Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-07-26
WOULD CHANGE
TAX system
Hatchet and Saw Methods
in Taxation Are Proving
Expensive, is Claim.
REPORT TO GOVERNOR
Board of Taxes Points Out the
Need of Drastic Changes
in the State Tax Laws.
REPORT TO GOVERNOR
By Special Correspondent.

By Special Correspondent.
TRENTON. July 26.-"Hatchet
and saw" methods in taxation are
very expensive to the people of New
Jersey, but they do not appreciate
the price they have to pay for them.
and so they not enthuse over pro-
posals which aim to perfect the
mechanics of assessment, according
to the annual report of the State
Board of Taxes and Assessments sub
mitted to Governor Edwards today.
In that section of the report re-
commencing changes in the taxing
system, particular attention is paid to
the necessity for drastic changes in
the tax laws.
The board says that 1t is very
necessary that the machinery of ad-
ministering the taxing system should
be improved. 1t recognizes that
advance in this direction can be
made only by slow stages. and COM
ments that the public sentiment IS
not yet sufficiently aroused to give
to the movement any momentum in
addition to that which it derives from
its own merit. Better methods of
assessing taxes have not yet become
one of the burning issues of political
CdAa llAC "ACPOAN-
But as the load of taxation con-
tinues to grow, 1t may be expected
that the methods of taxation, no less
than its bases, will become a sub
ject of keener concern" the report
continues. ''Then will follow the
adoption of some of those ad-
ministrative reforms without which
1t is perfectly clear to all who have
made a special study of the subject,
no system of taxation will work
fairly and approximate equality IN
the distribution of the burden. There
can be no doubt that when public
sentiment is developed to the point
where the pressure for change will
be irresistible, reforms In administra-
ton will speedily be put into effect
The reforms recommended in the re-
port to the Governor are practically
the same as those endorsed by the
special tax commission authorized by
the Legislature of 1919. The parti-
cular changes advocated in the re-
port of that commission and en-.
dorsed by the state board in its
annual report are:
The abolition of the personal
property tax and the substitution
therefor of tax on income and
tax on DuSlneSS;
The effective control of local
assessment by supervisory agencies
invested with adequate powers:
The appointment Of local assessors
by the governing bodies. with tenure
and adequate salaries: the present
assessors to continue in office:
The lands exempted from taxa
ton to be materially restricted in
area.
The boards report takes up in
some detail the proposition % sub
stitute an income tax for the per-
sonal property tax, which is charae-
terized as inadequate, unscientihc
and unsatisfactory. Attention is
called to the fact that other states
have adopted the income tax, and
it has worked out very satisfactorily.
In a number of states the personal
property tax is being gradually
applied, and the report says that. in
Difference to conservative opinion, it
may be well TO make the first step
in New Jersey by substituting small
tax on incomes for the tax on IN
tangible property and then restrict
ing the tax on tangibles to such per-
sonal property as might be readily
classified for the purpose of taxa
ton. 1t is felt that a substantial
advance toward a more equitable
system of taxation would thus he
taken without violently disturbing
the taxing system.
I'm offering this suggestion, how
ever" the report says. I'VE cannot
refrain from expressing the opinion
that the proposal TO cut out the per-
sonal property tax. root and branch,
and to put in its place tax on n
come is one of the most constructive
for tax reform ever
put forward in New Jersey"
The detail contained in the report
shows that the total value of proper
ty to which local tax rates are
applied for the year 1920 amount to
s3,254, .26S.9S, an increase of
1929, ,800,164.80 over the ratables for
1919. This is the largest increase in
ratables since 1907. and the report
attributes it to the high sales values
of property prevailing at the present
time In only one of the counties OF
the state. Salem county. was there
a decrease over last year. The de-
crease in Salem amounted to
81, ,167, 7,707, due TO the dismantling of
the munition plants of the Du Pont