Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1899-01-18

The normal school regents inform me
mat Vt VIII require sG40.000 to pay the
| current expenses of the normal schools
| Tor the biennial period. This Is already
/ provided for by law
| The board of control has prepared for
| me table showing what IL cost during
| the last biennial period to carry on the
state institutions. and giving also state
ment showing that il will require for the
| current biennial period 81 2pa, ,23S. No de-
| ductions have been made for estimated re-
ceipts by the state treasurer from the char
| liable and penal Institutions ard from
| counties for maintenance OF the insane in
| the state institutions. Comparing this with
| the cost OF the seven Institutions which
| were In existence at the opening of the
| last biennial period, there is shown
| duction In expenses of $3S.000.
| For general administrative purposes--and
! this estimate | have made upon the basis
! ~ ~ expenses EXP for a period of several years
tenance of the judieiar ary--that is. the cir
| cult courts and the Supreme court II Will
| require for the biennial period s226 5SS. The
| Legislature VIII cost about S2ll,2la the
| latter including the cost of the publication
| or the laws. The total OF these estimated
| S6ST7,373
| careful estimate of the probable total
| income of the state. based upon the re-
| eeiptS for the last few years and incud-
| ing one years receipts from the special
| tax levy made TO reimburse the general
| fund In 1897, aggregates S6SS0. $50. in
| this amount, n should be explained, there
Is not incluCssi the money received from
/ counties for care of their own Insane Ia
| other county institutions. as the state In
| this particular acts merely as clearing
| house for those counties, paying each tho
| amount due on this account; but there Is
| included an amount of $i67 600, which it Is
| estimated will be received by the state
| treasurer from charitable and penal insti-
| tutions and from counties for ma ananee
IF their insane In the various sta lnsti-
| tutions.
| To recapitulate: The estimated expenses
| If the state for the present biennial period,
not including any special appropriations
! which have been asked and to which refer
| ence will he made later, are $6S71 ,372;
| while the estimated income for the Same
| period Is $6,SSG, $50. Assuming that these
| figures are correct, there would he a deficit
| at the end of the biennial period of $46,-
| 922. This deficit is not SO great. however.
| but that by the strictest economy it Is
| possible to carry on all departments of
| the state government for the present hlen-
| nial period without provision being made
| by the Legislature for an Increase OF reve-
| nue..
| There are asked however, special appro-
| prtationS amounting to more than $500, 600,
| which you will be called upon To consider.
! These special appropriations are: $30000Q
| by the board of control, half of which
| sum is asked for additional buildings for
| the new state reformatory; $3.50 900 for
| completing the State Historical building;
| $35,OO0 for the agricultural department Of
! the State university 100000 for the ereo-
| ton Of II suitable building for the College
| of Engineering of the university, and $751;
| 900 by the normal schools, besides an ap-
| preparation for the tax commission, TO re-
| imburse the trust funds for the loan to
| the Agricultural society. and smaller
| amounts for other purposes. II nll or any
| of these appropriations are made, Ii Will
| be necessary for the Legislature to pro-
| vide by srecia tax levy, or otherwise, the
| money to meet them.
| At this point II may be we'll TO say
| word about the special tax which II was
faunH a lpNV N fal Of
| and concerning which there has been much
| misunderstanding and discussion, For
many years no tax levy was made for gen
| eral fund purposes, but, regardless of this,
| appropriations were made by the Legisla-
| ture, and year after year the general fund
| showed shortage sometimes more, some
| times less, but gradually accommodating un-
| til 1t became necessary for the state treas
| urer to call upon the railroads In advance
/ of the time when their license fees were
| due, and to borrow money from the banks
| and from the trust funds In order to main
| tain the credit Of the state. If the treas
| urer had not done this, the state. during
| the past twelve or Afteen years, would
| many times have been unable to nay its
| current expenses. In n message sent to
| the Legislature in February. 1897, | called
attention 10 the existing conditions, and to
| the obvious fact that tNe state should not
| be dependent for the maintenance OF Its
| credit upon the good Will Of the railroad
| companies or the Illegal use of it's credit
| by the state officials At the banks In order
/ 10 pay IT'S pllls. anu recommended tnHt
! authority he given for the levy of tax
| sufficient to balance the accounts OF the
| state and place the general fund upon a
| | recommend that hereafter all appro-
! priatOns made by the Legislature he upon
| the basis of such budget as Is here pre-
| sentrd. and which in the future II will be
| possible to make more accurate than this
one: and that the difference between the
fixed receipts and necessary expenditures
| he raised AS one tax Instead of being d.
