The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-05-01
e measure of equity.apa the sue:


! bile, auto-truck, wagon or buggy af-
ford to pay as a direct vehicle tax?
sThat depends upon the size of their
equipment, the quality Of the lmprov-
| ed roads and t. cir total mileage. This
/ last is a very irlportant item. A small
mileage would warrant little or no
! tax The broader the scope OF I'M
nrovement plan the greater the par
iamidally cumulating benefit to the
ivehicle owner and the greater the tax
! he should bear and would no doubt
;ouite willingly bear. Instead of put
!. ting his money into gasoline ana car
repairs and up-keep and replacement
| he would use it to pay for good roads.
It seems legitimate that @those re-
| ceiving the direct benefit should be
the first to be taxed. This IS the
}principle that prevails in 'sall other
governmentally owned enterprises.
! The consumer pays the bill IN the
business Of the postoffice department
| of the general government Except
| the deficit which the government US
ua1ly has to pay). He pays the DIX
n municipal liz 1ting and water plants
Al; these thinss benefit the pubic at
large ard property at large and some
| times the are called upon 10 pay
for this in the way of a deiIcet put the
consumer is taxed first.
Sumter is d leader, not only IN a
provincial way but in another way.
The road building program now In
| the United States is immense. Every
where the answer to the question OF
! the most equitable way OF levylns taN-
! es for this purpose is being sought al
(; ter. 1t furnishes an inviting and very
profitable field for the best brains or
our community and offers a challenge
to our faith. VIII we be able to mea-
sure ups to our boasted Initiative ana
progress:veness?
Other counties in the State are try
:jpg this year direct vehicle tax Not
Ia very high one. however, Shall we
not 60 them one better by making the
scope OF our plans big enough to war
rant a really big taN-or rather call
it a diversion Of investment and there
by reduce the real taxation element
to the minimum Speaking Of this
Mr.. F. r. White. chief engineer, OF
Iowa State Highway Commissions,
says: The tendency is very strong
ly toward placing the major costs OF
a trunk line highway system on the
motor vehicle rather than on real
property.
A vehicle tax on buggies. surreys
and wagons at s5 per year per horse
would bring in approximately $4,000.
AS a general tax on property about
u mills would be required to take
care of a $4,000 900 bond issue. a
larger bond issue would require a
proportionately increased levy.
a divertion license sounds good. 1t
means license that merely turns
aside money that is being spent for
gasoline. car up-keep and repairs
and depreciation and puts it into good
roads.
Road improvement work is pyra-
,nidal in character. Unless a broad
base is. planned the benefits. to the
public at large cannot be expected to
reach very high.
a limited mileage of hard surface
roads Will not afford much gbeneAt to
car owners at large. Put 4eMna on Q
broad scale they would enable car
owners to substantially pay for them
out Of savings.
Don't take our word for it. Get the
general sentiment on the subject. Go
out, on the street tomorrow and ask
the. first car owner you meet how
much per year they would be willing
TO pay as a direct vehicle tax if the
county will put down one hunderd
and twenty-five miles Of hard sur
face roads in the county, One party
recently did this and the replMs he
got ranged all the way from $50 to
$50 dollars per year.
If such a divertion license plan were
adopted the present license might
seem a little high but this would rap
idly decrease from year to year as
the use of motor cars and trucks in
creased. The hard surface roads
would rapidly increase the use OF au-
tomotive rolling stock. In ten Years
time the divertion license would be
individually light. AS soon as a new
car owner appeared he would start
paving the divertion license.
Under such a plan the city would
still pay the greater part Of the tan
since out of the 1855 cars in the
county last year 791 We're in Sumter
township. The difference would be
that in this case instead of tax be-
ing born in many instances by parties
who did not own >cars it would be
paid by car owners who would pay
the same out of their savings. The
business concerns in the city which
own a fleet of trucks continually ply
ing the roads would approXimately
pay in proportion TO their savings
A tax Oh gasoline is being consid-
cred and the idea is pregnant with
possibilities
Good rYad facilities for local travel
| seem to be as much a legitimate com
modify for sale by governmental
unit as good postal facilities, good