Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1913-01-15

Tax Commission. which IS ready for sub
mission 10 you; presents a summary Of tn
principal provisions Of the law and tn
fun results OF its operation The snow
/ ing there made completely vindieates III
wisdom OF the people in demanding an in
l come tax and the legislature in establish
ing, it. Designating the personal prop
erty Offset. during the drst year OF Ii.
administration IL has yielded over S3.500.
vyt IN rcfenue-more than WAS collected
| throughout the entire United States undei
The hrst Federal Income Tax OF 1863. ant
| many times more than was ever befor,
/ Soiected from this source In 4 single veal
| in all the states Of the Union put together
! The success Of the law as q revenue pro
dneer has been demonstrated therefore be
yond dispute.
A second aud more important result
| shown BY the report j. the fact that thi,
revenue viii largely come from sources
| that failed heretofore 70 contribute theil
| null share. No poor person will contrib.
| ute a single dollar Of revenue under this
| law, ana no excessive burden is imposed
upon the weil-to-dO or the wealthy. The
/ tax reaches less than per cent Of the
/ entire population of the state and this
number will contribute over 10 per cent
1 o. the revenue TO be raised for an pur-
1 pvses- In the light Of this experience and
! the popular endorsement of the income
4 tax at The recent eleetiOn in the face OF
/ that the principle Of income taxation has
come 10 stay. No question as to its wis
dom Therefore now cunfronts you. That
question has been settled by the decision
/ OF our courts and the verdict of the people
/ Your only duty is to simplify it and rem
/ der II more effective in administration.
,r, The situation Is 10y no means strange.
There we're no satisfactory precedenJs
/ among the income tax laws Of other states,
and II IS not surprising therefore that
minor defects deyeioDed in the practical
administration of our Elw. These defects
can be readily cured by amendment. A
! number of such changes designed to rem
DER the law palmer and more consistent
have. been suggested by the Tax Com
mission. and will trust receive your early
and favorable consideration. Ii seems to
me thai no radical change in the general
scope or character of the act should be
made at this time. Because national banks
are not subject to it. state banks should
be exempted also; but both should be
/ taxed upon their personal property as
heretofore
As originally introduced in the legis-
| lature the present law exempted all per-
sonal property from taxation; but mas
much as II was likely TO be tested in
court and up to that time no state had sue
eeeded in administering an income tax
law. this provision was defeated. The act
rs passed did exempt moneys and credits,
household furniture. farm machinery. i'm
PIGMENTS and tools. and a few other ar
ticies. These classes of property had al
ways been poorly assessed and yielded very
little revenue in proportion TO their actual
value. At the same time a provision was
inserted IN the act authorizing any per-
son paving a personal property tax to
Offset IL against his income tax. This in
effect exempted him from personal prop
also subject to an income tax. This pro-
vision was designed primarily to preserve
the existing status until the validity of the
law should be passed upon by the courts
and its usefulness as revenue producer
had been practically tested.
Prior TO the passage Of the income tax
erty was S5.10S.550. During the first year
OF its administration the income tax
amounted to over $4,000 600. The yield
from personal property still subject to tax
l Is n
of these facts the Tax Commission sug-
gests in its report that all personal prop
utilities: and the stocks of banl,s and trust
| companies Jnquestionably this is the
4 final goal we all wish TO relch and il
conditions were ripe for the change |
1 should cheerfully concur in the sugges-
| ton; but IL is not clear to me thu: t'N
/ time for doing this has yet arrived The
! foregoing figures indicate that the income
/ tax falls S250.000 short of the amount
derived from the personal property still
asSessable, and nearly $2.000.000 short of
the amount derived from personal prop
| erty taxation as il was prior to the re
| cent exemptions, IL is true that 1911 was
1 not a prosperous year and that another
| twelve months experience in the admin
! istration of the law may show larger re
| turns. But the gains in this direction may
| be offset in other ways Several import
ant questions affecting the yield of this
| tax were reserved by the Supreme Court
| in its recent decision. and il seems to me
the law should be given a fuller test both
in the courts and in practice before max
\ ing any fundamental change or hazarding
/ the loss of this added revenue.
| recommend tlfit no radical change In
/ the general scope or character of the in
| come tax law be undertaken at this SEES
sion and that no further exemption OF
personal property be made. But amend
ments necessary TO make the law simpler
and more easily understood by the tax
payer aud more effective from an admin.
| istrative standpoint should be adopted
without delay.
HIGHWAYS.
Under the present law the state high
way fund is raised by a property tax
| specially levied and collected each year
| A better policy would be II possible ia
make it up from the general revenues OF
/ the state and to raise only the amount
not thus available by state tax.
/ The last legislature appropriated a def
1 mite sum annually to cover the cost OF
supervising the construction of roads and
| bridges. Since this item of expense must
necessarily vary with the amount of work
to be supervised, il is desirable that q
more elastic provision be incorporated in
| the law | am told that in engineering
work OF this sort the expense of super
vision is custcmarily figured AT a per
| this item runs as high as fifteen per
| cent of he entire amount. The High
way Coz mission has informed me now
| ever tbst it Will be able to carry on
| the work for not to exceed five per cent
\ of the cost of construction. should this
! percentage seem reasonable to the legis-
|
| ingly so as to obviate the necessity OF
| changing the amount to be allotted for
! this purpose each session of the legis
| lature.
Some states are now employing their
| prison conyicts in building highways
| Colorado has been especially successful in
/ tire development of this idea. If Ii be pos
sihle to apply 1t advantageously in Wis
| consin, 1t is highly desirable: but before
| finally deciding the matter preliminary ex-
periments should be made | respectfully
| roc Il fIaFa n no o-
| Control and the Highway Commission be
given authority and limited appropria.
| ton to carry on joint investigation OF
| this subject by the use of a limited mum
| Der OF cOnyicts in road work in the north
ern part of the state, preferably on lands
| reserved for reforestation, and that they
| be required to report to the next legisla-
4 ture the results Of the experiment, togetb-
| er with their recommendations.
There IS some criticism Of the lack OF
| continuity in the stretches OF road now
being built by means Of state aid and
| many suggestions have been made for the
| more rapid completion of the main lines
may be promoted is to change the auto
| mobile license tax from a uniform sum
| per car as at present to a reasonable mint
| mum charge for the lighter cars. with a
| proportionate increase for the larger auto
| mobiles, depending on horse power OF
| weight. The proceeds or this tax instead
| OF going as at present in large part 70
! the counties where Ii is frequently frit-
| tered away without any permanent i'm
prOvement to show for IT, should be used
| under the direction of the Highway Com
| mission in the maintenance and construc.
| ton OF the lines Of traffic which connect
| the principal cities and villages Of the
| state.
] CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RE
SOURCES.
| In my message Of two years ago I call
| ed attention to the disparity which ex
| lists between taxes on mineral deposits and
| on timber. Standing timber Is taxed every
| year under the general rule. Minerals. be-
| ing under ground and not readIly open