| int ltar nf pvfa rh..rn
| are now on the statute books number OF
| laws providing for the special leyies OF
| comparatively small amounts for various
! institutions, the sum of which represents
/ the total tax levy. These special levics run
| for different periods aud some are not linn
| tied. Nou many not consider Ii best to cut
| of these al the present time, but ! be-
| lieve that ultimately this will be found
| to be the proper method. The effect OF
| such change would be to clear up much
| of the confusion which prevails In the pub
| lie mind relative to the collection and ex-
| penditnre of public moneys
| If this practice of dividing mp the tax
| levy were abolished. aud it were found at
| the beginning of any biennial period that
| the difference between the fixed receipts and
| the necessary expenditures amounted to,
| say, $1,oo0,OO0 Il year, levy would be
| made for the $l,O00oOO, and the approprl-
| ations would be made 10y the Legislature
| on the basis Of the receipts thus provided
| for, and not as they have sometimes here
| toforp been made.
to which / have referred are made, and q
| special tax levy to meet them be au-
! thOrized, all of the taxable property Of the
| state will be called upon to pay Its share
! Of this amount, except the property of the
corporations now taxed under the license
! system.
! | am convinced that while the license
system of taxing certain corporations now
In force is the most practicable method
4 yet evolved. II yet has elements Of unfair
| ness and inequality which might, partially
1 LII afFArg a HfntN
| foreign corporations doing business within
| the state which | believe are not paying
| their share Of the expenses Of the govern
ment. Among these are Insurance com
panies the slceping-cnr companies and ex-
| press companies. Then there are the trust
| companies and insurance companies of our
| own state. which do not seem to be fairly
| taxed when compared with other large cor
| pOrations. Our present graded license sys-
| TEN Of taxing the railroad companies con-
| tnns some glaring Inconsistencies. We have
| under this system five classes Of roads, the
| cla sification being based upon the earnings
| per mile The first class pays per cent.
| upon It's gross earnings; the second class
| is taxed 32 per cent on It's gross earnings;
| the third class 3 per cent on Its gross
| earnings: the fourth class pays IS per mile
| and ~ per cent. on oil earnings over $500
| per mile Hp TO 5000 per mile. The fifth
| class pays 50 per nile only.
| The report Of the railroad commissioner
| Of the state, which will be laid before you,
| contains some figures showing the inequali-
| class of roads which pay per cent. Of
their gross earnings pay the equivalent of
rate of 45-10ths Of per cent. upon the
cost Of the roads. The third class, which
pays 3 per cent. Of their gross earnings
pays bnt 2S-tOEhs of / per cent. upon
the cost. The fourth class pays but ID
| 100ths of | per cent upon the cost; while
the fifth class pays but S1O10Oths OF
per cent. upon the cost.
The commissioners report further shows
that some Of the roads which pay the fri.
fling sum Of IS per mile In taxes, and from
which the aggregate sums received varies
from 500 upward, show In their own re-
ports large earnings, and IN some cases,
that the management OF the roads have
been sble 10 pay large dividends.
ia view Of these very noticeable incOn-
sistencies. ] recommend that the classihca-
ti0n De abolished entirely. and that a uni
form license fee upon their gross earnings
be charged all roads doing business within
the state regardless OF what lheir mile
age or earnings may be. IL the per cent
fee upon the gross earnings, which the
frst-c roads now pay, were charged al
Of the roads the income Of the state, bat.ed
upon the returns for the past year, WOMB
be largely Increased
II rests with you to determine, IN pro
yiding for raising the additional reyende
necessary TO cover any appropriations
which you may make, whether the tax
shall be levied upon the assessable properly
only, or shall be divided between the as
sessable property and those corporations
which are taxed under the license system
The facts we have TO face is that each
year the expense Of carrying on the state
government increases. This Is true. l be
iieye In every state. Not only Is there an
increase In the aggregate cost, bnt thefe
is increase In the per capita cost N
other words, the increase In the cost OF
carrying on the state government SHOWS
higher ratio than the increase In our popu-
lation. 1t Is your duty 10 say ai Whetner, III ~