AMERICAN PARADISE

New Zealand Listener, Volume 2, Issue 29, 12 January 1940, Page 41

AMERICAN PARADISE

LREADY little Flemington, with its population of 2,700, has been made famous: as the site of the Hauptmann trial. It promises now to be even more famous, for Flemington has been discovered by big American companies as a haven for tax-payers. Over the border, in New Jersey, Standard Oil Company, for storing assets valued at 2,044,635,000 dollars, was assessed 300,000,000 dollars for intangible property by Newark in 1935. A reduction to 50,000,000 dollars tax was not enough, so the Company’s bonds were transferred to nearby Linden, which tacked. on a 75,000,000 assessment. Still on the move, the Company has found Flemington, where the tax rate does not fluctuate so conveniently. A small town lawyer put up a strong-room in a corner of his small office to hold the Standard papers. The Company was assessed on the current rate at 45,000,000 in personal property, and paid a tax of 301,500 dollars. Instead of increasing their tax to mulct the Company, the Flemington people used the extra income to lower their rating, which dropped from 3.91 dollars to 67 cents per 100 dollars. This was on the _ personal property rating. The town utility tax almost disappeared when it came down from 1.15 dollars to ten cents. The good news spread. Great ‘Western Sugar Co. found room in the lawyer’s office for their 82,402,000 dollar assets. After them came United Shoe Machinery Corporation (124,468,000 dollars), and Montana Power Company (152,093,000 dollars). Down came_ the property rate to 81 cents and the town utility rate to eight cents. Latest report: still going down. Only difficulty: lack of space in the lawyer’s office. —