Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-05-29


and to Increase the municipal income.
TT MAY be that George w. b. Hicks
Il has obtained information about
sources of revenue in other cities that
was not secured by the Advisory Com
mittee on Municipal Finance, appointed
by Councils in October, 1912. other
cities may have modified their taxing GUS
toms in the last four years. If so, It is
important that the Mayor and his adj
visers should have the facts before them.
But what the city Is suffering from at
present is really not lack of information,
but lack of political courage to grapple
with the issue before it. There seems to
be uncertainty about the wisdom of in
creasing the tax rate, as II there were
something sacred about the prevailing
rate of 81 on every 500 of assessed
valuation. In every other great city the
tax rate is flexible and changes with the
changing costs of government. In New
York the Board of Estimate makes up the
annual budget. Then its total is divided
by the assessed value of the property 10
the city and the quotient is the tax rate
for the year. OF course, the revenue
from special sources, license fees and Ger.
tain special taxes Is deducted from the
amount to be raised by q general tax be-
fore the sum to be divided by the as
sessed value of the city is obtained. Here
we fix the rate arbitrarily and then strug.
gle along with accommodating deficits. 1t
has just been decided to wipe out the
accumulated deficits of more than $4,000
l~.,, NIL
poning the day of final reckoning, for
the bonds must be paid out of sources
of revenue or by an increase in
the tax rate. Money must be found to
meet the current expenses also, which, as
every one knows, are still greater than
the current receipts.
The Commonwealth takes from the
business of the city about $3.50 900 every
year by special taxes that in other States
are turned over to the cities in which the
business is done. We cannot get posses
sion of this revenue without change in
the laws New York city, for example,
receives between $4,000 900 and $4,OO0OO
a year from the proceeds of a tax of
one per cent. on the book value of the
shares of the banks doing business there
The tax is uniform throughout the State
and the city treasures rather than the
State treasury profit by it.
Objection has been raised to an increase
in the special tax on various forms of
business. Forty-two forms of business
are already taxed or licensed by the city
or the State, but in other States more
than $50 forms of business have to pay
special taxes. They are justified by two
valid reasons. One is that when a barber,
for instance, is required to take out a
license for which SIS is charged, the police
department has control over him, and
that If he does not observe the rules laid
down by the Board of Health his shop can
be closed summarily by revolking his
license. The other reason is that the
small fees charged, while not oppressive,
produce in the aggregate large amount
of revenue.
New York and Chicago tax a large num-
ber of businesses which are exempt here.
Some of them are bakers and confection-
ers, special bar permits, billposters,
bowling alleys, the sale of cigarettes,
cleaners of clothes, dancing schools, deal
ers in secondhand goods, delicatessen
stores, druggists, dealers in fireworks, gas
oline launches, shooting galleries, hand
carts, ice dealers, lumber yards, medical
dispensaries, slaughter houses, roofers
skating Kinks, common shows, boarding
stables and undertakers. Pittsburgh has
a tax of 5000 a month on transient mer-
chants, who open a store and sell goods
in ruinous competition with the estab-
lished houses. Louisville taxes the small
loan brokers $1,000 a year. Amusement
places in Chicago are taxed from s25 to
$1,000.
We are not advocating levying any OF
these special taxes. We are merely call
ing attention to the ability of the author
tiles in other cities to raise revenue for
current expenses. Philadelphians have
Just as much ability as New Yorkers. 1t
is about time that they exercised it and
put an end TO the eXtravagant practice
OF piling up deficits each year and pay
ing interest on loans because they fear
the consequences OF raising money enough
to meet the bills as they fall due,
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