Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-09-15
TAXES AND COMMON SENSE


TT is inevitable that there should be a
change in the tax rate. For a long
time the financierlng OF the city has been
Of character to make men blush. Each
administration has seemed TO feel that Il
could pass the buck" on to the next ad.
ministration, with the result that debt
| for current expenses has been piling up.
The point has been reached at last when
there can be no further postponcment.
What the new rate will be nobody
knows. Until the budgets OF the several
departments are In and a general survey
OF the whole situation has been made, it
will be impossible to arrive at fair esti
mate. We are hopeful. in fact. that some
means will be devised OF raising funds
without throwing too much of the bur.
den on real estate. The man Of moderate
means should be enabled own his
home under reasonable taNL..on. and we
doubt II there is much Justice in forcing
him to empty his pockets simply because
he is easy to reach. II must be possible
to supply the treasury without hitting
too hard the owners Of homes.
The city has four great money.making
assets, actual or potential. They are:
l. The gas works.
q The water works.
g. The rapid transit system.
4. The dock and pier system.
The first of these is yielding, under
tax system which takes the form of dollar
gas. not less than 100000 net profit an
nually.
The second of these. under an anti.
quated system of financing, is yielding
the city not less than s1,00O,0oo after
paying interest on all bonds and other
Indebtedness.
potentially than actually. The city has
had no trouble in leasing such piers as
1t now possesses. The experience Of New
Orleans and other ports proves conclu-
sively that for every dollar wisely spent
in port development there is a definite
return sufficient not only to pay for the
development, but actually also to yield n
net profit.
The new transit system contemplates
no tax on citizens. 1t does contemplate
eventually an actual earning power, so
that the city will share, as Chicago does,
in the s23.O0O.OOo or more annually ex-
pended, even under present conditions, for
urban transportation in Philadelphia.
These public utilities in which the city
has a proprietary interest are distinct
from those municipal instrumentalities
which are not revenue-producing. The
policing of the city and other functions
Of the sort give due return TO citizens,
but not in the form of money
The city, therefore. has two kinds Of
activities-those which yield revenue and
| those which do not.
Each type should be segregated. The
water works, the gas works, the dock sys-
tenn and the transit system should either
be organized as distinct corporate en-.
titles each under the general control of
the city. or, failing that, they should be
managed individually. as contemplated
under the Bullitt charter; and their
funds should be merged with general
funds in the city treasury only when the
net profit is computed.
Citizens are entitled to know just what
their municipal ownership projects are
doing and what the net return annually
| from them is. These projects, as a mat.
ter OF fact. reduce the tax rate; they do
not increase it. .---
TIE IT nIrnC ABE IIETINC