Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1906-01-05
TAX CODE BILL.
Petition in Circulation May Re
suit in New Law.

copies OF the new tax code pro-
posed by the tax committee of
the Willamette Valley Develop
ment League. were sent out by
the president of that body, jan
uary 1st. Those allotted Corval-
lis arrived Tuesday. The plan
is to get 1850 signatures to the
petition in order that the bill
may be submitted to the voters at
the election in June There are
but little more than three weeks
in which the required number of
signatures may be secured.
The bill not only proposes new
forms of taxation, such as an In
crease of the tax on insurance
companies, taxes on the gross
earnings of express, telephone
and telegraph companies, taxes
on Pullman, oil-tank and retrig-
erator-car companies, but also
revises the general tax laws now
in force
The bill proposed would in
crease indirect taxation so that
1evies for the state revenues the
first year under its operation
would be reduced one.half aud
each year become less until there
shall be no state tax levied.
In order to accomplish a COM
plete revision of existing legis-
lation relating to assessment and
taxation, the committee has com
piled all laws related to the SUBJ
ject, omitting many Implications
and obsolete sections, and max
ing minor aud clerical changes
required to make the whole har-
mon1ous, that the end sought
might be attained, shifting the
revenues required to carry on the
state government, and all its de-
partmenti and institutions, to in
tangible sources, which the as
SCISSOR and tax collector hitherto
has not levied upon.
The committee has deemed it
best not to repeal any existing
laws for raising revenues, re-
memb, ring that such legislation
compelled a special session of the
legislature, but has lett undis-
turbed the present method and
modus operandi of assessment
and collecting, existing as noted
herein:
Transfer the 81 county poll tax
to the road fund and collect same
as road poll tax is now collected.
This is not new tax. At present
it is charged up and added to the
property assessment, but in case
of persons who pay no property
tax it is seldom collected.
Reduce the penalty on delin-
quent taxes from 10 per cent tol
5 per cent, and the rate of inter-
est from II per cent to 8 per
cent.
In the section providing how
the amount of state taxes paidI
by each county shall be estinat-
ed, it is declared that the same
is based on current expense, ex-I
cepting OILY expenses for roads
and bridges. There are added
expenses for "county buildings
and repairs thereof. 1t is
manifestly wrong in policy to
penalize a country for its enter
prise in erecting and maintain
ing courthouses, jails, inhrmaries,
etc.
The committee adopted the
Illinois plan of requiring publ
cation of the assessment roll be-
fore it is acted upon by the
county board of equalization.
The enforcement of this provis-
ION has resulted IN greatly IN
creasing the total assessments by
bringing the amount OF property,
real and personal, given in by
each person to the attention of
his neighbors and the general
public. The publication will
be made in the newspapers in
each county nearest the property
by precincts.
The committee has raised the
taxes on the gross premiums of
insurance companies from to 3
per cent. 1t is a fact that 26
states collect a higher tax on in
surance companies than Oregon.
This bill levies a 2 per cent
tax on the gross earnings of the