Boston Edison Co. v. Board of Assessors of Watertown

Boston Edison Company (Edison) appeals from a decision of the Appellate Tax Board (board) valuing Edison’s taxable personal property in Watertown for the fiscal years 1976, 1977, and 1978. Edison’s principal challenge is to the board’s determination to value Edison’s property almost entirely on the basis of the property’s depreciated reproduction cost, with only minimum weight given to the net book cost, or rate base value, of the property. The difference between the property’s depreciated reproduction cost and its net book cost was substantial in each year. For example, the board found that,…