The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1920-10-14
THURSDAY, OCTOBER IA, 1920
PAVING A BE-LATED WAR TAx

regard with any great interest the action of
the federal government in collection of war
taxes. Sure they have been stung by the tax on
the dish of ice cream and the tax on candies
and perfumeries and few of them who were
extravaganza have paid the tax on excessively
priced wearing apparel but for the most part
worrying over the federal taxes has been linn
tied to a few people whose incomes went into
the double, triple and So on figures. A lot of
people took a considerable delight that the gov
eminent was digging down deep into the in
comes Of a few to pay the cost of war. Now
the chickens are coming home to roost and it
is announced that on account Of the vast sums
paid by some of the corporations for income
tax to the federal government last year they
are going to be practically exempt from the
state income tax this year. It means that the
city must make up by general taxation on real
estate and personal property the amount which
it last year collected as its share of the state
income tax It is probable that the lesson Of
chow the chickens come home to roost" is going
to be one which will touch every pocket in Ke-
nosha and lot of people are going to aid in
making up this federal income tax whose in
comes we're never considered sufficient for the
government collector to hunt them with writ
to demand a return.
The incident is interesting as it drives home
the very large contribution that the corpora
tons make to the upkeep of the city. All cor
porations are not factory owners There are
others but in general the corporations of Ke-
nosha are paying very large percentage Of
the tax With the failing of the state income
tax this year it is certain that local taxes will
have to be higher. The government was paid
last year and there is no reason to believe that
the excessive income tax collected by the gov
eminent will not be continued for several years
and during these years Kenosha is going to lose
largely the income tax which it has grown &C
customed to count on to aid materially in the
operation of the city.
The costs of operating the city are not 60
ing to be greatly reduced by the time the next
tax levy is collected and the people must not
blame increased taxes too greatly onto the city
officials. They must come to understand that
part of the tax to be collected is paying for
war" and that it is because, the corporations
have advanced the cost Of war that they are
not paying it into the treasury of the city of
Kenosha. The assurance that this tax must
be made up for, that an added tax for the state,
an increased tax for the care of dependents an
enlarged school budget, and big deficit to pay
for what we weren't able to find in the money
for this year, all dubbed together gives the as
surance that Kenosha people will dig deep for
the taxes this year. It should be a call to the
~ in t0
these extraordinary expenses. 1t may mean
that reduction is possible and the program for
public improvement should be arranged along
the lines of bond program with the people I'M
Outstanding distinctly that their improvements
are to be paid for by the issue Of bonds.
If the people do not want to pay the cost of
bonds let them wait for the improvements until
some time later when the reduction of costs
of material and labor or the release of some
of the city taxes will make it easier to meet
the bills The city is facing crisis in it's finan-
cial situation such as it has never faced before
1t would be easy for the council to vote tax
levy of fifty or sixty mills and get by with pay
ments for everything but it would be hard for
lot of people to pay such tax levy. Keno
sha must make an effort to keep its tax levy at
the lowest possible point and keep out Of bank
ruptcy and stagnation of the growth of the
city.
1t is big problem-one that should prove
expressing to the best financial students OF the
city. The council finance committee should not
attempt to decide alone as to the course to be
followed. Wise heads should be called into con-
sultation by the members of this committee
and they should be asked to advise as to what
SIS the hest course to be followed with view of