If You’re the California Tax Collector, We’re in Utah

These tidbits from Beulah Hershiser’s The Adjustment of the Boundaries of Nevada show how people used ambiguities about jurisdictional boundaries to avoid paying taxes:

The California boundary of was in reality so little known that an accurate official survey of the eastern boundary of the State was urged upon the California Legislature by the Surveyors-General in each report . One reason given for the fixing of the line between California and the United States Territories was that California lost taxes because people residing near the disputed line claimed to live in Utah.

A footnote adds: “The officers of Carson County even appropriated money to aid citizens in their resistance to the collection of taxes by the authorities of Plumes County, Calif.

The Surveyor-General of Nevada in his report of , told of citizens in Lincoln County who refused to pay taxes, declaring they resided in Utah.


From the East Liverpool, Ohio, Evening Review

Vehicle Owners Refuse to Pay Tax

Several vehicle owners have given notice to the police department that they will not pay the license fee of $1 per year. They claim that it is not lawful to collect from them and have refused point blank to surrender any money. It is not known what will be done, but if the threats of Mayor Blake are made good, wholesale arrests will be made during the next few days. It is said that one man owning a large number of teams is among those who will not pay.