The Valuation of Public Service Corporation Property: Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers,; vol. LXXII, June, 1911, ASCE 1190Riggs, Henry Earle
General
The Valuation of Public Service Corporation Property: Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers,; vol. LXXII, June, 1911, ASCE 1190
In view of the clear language of the Court in 82 Fed., 839, and 157
Fed., 849, it is evident that any valuation which does not take into
account the appreciation or depreciation of land values cannot be
sustained. There can be no serious objection to the doctrine that the
property of a corporation generally increases or decreases in value in
the same proportion as adjacent property, and it must therefore be
admitted that a value based on the sale value of adjacent lands is a
reasonable one and must stand. This reasoning, of course, will be
subject to exceptions, in the case of terminal properties, docks and
water-front properties, and right of way in large cities, but it is
believed to be sound when applied to right of way in the country and in
small towns and cities.
The next question to be determined is whether the increment of value due
to the use of the land is a proper one. It would appear that in the use
of land for water-works, gas-works, street-car barns, or other isolated
tracts of land used for corporation purposes, this increment would be
much less than in the case of a steam or interurban railroad, the
holdings of which form a continuous and unbroken strip; and, in the case
of street railroads, water-works, and like properties, it would be
indeed difficult to compute and afterward sustain any considerable
increment.
In the case of railway properties, however, it is quite evident that the
following facts can be sustained: The actual cost of property purchased
for railway purposes will range from two and one-half to five times the
selling price of similar and adjacent property used for other purposes.
While the actual percentage will vary somewhat, as between land in
cities and in the country, and as between fully settled districts well
served by roads and sparsely populated regions, yet the difference is
very marked, and is capable of determination by an examination of the
public records.
This difference can be determined either by a comparison of railway
purchases and other transfers, as was done in the later studies in
Michigan and in Wisconsin, or by extending the investigation to include
assessed valuations, and using the averages, as was done in the work of
Mr. Morgan in Minnesota.
In establishing figures for use in a valuation, it would appear to be
better to base them on an analysis of actual transfers than to undertake
to fix values by any methods of examination and personal appraisal.
Enough instances of the wide divergence of expert opinion have been
cited to show conclusively that such a method, applied to the thousands
of acres of a large corporation, may lead to serious error.
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