Los Angeles herald., 1909-09-26

low 80 sOf
1880 ..''...... 800 7o0
1900. ............ 1.154 .9oS
1903. ............ 1b1 1.16
1908. ....,..... 1.26 I25
Year Santa Clara SonOma
1890. ........... "72 81
l6O0 ......'.... 100 $40
1900. .......... 1909 1.151
lSO0 ...'.,..... LILO I.4l
1908. ........... 1.24 1.50
1.-THE following comparison is made
by choosing twenty representative
counties and striking an average of
their rate for the years named:
1890. ....... .879 1905. ...... 1899
1895. ...1OS6 1908. LAOS
1900. ..... .1.255
LAS before said, these are all out
side rates; in incorporated cities,
where county road taxes are not col
lected, the rates have not grown so
rapidly.
ut is generally believed that in
created rates for road and school pur-
poses have been responsible for higher
county taxes, and as to roads this is
true. In some of the counties, In con-
sequence of the insistent demand for
road improvement, the tax has been
doubled within the last ten years; for
example, Los Angeles county, in
which, as In five or six other coun-
ties, the rate for road purposes is now
60 cents on $100. This is indeed a high
rate of tax for single object and
dissatisfaction with 1t in the rural dis
tricts, which alone pay it, incorporated
towns and cities escaping, is no doubt
at the bottom of many county road
bond movements, which, If they sue
ceed, will have the effect of compelling
the cities to bear their fair share of
expense in building the roads which
all use in common.
r
But the reasonable conclusion is
that county tax rates have increased
for practically the same causes as have
increased government expenditures
generally; that is, they are operated
upon by a whole circle of causes in
volving our entire civilization and plan
of government, as it has been the en-
deavor of this paper to explain.
wishing to reserve space for the
discussion of state expenditures, will
not enter at length into municipal sta
tistics, an excellent reason therefor be-
ing that in this state we have really
had no statistics on which compari-
sons could be made and from which
deductions could be safely drawn.
Indeed, with regard to expenditures
and taxes in this state we have a most
anomalous condition in the lack of any
comprehensive reports covering the
whole field The state government,
fifty-eight county governments, more
than two hundred incorporated cities
and towns. several thousand school
districts, sanitary districts, road dis
tricts or divisions, reclamation districts
and few more, are all empowered to
cause taxes to be levied, and some of
them are authorized to incur bond
debts.
Each one of these taxing and spend
ing authorities keeps books in It's own
way, which is generally a different
the case of the counties, and these but
partially, do they report to a common
center. 1t has been impossible to
know the sum of taxes, expenditures
or debts, although under our constitu-
tional theory all this diversified ma
chinery of government constitutes a
part of the one great state government
machine. No one local government
knows what another is doing, although
oftentimes their jurisdictions lap and
overlap and their tax burdens cumu-
late.
Bookkeeping Inadequate
"But all of these different taxing au-
thoritieS are drawing checks against
the same bank, which is the bank of
industry. 1t is doing business without
a business organization. When, in
commonwealth like California, it is
impossible for any one to ascertain
the aggregate of the revenue or of the
expenditures or to learn the total in
debetdness of cities, towns. school dis
tricts and sanitary districts, the situa-
tion Is like that of business house
If you can conceive of such business
house-which does not know how
much it owes and keeps no account of
bills receivable or bills payable. In
private affairs such methods would in
vite bankruptcy, but in government
business they excite little or no com
ment, and a demand for a different
system is apt to elicit the inquiry:
What is the good of statistics any
way"
Last year, through a little volun-
tary effort on, the part of the con-
troller's office, statements of assessed
values, tax rates, revenues and eX-
penditures were received from 100 in
corporated towns and cities and they
show the following facts of interest:
These cities and towns contain not far
from half of the assessable wealth of
California; they have revenues of more
than $30,00000G and they are indebted.
or were last year, to the extent or
$2S, 100000 This year, since the issu-
ance of additional bonds by. San Fran
cisco and Los Angeles, the total in
debtedness has been largely increased,
"In the decade between 1880 and 1890,
as shown by census figures, municipal
Indebtedness in California was not
over SIS, ,000, 900 and was decreasing. But
between 1890 and 1900 it doubled and
it is now growing even more rapidly.
as is also the indebtedness of school
districts and other minor civil subdi-
visions.
lnauguratine Improvements
"The meaning of this change is
simply that California cities, which
were stagnant between 1880 and 1880,
are now active in acquiring public
utilities and otherwise inaugurating
Of magnitude. There
win be a vast deal of this during the