The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1918-05-04
Burden Is Lightest in Commu1
ties Boosting Live and Thriy-
ing Towns.
farmer FEELS THE EFFECT,
Is Inclined to Forget, at Times, That
He Is Most vitality Interested in
Prosperity Of Nearby
Cities.

Prosperity OF Nearby
Cities.
(Copyright, 1917 Western Newspaper Un1on.)
Taxes are always heavy-to the man
who has to pay them-but taxes in
some communities are much higher
than in others. If you have ever
stopped to investigate the matter you
have discovered that the lowest taxes
are found in the most prosperous COM
munities. And there's q reason.
The prosperous community has the
lowest taxes because there Is a large
amount of wealth in the community
against which the taxes may he as
sessed. There are prosperous mer-
chants with large stocks of goods up
on which taxes are levied. Property
values are high and there are thriving
industries which pay large proper
ton Of the taxes.
The higher the property 'Ialues and
the greater the wealth Of the commu3
nifty the lower are the tax levies, for
lower tax on each hundred dollars Of
valuation is required to produce the
necessary revenue for the administra-
ton Of the city and county govern
ments.
Other Taxes Are Raised.
lon the other hand, take dead town.
Property values are low. Merchants
stocks are small and they have little
money in the bank. Industries which
ordinarily pay large. part of the taxes
Of a community have closed down.
There are vacant store buildings which
were formerly filed with stocks of
merchandise upon which the owners
paid heavy taxes. Who pays the taxes
that were once paid by the mechants,
the manufacturers, the bankers and
the men who had large holdings of
high-priced property! The taxes to
conduct the city and county govern
ments, to maintain the schools, to build
and repair the roads must be collect
ed from someone. Who pays them:
The man who owns his little home o.
tie vacant lot or two upon which he
has been planning to build his home
must pay double Or triple the amount
which he paid in the times when the
town was prosperous, to make up for
the taxes which are not paid now by
the merchants, the bankers, the manu-
facturers and the big property owners
who bore the heaviest burdens Of tax
alton when times were good.
The farmers in the country sur
;; rounding the town are also among the
heaviest sufferers from the ebbing of
the towns prosperity. A certain
amount Of money must be raised by
taxation to provide for the expenses
Of the county. Roads must be built
and kept in repair. Bridges must be
built and maintained. Salaries Of
county officers must be paid. County
institutions for the care Of the sick
and the poor must be maintained. In
counties which contain one or more
thriving towns, large proportion of
the taxes for the county are paid by
the towns. The greater the wealth
Of the towns and the higher the prop
erty valuations, the lower the tax levy
for the entire county. When the tax
levy is low the burden placed upon the
farmer is light.
Burden Falls on Farmer.-<
When the county contains no pros
porous and wealthy towns, the greater
part Of the burden Of taxation for the
county falls upon the farmer. The
value of the farmers property does not
fall in proportion to the value Of the
property in the town and the higher
tax levy that results from the lower
property values in the towns makes
his taxes higher.
The farmer forgets at times that he
is vitality interested in the prosperity
of 'his town. He thinks that it is up
to the town to take care Of itself and
that it is up to him to take care of
himself and he overlooks that fact that
the prosperity Of the town means as
much to him as it does to those who
live in it. The farmer who is inclined
to overlook this fact has only to think
of the matter Of taxes and he Is likely
to change his point of view for taxes
are one thing that neither he nor any
one else can escape, and they are one
thing in which the farmer ordinarily
takes very lively interest.
How Farmer Can Help.
There is just one gay in which the
farmer can best promote prosperity in
the town near which he lives and that