The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-04-27

unanimously recommended by Judge Ro- maine Boyd and MT. George Eustis about seven years ago. they having been ap- pointed a committee to look into the matter Judge Boyd was city attorney at that time and MT. Eustis auditor. This report is before me now and Is most exhaustive and convincing that the only way by which the city of Birming- ham can obtain sufficient revenue for it's needs is the formation of Birming- lam City-County. These gentlemen as such committee looked carefully into the operation of the city-county plan in Richmond, Baltimore. Denver and other cities and discovered that it had been a success wherever tried. A reprint of this report now should be made and given general circulation for the infor- nation of our citizens. Later on Mir. Isadore Shapiro, a close student of mu- nicipal affairs. and while a member of the legislature from this county, wrote a most interesting article for the news papers, in which he reported that the only relief for the city of Birmingham was the organization of Birmingham county.
 MT Burruss is quite right when he says in substance that this sentimental talk about Imperial Jefferson" ~s all bosh. The imperial governmental dnlts of the world are not counties, but cities. Please mark this down. This has been so ever since the world began. Baby lon, Cathage, Rome, Paris, Chicago, Minneapolis, Memphis, Atlanta, Blrmlng- ham, and so on. Outside of the particu- lar county or state in which these cit ies were or are located no one knows or cares to know the counties in which they are located. When visitors come among us and leave it is of Birming- ham they speak. We are imperial or not in their estimation, according to the kind of municipality we have. 1t IS in Birmingham we live and have our be- ing, and not in the wild lands surround ing it. Birmingham should have our first consideration, and although we may not have the money to make her im- perial. we should strive for this and should furnish her at once with money to keep poverty from constantly star ing her in the face and to run this citys and it's various departments as an lp-to-date, progressive American munic- ipality should be conducted.
 Since the appearance of the article py Commissioner Burruss, Commissioner Hornady wrote an article in The Age Herald in which he advocated as a rem edy a raise of municipal tax rate of mills, making our city taxes Sl.50 per s10O and thereby making total of state, county and city taxes $3.S0 quote from this article: '.The taxes We pay in Ala barna are much too small and seem ri diculous when compared with the taxes Of more progressive states that are rem dering greater service to their citi- zens.' He further states that licenses are much too high. and turn away from Birmingham many enterprises thai might otherwise come here.
 I differ with MT. Hornady in the state ment that our taxes are 'ridiculously low as compared with other state sim ilarly situated, and wish to submit here with data which I have obtained from Nashville, Atlanta and Memphis as te taxes in those cities for the purpose o1 comparison:
 NashviIe--Land assessed about 30 pel cent it's value; city tax, $1.5o; county and state, $.5o; total, S.
 Atlanta-Land assessed about 70 per cent it's value; city tax. $1.3; county and state sf.25; total $2.50.
 Memphis-Land assessed about 60 pei cent it's value; city tax, $1.So; county and state $1.6s; total, $3.4s.
 In each of the above cities the city pays for one-third of all street improve ments.
 Birmingham-Land assessed about q