Arizona republican., 1910-06-24
The Question of Taxation Under the
 State Government.

0tate SONeFnncnI
 Will the taxpayers of Arizona be Init hard" when statehood comes? is a question that is interesting many citizens just now. Some rather wild pre- dictions have been made, to the effect that under the state form of govern ment the burden of taxation will be little actual basis for such prophecies. As a matter of fact, practically every thing will depend upon the personnel of the new state government. An eX- travagant government can easily run our taxes up enormously. On the other hand, if we are fortunate enough to elect legislators who will be governed by a spirit of economy, and if we elect capable state officers, there will be no reason for any in- crease of the tax rate.
 It is true that the expense account, for salaries and so forth, will be far larger than under the territorial form; but the state will also have larger revenues, which will to a large ex- tent offset this account.
 Uncle Sam now pays most of the salary list. The additional annual ex- pense of the state for salaries will be approximately, say
 For the governor. ...............S 5,OOO SapratarH- pf state OUil Other territorial officers in ad-
 dition to those now paid from
 the territorial treasury ...... 10000 Judges of the district courts (5) 10000 Justices of the supreme court. 5000 Legislature, on basis of $60,000
 for each biennial session. .... 30,000
 Total .. ...... ...s7s,O ,OOo
 It will be noted that we have al- lowed but $5,O0O for the additional ex- pense for the supreme court. The ter ritory now pays s1O,OOO year, total, to the five justices of the supreme court, the remainder of their salaries being paid by the United States. We shall need but three justices of the state supreme court, since they will not do trial court work, and if we pay them s5,OOO each, the total salary expense for the supreme bench will be s15,OOO a year, as against $1O,0OO now; an increase of $5,O00.
 Toward offsetting this increased ex- pense, the state will get in additional taxes from the main line of the Santa Fe railroad, say, $30,SS0. This road has a length of 3S676 miles. It is now exempt from taxation under a federal statute, but voluntarily pays taxes to the several counties through which it runs, averaged for the several coun- ties. this amount to taxation on val nation of approximately $5,000 a mile. When the road is assessed for taxa tion by the state, assuming that the valuation will be $15,OOO a mile, the same as the Southern Pacific, the in- creased valuation will amount to s3,- S6O. 900, which on the basis of an S0 cent tax rate for the state would yield an additional revenue of s3O,SS0.
 The account would yield. therefore Increased expense because of
 state form of government .$73,OOO Increased revenue for same req
 son .-....- oO,ooV
 Net increase of expenses. SAP, 12O
 Assuming a total tax roll of S4 mill lion dollars for the state. this would necessitate an increase of 5 cents on each hundred dollars of valuation, round figures, if there were increased revenues from no other source.
 But there will be still more addi- of the attainment of statehood, but because of expiration of the periods of exemption for some of the railroads. The increased revenues from this source will materially swell the states total, so that the net increase in the tax rate should be only nominal, at the worst.
 This prospectively excellent show ing would be radically changed, how ever, were we to elect an eXtravagant legislature, as was done in Oklahoma. In that state, extravaganza ran riot. They provided for a state printer" and allotted to the job huge sum in graft, and numerous other unneces- sary offices were created.
 It is all up to the people to decide whether statehood shall bring in- creased taxation