The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1924-04-06
PAYS TO CHECK UP
ON WHERE TAXES GO

II
II. L. Keefe, president Nebraska
State Farm Bureau Federation, gives
the following interview to T. p, Craw.
ford, as published in Farm and Fire.
side magazine
Up in Thurston county, in NORTH.
western Nebraska, where live. we
have found way to cut our local taxes
1t is very simple plan, and one that
you can easily apply in your own COM
munity. S
When the depression of 1920-21 hit
us we were in Just about the same tax
situation as any other county in the
middle west. We were really worse off
because in 1920 our county suffered q
cloudburst, and scores of bridges were
destroyed and had to be rebuilt and
paid for. Before l begin to tell about
the remedy for the tax disease" let Inc
show right here at the start what the
remedy accomplished .a5
1t saved the county around $4,000
on the one item of bridges alone.
n secured cuts of from s. to 20 per
cent in the local taxes in individual
precincts. :.
1t increased the amount of property
returned from 10 to 20 per cent in
years when the valuations were gen
orally falling, thereby reducing taxes
for the man who had always been
honest in making his return.
Best of all, the net result was feel
ing of confidence and general satisfac
ton, instead of mistrust, unrest and
suspicion.
During the year or so that the de
preston lasted in earnest, people tend
ed to become radical But being radi
cal is more or less state of mind
When we began to get radical about
our taxes, it simply, meant that we
didn't know where our money was so
ing, and consequently didn't know how
to stop the money from going.
= A farmer would see the school ma an
spinning along in her jitney. We'll
looky there" he would exclaim, that's
where all our taxes go!" Another
! farmer few miles further on would
see the road graders at work. Hump o.
he would exclaim, I'll bet that's tax,
ing ell our taxesw 1t all depended on
which way a fellow looked as to what
he blamed his taxes on.
Most People Didn't know
The fact was that most people didn't
know. Ignorance of where our money
went bred suspicion and suspicion bred
radicalism. A few people were already
making themselves heard, when it was
suggested that the farm bureau might
take look into the matter. William
Wingett, president of the county farm
bureau. and little group on the tai
committee were handed the job. Some
people were for calling a countrywide
meeting to protest vigorously and nois
lily against all manner of taxes.
But before we had a public meeting
lit was considered proper for someone
to find out where our money did go
So we went over to the county offices
and went through the books and deter.
mined just what our money was being
spent for. And a little later we did
this for every school district in the
county.
There was not any hedging or guess
ing. here was everything in black ant
white: $3.50 for state taxes, $500 fol
county taxes, $3.50 for school district
No. IS. and $3.50 for the village o.
Walthall And each of these was sub
divided off to show even somewha,
minor expenditures.
First Public Meeting
At the first public meeting Their,
were around $50 farmers and a few
business men present. We began t,
hold meetings all over the county. ant
at every meeting we passed around cir
culars that showed where the none,
went in that school district. We hat
wall charts and maps.
The upshot of all this was that fol
the first time it suddenly dawned or
people that most of the tax expendi
lures were for things directly under
their control. Politicians had some.
times talked as if the state capitol, the
state government the university and
normal schools, the state institutions
for dependents, state roads-as if these
things were taking the money. But If
we had cut out all of these things al
together where l lived, it would have
decreased our tax bill only about 10
per cent. The largest expenditures
were concentrated right down in our
own communities, in matters over
which the people had the most init
mate control themselves.
We found that there were wide varia-
lions in different parts of our own
county, and that taxes in individual
school districts varied all the way from
5000 to 5000 on $1,000 valuation.
When people began to find these
things out the attendance at the an
nual meetings of the school districts
increased from four to five persons to
forty or fifty. In some districts it was
found that things bad not been man
aged efficiently. In. some cases it was
found advisable to cut down on one
teacher where she was teaching only
very few pupils and increase the size
Of classes for other teachersAalthough
in some cases the salaries of these
other teachers had toy be raised. In
most cases there was also disposition
to economic on other matters, such as
the purchase of coal at the time of year
when it was cheapest. etc. :
In this way cuts varying from 8 TO
70 per cent were effected in the taxes
of individual districts.
Discover Hidden Property
The next big thing was to discover
hidden property which was escaping
taxation throughout the county. Our
tax system has always been so consti-
tuted that the man who is honest about
turning in his property at its rightful
value indirectly pays the tax of the
man who just forgets that he is quite
SO well off when the tax assessor comes
around. You know an assessor hates
to RAISE a rumpus with his next door
nelghbor and too often a whole lot of
things do not appear at all on the tax
books.
So the tax committee decided to give
the community another shock, and
something To- talk about for months
afterward. We hired a couple of men
to go down to the county offices and
copy off of the books the amount of
property which each man in the coun-
ty had turned in. We had blanks