Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-07-29
BONUS SYSTEM FOLLOWED ~
MANY CITY COUNCILS HELD
TO BE ILLEGAL.
CITIES AND COUNTIES
CAN'T OFFER INDUCEMENTS
System Of coaxins Factories by Offers
Of Free Taxos But Under Ban by
State offieia,s-Ma any Councils Knew
Law Was Being vioIated-7raetiee
Quite General il Past.

Cedar Rapids, July Getty or town
councils or boards of supervisors have
no authority to abate or to remit taxes
of corporation as an inducement to
set up plant in community
So ruled the county accounting de-
partment Of the state yesterday at Des
Moines. The officials declared with
out equivocation that boosting can not
be done in Iowa in this way. The rul-
ing will have a decided effect in Cedar
Rapids which has for number OF
wears been RENTING the taxes of GER
tain corporations.
According to the ruling which may
have a far reaching effect in this city.
the only class of corporation which
sugar beet factory and then only until
Jan. /, 1917.
Practice General.
The practice of renting or abating
taxes always has been considerable OF
a bug bear to city councils and none
has felt or seen the evil Of the prac-
tice any more than the city council
MAYOR Roth, when told of the ruling
of the state accounting department to-
day, expressed himself as highly
pleased at the turn of events and said
he had strong hopes that the law as
at present constituted which allows no
partially in regard to assessment, Will
be enforced in every provision. The
matter of allowing the renting and
the abating of taxes has always been
illegal and has been done only because
the race for city supremacy demanded
that new industries and corporations
be brought to the community and the
only way in which this race could be
maintained was by forgetting all about
the taxes due from that particular bus
mess or corporation and allowing 1t to
begin business in the city with an
agreement that the taxes would be re-
mitted or abated.
The present council has not given
any tax exemptions to business con-
Germs There are about 30 firms which
are exempt but they have been leg
acy saddled on the present council by
those who came before. The present
administration has fought the practice
of giving the exemptions and so far
has been able to maintain its position.
The total exemptions in Cedar Rapids
amounts to $7,367,ssS, but the greater
share of this amount is. property held
by charitable institutions, churches and
libraries, exemptions for which are
providedaby law. Exemptions which
would be included in the class which
the state officials say should not be
exempt amount to $1,107,400. none Of
which can be laid to the door of the
present council.
Knew Law Was Violated.
City officials and assessors always
have known that the practice of re-
hitting and of abating taxes to busi-
ness concerns was direct violation of
law but in the last few years thruout
the state there has been tendency to
wink at the provision which forbade
it. The mad race for municipal supre-
macy is directly responsible for the be-
ginning of the practice but the policy
followed by many cities in Iowa to
great degree has never been followed
here without restraint.
The new ruling will cause no small
amount of CONSERVATION in some Iowa
cities which have depended to draw
new business to their borders by
policy of renting and abating taxes
with joyful abandon. The grim humor
of this policy becomes apparent when
many of the concerns which came at
tracted by the offers of tax exemptions
have found the going a little rough
and have been forced to close their
doors. OF what advantage is such a
concern 70 city, the city commission
ers and Mayor Roth would like to