The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1881-03-15

A@ANF0S
The Senate Con.aittee q the Iesislsture have.
presented the taxation Bin TO thar BODY, and n
passed In that form win make many img0f-
tAnt changes In ihe Anancial and 1olher nat
teEs in the elaie The In leVies tai H The
yeAu 1881 md 1oo2 Of dght nIlh ~ Stan pur9
pOses, eoanty AZ Of mn Mills, and school
tax of four nillA with n additional TAX Of Two
milla fOr county bulldogs. etc The license for
the Stats TO retail spiritnous liquors has been
placed at three hundred dollars, which viii make
six hundred dollars in all TO vend spirituous
kquors. No license win be granted for keno
or wheels Of fortune. Commercial travellers or
drummer win Be compelled to pay TO the
State license tax OF twenty ave dollars.
This hiRh rate d tax on the sale Of xpirifuous
liquors win affect the small dealers and will
force many 70 abandon the business; bat the
material benefit to be derived from the same
win Be LEFT TO be seen.
Thus it win be SEN that our next years taxes
win be more than doubled. Oh! Reform what
injuries are inflicted in thy name.-Ety Of tie
Guy, March 5.
The Legislature made no increase in taxation
on property except for State purposes. 1t raised
the State tax from seven to eight mills for 1881
and provided q conditional tax OF The same rate
for 1852. the condition being that if the Gov
"ernor should discover from the aggregate assess
"ment of the property Of the State, and from
"otheF sources of revenue, the reduction of eight
mills State tax Of 1882 TO seven mills win be
" justified. he is hereby authorized to direct the
Collectors Of Revenue to collect only seven
mills State tax for 1882" The increase was
made with great reluctance and only after it had
been demonstrated that the rate imposed in 1879
and 80 q mills), unless the taxable resources Of
the State should materially increase, would not
meet the expenses and q resort to the scrip sys-
TEN" again become q necessity, with all its mani
fold evils in the shape Of scrip rings floating debt
and ultimate issue of bonds to absorb outstand-
ing warrants, or heavy increase of taxation to
the same end. The Legislature wisely conclu-
ded that to avert this the people would prefer
Temporary small increase, trusting that the prop
erty return for the future would enable the next
Legislature to reduce taxation to rate 6sl0e that
imposed for the last two years. As it is, the
eight mill rate is forty per cent. less than the
Radicals imposed on taxable resources greater
than the tax books now show. This eight mill
rate, it is well enough to state, is called for under
three heads of expenditure, viz: one mill for
school purposes, imposed by the Constitution;
tareS mills for interest and sinking fund on the
public debt, and four mills for State expenses,
t,e0 of which are more than absorbed in tIro
items of expenditure alone, to-wit criminal
prosecutions and lunatic asylum.
The Legislature did not impose any particular
rate of county taxation. 1t merely fixed the
maximum rate beyond which the County Com
missioners are prohibited from going The sec
ton of the act relating 10 county taxation is as
follows:
SEC 2 The Board of County Commissioners
Of every county, at their meeting for correcting
aud reviewing the county assessment shall i'm
mediately thereafter ascertain and determine the
amount Of money to be raised by lax for county
purposes which shall not be more than four
mills on the dollar on the real and personal prop
erty of the county. The counties may levy an
additional tax for the erection Of bridges and
county buildings, not exceeding two mills on
the dollar, and the two mills levied for that pur-
pose shall be collected in currency: and every
such determination and levy so made shall be
entered at large upon the records OF the Board
of County Comm issioners and no county shall
levy q greater amount for any purpose than
four mills for county purposes and two mills for
building purposes, and no Indebtedness shall be
contracted in excess of the said four mills for
county purposes and two mills for building pur-
poses, and any Indebtedness contracted by the
County Commissioners of any county in excess
Of the said amount shall be null and void, and no
suit shall be prosecuted in any court in this State
for the collection of the same: PTOudsd, That
nothing in this act shall be so construed as 10
prevent any county from providing for the pay
ment of the interest upon any Indebtedness now
existing. A tax for county school purposes shall
also be levied upon the real and personal prop
erty Of the county, not to exceed four mills nor
less than two and half mills on the dollar. such
tax to be estimated by the County School Board
and submitted to the Board of County Com
missioners for their approval or disapproval, and
the County Commissioners shall have power 10
increase or lower the estimate so made within
above limits.