point, to clear up something that was just brought up here? Would it be satisfactory to you, Judge, for the T. V. A. to raise the rates down there in order to take care of the taxes?

Mr. TEMPLETON. Yes; it would be eminently satisfactory to the users of electricity in our district to raise the rates to take care of that, for this reason: We have 3,000 farmers or property owners in Franklin County who are to bear this burden, who do not have an electric light in their homes. Now, where is the justice, the equity, of penalizing 3,000 people in Franklin County to pay my electriclight bill?

The CHAIRMAN. I think you have made a fine statement, Judge. Are there any further questions?

Mr. BYRNS. Judge, you understand that there is included in the present charge for wholesale current by the T. V. A. 1211⁄2 percent for taxes?

Mr. TEMPLETON. I understand that, Mr. Byrns.

Mr. BYRNS. If it could be shown that this amount necessary for tax replacement would be raised by a more economical operation of certain phases of the Tennessee Valley Authority, would you not approve of that, without any raise in the rates for electric current, if the same results could be obtained?

Mr. TEMPLETON. If that could be done, I would. But I do not believe that it could be done. Now, I understand that that 12% percent is a matter for the State of Tennessee to work out in our legislature and has nothing to do with you gentlemen. And I want to be perfectly frank with you gentlemen up here. I am not here, as was the Governor of Tennessee, asking for a full replacement of the taxes. I am looking to the interests of Franklin County and my associate counties throughout the State of Tennessee. Now, if you gentlemen will permit us, we will take care of some of that loss by legislative enactment if you gentlemen will pass the NorrisSparkman bill up here and take care of that part of it. We will take care of the balance of it, and we feel that as you gentlemen are responsible for the passage of the bill, because you reported it favorably to the House and it passed-the Norris-Sparkman bill—last April or May-we feel that if you gentlemen will be good enough to report this bill out with a favorable recommendation, we will not have any trouble in the House as to its passage.

Mr. SPARKMAN. Judge, you would like to see the amendment added making the payments directly to the counties?

Mr. TEMPLETON. Yes, sir; I want it paid directly to the counties, because, you know, the inevitable result when a general fund is placed in the hands of the State or a county and it becomes necessary to prorate it among the several parties entitled thereto, that there is a certain amount of overhead expense, and so on. We do not want any overhead expense. I say to you gentlemen here in all sincerity and honesty that we are the fifth county in the State of Tennessee insofar as tax rate is concerned. We have a rate of $1.58. We are in very good circumstances over our way, and we live on strict economy. We do not want any overhead expense down there, and we want you gentlemen to take care of us to that extent-that what little money you give us, you will let it come direct to Franklin County and not let it go through the hands of Gov. Prentice Cooper and risk it getting back to the county. [Laughter.]

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Judge. Your statement has been very enlightening. We will now hear Judge A. E. Sims, county judge of Lincoln County.

STATEMENT OF HON. A. E. SIMMS, COUNTY JUDGE, LINCOLN

COUNTY, TENN.

Mr. SIMMS. Mr. Chairman, I represent Lincoln County, Tenn. The total assessed valuation of all property for taxing purposes in Lincoln County is roughly $10,000,000. The valuation of the properties of the Tennessee Electric Power Co. in our county for taxable purposes for the year 1939 amounts to $357,780.

Mr. CHAIRMAN. That is for taxes?

Mr. SIMMS. No; that is the valuation of the property. The amount of money that the Tennessee Electric Power Co. paid into the county treasury for taxes for 1938 was $5,652.92; for 1939, $6,511.60.

I wish to endorse everything that Judge Templeton has already said to the committee and to further state that we will be very glad if you could take care, as far as possible, of the approximately $6,000 that we will lose when the Tennessee Electric Power Co. ceases to do business in Lincoln County. That is about all I have to say. If you gentlemen wish to ask me any questions, I will be glad to answer them if I can.

Mr. CLASON. What is the tax rate in your county?

Mr. SIMMS. The tax rate is $1,90 on each $100 worth of property. Mr. CLASON. The man that owns a farm in your county, the total taxes of all the taxing units that tax him amount to $1.90? That $1.90 covers everything?

Mr. SIMMS. Outside of the city limits it does.

Mr. CLASON. It covers everything?

