The age-herald., 1901-07-13
THREE MILLS TAX FOR SCHOOLS
 RECOMMENDED BY COMMITTEE

- = - - - . all members who have introduced dog ordinances be appointed by the president of this convention to be known as the Gone dog committee or the Dog Gone committed" to which all letters, peti- tions, memorials and resolves of our con- stituents for or against dog-present meanness-dog future Tueanness, or dog gone meanness-in whore or in part shall be referred without debate.
 The ordinance was ruled out of order.
 MT Sanders of Limestone introduced a resolution to have four additional fans placed in the hall.
 Committee on Education.
 The Committee on Education then made its report as follows:
 MT Peresident: The Committeeon Edu- cation directs me to submit an ordinance to be incorporated in the new Costitution as Article -, Education.
 A few brief explanations and introduc- tory remarks are necessary to the proper understanding of the work and purposes of the committee.
 Section 1.
 This section has been changed by strik- ing out the word "equal as basis of ap- portionment and substituting in substance the fact that the provision for free school term of equal length as the basis of division of the school fund in the re- spective townships and districts; but leaves the apportionment to the several counties according to the number Of school children therein. The latter plan is notachange
 Sections and remain unchanged.
 Sectio presents change in detail, but not in effect. It provides that all poll taxes shall be applied to the public schools in the counties where levied and collected, but leaves the regulation there of as to amount and those subject to such tax to the articles on Taxation and suffrage.
 Section presents apparently the great est change yet in fact Is largely change in method only.
 The object of the committee was and Is merely to guarantee as nearly as possi- ble the present state school fund as the minimum constitutional fund.-
 The 16th section interest and the sur plus revenue funds are trust funds and must renal unchanged; hence the first part of the, old section remains intact
 < Amot 1t of School Money. as present state appropriation proper isel 1000 and to this is added the special
 J milf tax, which for the year 1090 has yielded to this date $256. .117 as shown by the auditors books; and a reliable esti- mate from. this office shows that not withstanding the total assessment of s266, ,S93 2SS for the year 1900, the mill tax
 will not exceed s257. 900. This being true,
 the total fund available for the scholas-
 tic year ending next September, exclu- sive of poll tax and trust fund interest
 will be $55o, GOO plus the 1 mill tax, $751;
 900 or $SO7 OO0.
 In lien of this annual appropriation | and 1 mill tax the committee has sub
 mitted an annual mill tax, or thirty
 cents on each hundred dollars. A three
 mill tax on the assessed valuation of
 last year would yield 900 as an an-
 nual fund, which would be $36,000 less | than the fund for the present year. If
 the state should prosper and the assess | ment for 1901 should reach $SS0. .000, 900, l three mill tax would yield $S06 400 as
 school fund, because only about 96 per
 cent of the total is collected. It will | therefore be readily observed that the
 three mill plan would approximately fur
 nsh the same revenue year in and year | out. that we now have from the general
 appropriation, and the one mill tax. The 1 superior merit of this plan Is that 1t | fixes the school fund permanently, and | does not leave 1t to the general assem- | bly, as a matter of contention at every
 session It Is a sliding scale If the | state prospers and assessments increase, | the schools get larger fund. If values | decrease then the schools share as they
 should the adverse conditionss Present System Troublesome. | The present system of general biennial i appropriations supplemented by the mill special tax, gives hise to endless | trouble in bookkeeping and estimates of the fund, and to efforts an dalarm upon the part of true friends of education less | the approprition may be decreased and the school term shortened.
 THhe auditor in his report for 1899 re- l commended that the plan of this commit tee be adopted, though at different rate. 1 Section remains unchanged. l Section remains unchanged except that 1 the term of office and mode of election are | left out for the reason that the execu- tive article has already provided for these things Jsction 10 remains unchanged except that the institutions for the deaf and | blind at Talladega and the Alabama Girls l Industrial school at Montevallo are State educational institutions that should prop erly be included therein, and 1t Is so done. Section Il is a new section which pro- vides for taking a school census not of- tener than once in wo years and throw ing proper safe guards around the same. This it seems would readily command the appreciation and approval of the conven- tion.
 A New Section. Section. 12 This is a new section which is a modification of an amendment offered to the article on taxation by the chair 9man of that committee. It provides for a 1 mill local tax, with the county as unit to be voted In the respective coun- ties by 60 per cent. of the qualified elec- tors voting at such election. This pro- vision has been favorably reported be- cause of its merits and in view of the re- duction of the State limit of taxation to 65 cents Under 1t the State and county rate combined can never exceed $1.2 per hundred and it Is local self government In | behalf of better schools.
 Sec. 13 is section Il of the present con | stitution, and is incorporated herein with | out change.
 There are some minority views which will either be attached to this report. or | expressed upon the floor of the conven- | tion at the proper time, the gentlemen | in the minority having reserved this | privilege.
 All ordinances and resolutions are here | by returned the same having had careful | consideration by the committee. They are | of the opinion that any further matters than those reported in this article should be left to the General Assembly. JOSEPH B. GRAHAM, Chairman Article on Education. Section l. The General Assembly shall establish, organize and maintain liberal system of public schools throughout the State for the benefit of the children there of between the ages of and 21 years The public school fund shall be appor- tioned to the several counties in propor- tion to the number of school children of |