Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1912-10-25
The Farmer : His Taxes
Reform amendment Benefits Him Most
From Present Tax System.

last session OF the Legislature. bas
under the present tax system il Nil
probably be less, as assessments Is
the overlooked sections viii be low
cred. 1t is five per cent more than
the money the schools got last wear
Yet the tax reform amendlnen.
guarantees it as the minimum ana
the estimate of what the schools vil|
get under the new system is e.
$50, 600 a year. None Of the special
school taxes are affected. They Win
be levied as at present and NAV s.
voted in the future on all properly
both the property segregated 70 The
State and left to the parishes.
1t might be asked: What happens
to the veterans pension fund? The
one mill tax amendment provides
that it shall not give their fund owe,
$3.50, 900. The tax reform amend.
ment provides that they shall not
get less than s55Q,000. They get an
even break either way.
Another important Consideration
for the farmer is the amendnien,
permitting the parishes to remove
the taxes to the extent OF 81. 900 n
value from his house and buiIdinn
This should be adopted. Then, il
the parishes vote for it, the exemp.
ton will be made.
These are not all the arguments
in favor of the adoption Of he
amendments submitted to the peo.
Pile for the election of November 5sh
But they are the features that should
appeal particularly to the farmers
who save the quarter mill, get BET
ter schools and roads and may have
their buildings exempted if they
wish.
The removal of State licenses ex.
cept from saloons is another good
feature of the tax reform.
The amendment orders the as
SCISSORS to print maps of the parishes
and mark on each piece Of property
the figure at which they value the
land and figure at which they value
the Improvements. They are then
ordered to assess at a per centaee Of
the value, and this per centage must
apply equally on all property in The
parish. This does away with favor.
itism and avoids mistakes that are
often found when assessments ale
made alphabetically, as they are at
present.
Another feature of the tax reform
is that local assessments do not d.
feet the States income. The State
will not tax property taxed BY the
parish. The parishes may raise o.
lower their assessments withoutsend-
ing more or less money to the treas
ury at Baton Rouge. This prevents
unequal sharing in State taxation.
Despite its hard work and long en-
deavpr, the Board Of Equalization
was not able to do this. Only the
separation of local and States taxN
can do it. That is the reason'wbY
the two were separated.
In addition to the benefits noted
above, all the parish governments
but three, Webster, Jefferson and
St. Bernard make profit on the
change. The State is obligated to
pay them what they lose. A certain
complication caused BY some towns
paying parish taxes and other towns
not paying them will be settled ID
a fair way by the same re-imburse'
ment. First, the parish Reimburse
the towns that pay parish taxes.
They do this out of their profits.
If it should wipe the profits out tie
State makes good to the parishes.
In the case Of towns that pay 20
parish taxes and lose by the new
system, the State makes good to The
towns. This arrangement is mace
clear in Article s Of the amendment.
The many other benefits Of tbs
tax reform amendment cannot b
discussed in this article for lack d
space.