The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-04-01

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Sentiments OF q Bowling Taxpayer.
Bowling, March 81, 1y22.-Eutor
The Argus: OF all the unfair taxes
LEVIED on the farmer the commun-
lily high school tx is the, worst.
Inc Illinois community high school
law is poorly drawn and improper
ly administered. Its history with
few outstanding exceptions-has
been one OF land-grabDing, COM
muni1y strife, blundering admins
tration and unjust taxation. Court
action has been frequent. The SUI
preme court has knocked out var
lous sections of the law, and the
whole matter is in a muddle that
only the legislature can entangle.
In theory, the community high
school law was supposed to enable
small villages and country COM
munities to join together in high
school districts large enough to
support a high school without hard
ship to anyone.
Unloading on the Farmer.
In practice, it created a mad
scramble among Illinois towns and
cities to shift as much OF theiI
high school tax as possible on to
the farmer. The districts were laid
out in such a way as to leave as
much farm land as possible and
still leave the city or village the
of the votes. Then the
farm land was voted in by main
strength. Often the district ex-
tended s, 10 or II miles from the
town where the school was located.
it went almost. to- the
city limits of another town with
better high school.
The city got the high school and
the farmer paid the bill-or the
big end of it. True, he could send
his children to high school, but
only by paying board or buying
horse and buggy or an auto to take
them back and forth.
Pays Twice Share.
1t would seem logical, in levying
high school taxes, to make some al
lowance for the fact that the school
is convenient to the people living
in town, VIE it costs money for
the farmers children to get to it.
But the allowance is all the other
way.
For instance
In the Tampico district in White
side county farmers pay TIE per
cent of the high school taxes and
send 40 per cent of the pupils.
In the Erie district in the same
farmers pay "a per cent OF
the taxes and furnish So per cent
Of the pupils.
Rock Falls district farmers pay
So per cent of the taxes and send
80 per cent of the pupils.
In the Lyndon district farmers
pay ssh per cent OF the taxes and
send so per cent OF the pupils.
In the Momence district in Kan
kakee county the people of Mo-
mence pay one-third OF the taxes
and send two-thirds of the pupils.
In the Maroa district in Macon
county il costs farmers $775 year
in taxes for each farm boy and
girl in high school. The people of
Maroa pay $50 in taxes for each
pupil.
A Thousand Dollars Apiece.
Fenton township in Whites1de
paid $1,000 in taxes last
year for each pupil in high school.
So we could go on for a page or
more.
The fact is that farmers in a
high school district pay
not only for the education OF their
own children, but also about half
he cost OF educating the town chill
iren in the same district. And the
town children walk a few blocks to
school, while the farm children
must drive several miles, often
with mud and bad weather to con-
lend with.
Farmers. from the very nature of
heir business, must have large
Of taxable property in pro-
portion to their income - much