Daily Kennebec journal., 1908-12-19

gate amount OF direct State tax 20 be
| levied on cities and towns.
This reduction is based on the assunp-
ton that future Legislatures Will not ap-
propriate sums in excess OF the amount
granted by the Legislature Of 1907. In this
| connection it may be well to note that the
| State treasurer's reports show that past
Legislatures have levied larger State
tax than has been needed for current ex-
penditures. The policy of levying larg-
| er tax than is necessary to meet current
| expenditures so that payment of bords
anticipated may well be questioned.
| There seems to be no sound reason to
doubt that the adoption of these sugges-
tions will lie a largely Increased state rev.
enue without deDriving our cities and
| towns of any of the present sources OF
| revenue
Municipal Taxation.
We shall now consider under approprl-
es OF property from which cities and
| towns derive revenue for purely munich
| pal purposes.
Poll Tax.
There seems to be no sound reason why
| a person subject to Il poll tax should not
| oay the same amount whether he resides
| IL Fort Kent or Kittely.
We recommend a provision authorizing
the municipal officers to make u special
| commitment of such portions of the levy
| as they certify may be lost by further
| delay.
Light, Heat, Power, Gas and Water
| Companies.
| Electric LIGHT. heat and power .compa-
MES, and gas and water companies, are
| taxed locally IN the municipality where
| their property is located. Many of them
serve several municipalities and as Il ic-
| suit no one boald of assessors values
them as a unit.
| We, therefore. suggest that the board
| which is to value public service corpoin.
| tions shall determine the entire value of
| the property Of All such electric light.
| heat and power companies, gas and wa
ter companies, as are located in more
| than one municipality, ard apportion 10
| each town such part ot the entire value
| as they deem just for the local taxation.
| Money at Interest.
| The application of the general property
tax . he fora of property variousls Z
'tights and credits moneys and secur.
! ties" or money at interest," has at all
| times presented an almost unsolvable
2roblern: On theoretical grounds tie, very
! proposition that such property should be
| taxed ut all has been vigorously disputed
and in practice a satisfactory method of
levying the tax has yet to be found.
State, County and Municipal Bonds.
That in many cases the enforcement of
| the tax on money AT interest would re-
| suit in confiscation is well shown by the
| situation in respect to State, county and
| municipal bonds. Is ii fair and equitable
| for cities and towns to sell bonds ut a
rate of interest so low and then exact Il
tax of ? Fer cent. annually from the pur.-
| chaser?
There is another end peculiar considcra
| tor in the case of this class of bonds.
| The proper administration Of State, coun-
ty and municipality requires not only Cit
Zens to discharge the duties of certain
)f!ices. but also money for improvements.
Both men ana money are equally nerGs-
maintenance Of the. governWent. The
money loaned a town is performing ser
vice as necessary in the administration of
the town as the services rendered by the
Salpcfnpn
for the assistance rendered.
Maine Railroad and Corporation Bonds.
To all intents and purposes the stocks
and bonds of a corporation are merely
evidences of ownership in it's property
and should be treated alike for taxation
# the corporation itself pays taxes on
all its property within the State, we. car
see no sound reason why the individual
,WnerS should be subject to a further taN
whether the particular ownership is rep
resented by a certificate Of stock Of by a
bond
The present law if stringenty admins
tered would result in gross injustice.
We think it is unjust and ineauitahle"
to exempt from, taxation class of secnri-
ties yielding a large annual return. and TO
tax another class in the same corporation
Yielding smaller income 1t would seem
be the one yielding the larger returns.
Real Estate Mortgages.
Mortgage credits are taxable TO the
nortgagec as money at interest" The
more strongly are we convinced that any
tax upon a. mortgage credit results in
double taxation.
The total amount of "money at inter
st" taxed locally, according to the re-
port of the state assessors for the year
1907 is 81 .435.6SG.
have class Of property taxable as
money ut interest" amounting to more
than sl1oooCooc listed ct ST. AS 9sa o, o,
about ~ per cent. OF the estimated
ta<1hla
these figures prove conclusivcly that the
present law which attempts to tax this
class of property is an utter failure?
Careful examination Of the statistics
from the different resiStries Of deeds, the
amounts actually listed hy the assessors,
and information gathered from the rec
ords of probate courts and other sources,
forces us to the conclusion that the tax
on this class OF property is unjust ana
semblance Of uniformity in taxing the
owners thereof.
In MARYLAND "!ntanebles'' are taxed at
very low rate. This is called The Balti-
We recommend that the Legislature give
serious consideration TO the BALTIMORE
plan for the taxation Of bonds and other
forms of credit not specifically discussed
herein.
Viewing the subject in its entirety for
the various reasons stated-we recon-
pal bonds, together with the bonds of
such corporations as pay an ed Nalorem
property tax. and credits secured by
mortgage. be exempt from local taxation.
The tables fUrther show that during the
last 10 years there have been recorded
trust deeds securing bond issues amount
ing to $36S. .S5?.S S12. THIS makes grand
total of l1O13S mortgages amounting to
$47S. $50 recorded in Maine during the
last 10 wears. To compensate TO" the loss
in revenue sustained from this incqutable
and i'll administered tax. we have already
recommended an inheritance tax which
is easily administered and we also rec
ommcnd a recording tax similar to the
tax in force in New York. We cannot
state exact results to be expected from
such tax, since certain portion of re-
corded mortgages, especially those sccur-
ing bond issues, include property outside
of the State, and there are certain dupli-
cations of mortgages recorded in several
counties.
We recommend that the law permit the
recording anew Of mortgages now in force
and that all mortgages and bonds Sc
cured by trust deeds so recorded be ex
empt from taxation when held by indi-
viduals. We do not recommend, how
ever. any change in the method of COM
putting the franchise tax upon such trust
companies and savings banks as own
mortgages subject to the recording tax.
The privilege Of putting together individ
ual deposits for investment in a large
number of securities under State super
vision involves valuable franchise
L. ...l