Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1912-10-11

cent of your revenue was expended
in the erection and maintenance of
public buildings, and the rest went
to your state administration.
Today 81 you viii make the calcu-
tation twelve and two.ftths per cent
in the last sixteen years have been
expended in the erection Of public
buildings and the maintenance of
them and the balance TO your state
government Now. there is an in
crease of S3.000,OO0 and You can't col
lect 100000 more within the bouu
daries of the state and from the citi-
zenship thereof without every man
therein contributing his part
The man that don't own dollar Of
property if his landlords property is
assessed higher and his taxes are
higher, the renter pays his part Of
the taxes by an increased rent, just
as you pay your part Of the taxes of
the national government whenever
the tariff is increased When YOU in
crease the cost 10 the merchant the
merchant will increase the cost to
you and every man who rents pays
his part OF the tax When a license
is put upon business that is part
of the expense OF that business and
every man that buys o. deals with q
man that has to pay a license has to
pay part of it, just as certainly as
you pay the dividends Of the railroads
when you buy your railroad ticket
But they say the real estate is not
paying it, Let us see how that is.
1t don't make any difference TO you
whether you call it a state tax or a
county tax or municipal tax or a
district tax if they take the money
from you-you don't care what the
name is. If they take it away from
you and say they have taken 49,
900, 900 more in 1910 than they did in
1896.
How about your real estate? ! have
the figures here in the County of Ber-
kelley. In 1904 the total amount Of
the assessed value of your real estate
was $4,00O,000 in round numbers. In
1910 it was $4,000 600 in round num-
bers-from $4o00,00O to $l0000,000,
and you pay $4,000 more taxes on that
real estate than you did in 1904. Now
those are the figures taken right from
the tax records.
How is it about your personal prop
erty? Your total real and personal
values in 1904 were in round numbers
IS. 100000. In 1910 it was $13,000,000
How much taxes more do you pay IN
1910 on the real and personal prop
erty in Berkeley county than 1904?
You pay $4,000 more taxes. Yet they
tell.you they have reduced your taxes
but they collect $4000.000 where they
collected S1.553,0 900; they collected
$4,000 more on your real estate and
and $50, 900 more on your real and per
sonal property than they did in 1904
so that condition is not true.
For instance, let MS take the tax
commissioners Office. A great hallaba-
loo has been made about the efficiency
of that office and what great benefits
w est V iTEluld mas utl mum ~ am
! undertake to say if you would make
ii a part of the auditors office and
put it under the supervision and con
troll of the auditor that it can be OPP
Grated at a cost not to exceed $1,000
annually.
What did your tax commissioners
Office cost you last year? $4,000
Whenever you establish a separate de
partment Of government there are so
much extra expense incurred in the
way of office equipment. office rent
salaries of the chief and clerks and
stenographers. But if you put it in
the auditors office you don't have all
those things, and | say it can be done
for $1,000 a year. But what is the
worst part of that? 1t is this: That
the act which created that Office said