The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1894-12-20

many years, and if it continues there
can be no other result than n necessity,
periodically, for an increased tax rate
upon property upon which the taxes
are being paid to supply the loss on thar
property annually retired as Il source of
income to the state by reason of having
been purchased 10y the state at tax
sale.
OCCUPATION TANES.
The legislature of 1893 amended the oc-
! cupation tax laws in several important
particulars. An act was passed fixing
| the rate of taxation ON insurance COM
panles, telephone companies, sleeping
ear companies and levying a tax on the
franchise of corporations doing business
i'll the state. An act was also passed
regulating the sale of liquors. l have
the honor to report the results of the
operation of these laws as they affect the
revenue receipts.
Prior to the passage of the act of
May IL, 1893, fixing the rate of taxation
| on insurance companies. each life inSur-
ance company doing business in this
state was required to pay an annual &C.
cupation tax of $500 and each fire in
surance company 5000, without refer
ence to the amount of business done in
the state by such companies. The
largest company and the smallest COM
pany each paid the same amount of tax,
and Notwithstanding the fact that the
receipts in this state of some of the most
prominent of these companies amounted
to hundreds of thousands of dollars an
nually. vet the amount of state tax to
be paid by them had not been changed
of the act of May II, 1893.
BY reason of failure to exam
inc into and properly adjust the rate of
tax to be paid by insurance companies,
the state has, during the last 10 years,
lost about 100000 that might have been
justly received from that source.
The act of May IL, 1893, provides that
each insurance company shall be taxed
according to the business done in this
state and fixes the rate of taxation on
| life insurance companies at IA per cent,
and on fire insurance companies IL per
cent, annually, of their gross premium re-
ceipts in this state.
During the last year of the operation
of the old law the state received from all
insurance companies doing business in
| this state occupation taxes amounting to
SOS, 391.67. For the year 1894, under the
new law, insurance companies paid the
state in occupation tax $64, 60S.57, an in
crease of 500, 219.90. Under the old law
insurance companies We're required to
pay county tax in each county in which
they did business-$10.00 for life COM
panies and $500 for fire companies. The
act of 1893 relieved insurance companies
of the payment of county and municipal
occupation taxes-a relief that was more
a matter of form than otherwise, for my
investigations lead to the conclusion that
this tax was seldom paid to the counties,
though the city tax was collected in some
of the larger cities. In this county many
insurance companies had paid no county
| taxes for several years prior to 1893.
For the year 1893, under the old law,
the state received occupation taxes from
| telephone companies amounting to
$4,000. For 1894, under the new law,
telephone companies paid 81, 1880 Occu-
patton taxes, an increase of $1,05S.O0.
From sleeping car companies the state
had received no occupation taxes since
1884, except $500 paid annually on one
| Pullman car run from Austin to HOus-
ton. Under the act of 1893 the Pullman
Palace Car company has paid 81 ,425.OS
occupation taxes, an increase of 81 ,342.OS.
No tax has yet been paid by the Wagner
Sleeping Car company, which is also do
ing business in the state. The cOmptrol-
Ter is now in correspondence with the COM
pany in relation to the taxes due by them.
In previous report attention was called
to the large sum due the state by the Pull
man Palace Car company under laws
prior to the act of 1893. Previous to the
act of May II, 1893, no tax had been lev
led upon the franchise of corporations
doing business in the state. Under the
above act there has been received during
the year from that source, 500 100000
Recapitulating the above we have rs
| follows:
| Reed under New law
old law
panies. 49,. .........$ $685. o1 81 $G4,G0s 81
From telephone com
| panieS. ..... ...... 100 OO l,lJS w
From sleeping ear
From franchise taxes 22,060 90
| $2S,574 81 $9O,1 g.
Showing an increase in occupation taxes
from the above mentioed sources for the
year 1894 under the act of 1893, as com
pared with the receipts of the previous
year under the old law, SCI ,579.95.
The settlements of the tax collectors
| for the occupation taxes collected in the
several counties show that for the year
closing April 80 1894, the receipts
Amounted TO 1891, 90S.07, while for the
preceding year the receipts were SS93,-
l2S775, a difference of .$6S,379.O3. The
actual decrease in receipts for the year
| is much less than the above amount for
the reason that the settlements of tax
collectors from which the above results
are obtained do not cover the collections
for whole year. In some of the counties
the collections cover period of less than
| II months. In all the counties the settle
ments average about IA days earlier
that the previous year. This was caused
by the act of 1893 which required the
commissioners court of the several cOun-
| ties to meet on the Bird Monday in April
to approve the credit Of collectors for final
settlement with the state for the year.
Previous to the passage of this act the
meetings of the county commissioners
courts for that purpose were very irregu
lar. The law had the effect to bring in
this year the occupation tax accounts
for Settl, mcnt 1avs bcforl a full year :
collections dating from the last settle
ments, had been made. The average daily
collection of occupation taxes in the sew
eral counties during the past year was
$3.50. Upon this basis the receipts
would have been about $50 800 more had
the settlements of the collectors embraced
the IA days required to fill out the en-
tire year; so that we say the actual
shrinkage in the amount of the occupa
ton taxes collected in the counties dur
ing the past year AS compared with the
collections during the previous year, is
about $4,000. From a careful investiga-
ton | find this shortage is due chiefly to
the adoption of local option laws in many
parts of the state. Reports from the fol.
lowing counties, viz:
pucLy CroeLv NVioo Torr,ut \ny,rr,