Perth Amboy evening news., 1921-03-02

Of no benefit to the community 1t paid little
or nothing in the way of taxes. but as soon
as it becomes a benefit it is assessed heavily.
This is exactly the opposite from the way the
sys,em ought to work. Idle land that is doing
no one any good ought to be assessed because
it is not serving any useful purpose. but as
soon as the owner put it to some us and thereby
benefits the community he ought to be rewarded
for so doing-at least he ought not to be pen
allied.
In some state. notably in Pennsylvania, they
have a tax law whereby buildings and maehin-
cry are exempt from taxation altogether. The
i1nd bears the burden. The man with the idle
tract of land pays as much tax as the man
who has enterprise enough to build a fac
tory on his property. The latter is doing some
thing to benefit the community while the former
is not. Why should the man who benefits the
community be Soaked" for so doing? Yet
that is the practice in New Jersey at the pres
ent time. The city OF Baltimore has attracted
a large number OF industries there in recent
years because of this practice of exempting
buildings and machinery from taxes. Yet all
the vacant lands in and around Baltimore are
being assessed so that it does not pay to let
it lay idle very long. hence the desire to build
upon it and thereby the city is developed.
The same thing applies to a man with a
private dwelling. He buys an old house that
is in a sad state of delapidation and is a dis
grace to the neighborhood in which it stands.
Because it is in such a deplorable condition
the taxes are very low. The new owner at
once proceeds to spend several thousand dollars
fixing up the place. He remodels 1t. paints 1t,
sets out shrubbery and otherwise beauties the
premises so that the house becomes an asset
to the community instead of a liability. How
does the city and state reward him for his
enterprise? 1t proceeds forthwith to jump his
taxes to twice what they were before. In a
sense, he is actually penalized for bringing
about this improvement. Is this the way TO
build up a community?
New Jerseys taxing system has got to be re-
formed from top to bottom. The whole sys-
tenn is wrong. We know of several industries
that have bought property in other states where
they intend to build as their plants need en-
larging because they can better afford to build
elsewhere where they are not penalized for bene-
fitting a community. In these places that find
favor the taxes are collected from the
owners OF the land at its true value whether
it is built upon or not. This naturally en-
courages building and goes a great ways to-
ward developing a community.
This is a matter that vitality concerns the
state of New Jersey and not Middlesex
county alone. Every county will find that it is
being Disseminated against sooner or later if
is not done shortly to totally re-
our system of taxation and bring it more
up to date. With more and more money need
ed for public expenses something radical has
got to be done and the solution is not to be
in one county setting upon another in the
manner that Union county went after Middle
sex.
There is every reason to believe that assess
ments here will average as high as anywhere
in the state considering the true values involved.
The right way is to reorganize the whole tax
iag system of the state along the line of a land
tax with exemption for improvements that tend
to benefit a community and that ought to be
encouraged rather than penalized.
The aerial mail carriers haul letters across
the continent in less time than the p~ostofice
asserts and delivers them after their arrival.
Rhyming with Jap is as far as zap will get
if Uncle Sam has anything to say about it.
Tennessee sees little to boast about in her
average salary to rural school teachers. $3.50
a year.
It's a good thing for Fall and Fletcher that
their appointments do not have to be submitted
TO the Mex senate
A paragrapher asks what has happened to
old fashioned wife. You'll find her at the polls
if Mrs. Calvin Coolidge ever runs for ONCE.
1t won't be a kitchen cabinet, or a tennis cabi-
net-Harding likes golf too well.