The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1918-02-01

] egi stature, whereas, in fact, only
six mills of his tax are the result
of legislative appropriations, and this
- more than cXhau ted by appropria-
tons for Confederate pensions and
the public school system. OF course,
there are other taxes, but they are
extracted by a process that is more
or less painless to the average citi-
zen.
The greater weight of taxation
originates with counties, municipal
ties. and other local units, where pro-
figate waste and reckless extrava-
gance in the past have evidenced the
incompetency of many officials.
Numbers of these local units are in
a wretched condition of financial dis
tress, and, in the face of high tax
!~levies, their paper often suffers a dis
count in many instances as great as
33 Is per cent. OF course, recent
years have seen large expenditures
in Mississippi for good roads and more
corimodious school buildings, and
these, though the best sort of invest
ments, have added their weight to
the burden. We should also bear in
mind that much of the taxation of
these local units is the result of bond
issues and special ~levies, which were
made at the instance of petitions
signed by a majority of the qualified
electorate, or which were approved
by the voters at the polls. But, W.
find this burden is piling up, for if
A county's paper is worth only two
thirds o. its face value, Of curse.
the county pays that much more for
what it obtains. Outstanding war
rants result in the discount, and a
discount, by reducing the purchasing
power Of The warrant. in turn, results
in the increase of outstanding war
rants. and so the cycle is run.
Fourth. Our system encouraged
tax-dodging, ineficiency. and extrav-
aeane. We have already INDUCED in
a discussion that clearly establishes
the incentives. and even excuses, for
~tax-dodging. and it only remains to
remark that many forms of tax-dodg-
ny INDUCED in by Mississippians have
the sanction and approval Of a great
many people Of our State, who ex-
u7a !. oN &c Eroucd that our sy5-
.em j. negotiable. This is = sad
| commentary on our system Of tax
| alton, but il is none the less 4 true
one.
Ineaiciency results from our meth
| OF OF selecting officials to manage
the fiscal affairs of local divisions
/ without RECRUITMENT Of specified bus
incSs qualifications, and from the fail
ure of many conservative and sub
| startial citizens 70 take that active
| interes. in public affairs that is al
, ways manifested by the scores of
| petty Eraftine parasites who infest
| Extravaganza and false economy
Extravaganza and false economy
are the result Of conditions and cir
| ,ur1:.saccs already noted. and are
| also n,G9c possible 81 our system of
approp-iating public funds by sew
oral independent legislative acts, the
| consideration and passage of which
are strung along daring q three or
| four months period, without the
| guide of any practical budget. The
| natural result is that the Legislature
in apportioning the State funds, is
likely 20 be penny wise and pound
foolish" for it IS all a game Of
| chance. Other causes of waste are
the failure 70 provide q uniform sys-
TEN of bookkeeping and accounting.
and a bu~sinesS-like system Of making
purchases.
! 90 not propose to undertake a
further diagnosis of the malady. In
this discussion of the evils % our
revenue system I have dealt largely
with general conditions rathe: than
eth specific faults, reSorting 10 de-
tails only as illustrations, for .hc rea-
son.
ConScientiouSly striving to remedy
these defects Of the States fiscal sys-
TEN. in 1916 the Legislature Great
ed a State Board of Tax Commission
ers. and both branches adopted reso-
lutions providing for recess revenue
committees composed of members of
Their respective houses. There was
no conflict or Inconsistency in these
actions.
Tho State Tax Commission was not
created for the purpose of i~ncreas-
ing the amount of taxes already paid
by thosecitizcns who were bearing
their proportionate share of the tax
burdens, but rather to equalize as