Mr. SIMMS. Yes, sir.

Mr. CLASON. Your taxes are mighty low down there in

of the country.

Mr. SIMMS. Yes, sir.

Mr. CLASON. Are they based on 100-percent valuation?

your section

Mr. SIMMS. No, sir. I would not say it is 100-percent valuation. I think it is around 75 percent, probably 60 or 75 percent of the actual value of the property.

Mr. CLASON. Then as a matter of fact you are probably not being charged more than $15 a thousand on your actual valuation? Mr. SIMMS. That is probably true.

Mr. CLASON. Then as a matter of fact your section of the country at the present time, instead of being badly off-as compared to other sections of the country-you are in pretty good condition?

Mr. SIMMS. Yes, sir. My county is in pretty good condition financially.

Mr. CLASON. And the total loss in taxes to you will be something over $6,000?

Mr. SIMMS. About $6,500. In other words, if this tax is not replaced, next July when the quarterly county court meets, the court will have to increase our tax rate about 7 cents on every $100 worth of property in the county.

Mr. CLASON. Seven cents, you say?

Mr. SIMMS. Yes, sir; on each $100 worth of property.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Judge Simms. We will next hear from Judge W. Hunter, county judge of Clay County.

STATEMENT OF HON. W. HUNTER, COUNTY JUDGE, CLAY COUNTY, TENN.

Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, I will be very brief in my remarks, because I represent a very small county-which, by the way, Mr. Chairman, borders on the State line of Kentucky-Clay County.

The CHAIRMAN. You have good neighbors. [Laughter.]

Mr. HUNTER. And it is also a very important county because it is the home of Judge Hull.

The losses that we sustain in this matter of T. V. A. tax are small, just a few hundred dollars, because the Tennessee Light & Power people had a local station there, and T. V. A. took it over, and we got

enough revenue out of that to support our health department, as the county has full-time health unit.

Our tax rate is high, $3 a hundred. Our assessments have been reduced in the last 10 or 15 years from $3,000,000 to $1,800,000. And necessarily, if we had some plan worked out that we could still get this revenue, we could carry on; if not, we are going to have to raise our rates above $3 a hundred.

The CHAIRMAN. You do have power under your constitution to raise the rates?

Mr. HUNTER. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. And you will do that if you have to?

Mr. HUNTER. I think so.

The CHAIRMAN. Did you say that your county, Clay County, is the home county of Secretary of State Cordell Hull?

Mr. HUNTER. Yes, sir. His father and mother are buried there in our little town of Celina, Clay County.

The CHAIRMAN. In the event that we Democrats elect him President, you would withdraw your tax request, would you not? [Laughter.]

Mr. HUNTER. Yes; I think so. I feel very close to Kentucky, because I lived there 4 years.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Judge. Are there any questions?

Mr. HUNTER. I want to express my thanks to you for your courtesy, gentlemen. We county judges are small people in a big place up here, and you have been very nice to us, and we feel that you will be very fair in your actions in this matter.

Mr. BYRNS. Judge, has there been any refinancing of the debts of your county recently?

Mr. HUNTER. Yes; about 2 years ago.

The CHAIRMAN. What is your bonded indebtedness?

Mr. HUNTER. $188,000.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Judge. We will next hear Mr. George Westerberg, county attorney of Bradley County.

STATEMENT OF GEORGE WESTERBERG, COUNTY ATTORNEY, BRADLEY COUNTY, TENN.

Mr. WESTERBERG. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I have jotted down the figures here so that I can be accurate, but I will be as brief as possible.

Bradley County has an area of 362 miles. Under the last census the population was 22,870. I expect we will have about 27,000 under the new census. There are about 12,000 of those people that live in Cleveland, the county seat. Cleveland is a sort of a manufacturing center, having three foundries, a hosiery mill, a woolen mill.

Our total tax assessment of property for the year 1939 was $10,776,000, with a tax aggregate of $265,930, based on a tax rate of $2.55 per hundred.

Included in the above assessment is $1,578,164 against the properties of the Tennessee Electric Power Co., and they paid in taxes into the county treasury $40,230. That includes the State tax of $1,262, leaving a net revenue to the county of $38,967.86.

In 1938 they paid $37,534.

« PrécédentContinuer »