Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1925-06-04
Local Extravaganza Is
One Cause Of High Tax
WISCONSIN TAX COMMISSIONERS
EXPLAINS CAUSES OF THE
HIGH TAXES


That governments-local, state and
natiOnal-are not much different
from individuals and that there is too
much of tendency to match the Elk
travagance of neighbors was one of
the timely statements made few
weeks ago by Judge Charles Rosa,
chairman of the Wisconsin State Tax
Commission, in an address before
the assessors of jefferson county.
The recently marked habit of reck-
less expenditures by many individu-
ais and governmental bodies, he said,
was an inheritance of the late war
due to a national example. He also
pointed out that the main causes of
recent high taxes have been the the
demands for highways. and schools,
demands that are hard to resist, but
which should be- studied by the indi-
vidual who wishes to know wher
his tax money goes
''The tremendous increase III
wealth is one of the causes Of in
creased taxation" said Judge Rosa.
| "This is a fact based on human ex-
perience. Spending habits of individ
uals or families increase rapidly as
they become prosperous. The desire
of an individual or family to keep
up a neighborhood standard is the
fundamental cause of an increase or
spending habits. Although these in
stances are so common that they at
tract little attention, nevertheless
they are the basic causes of increasd
spending"
He continued: Governments, local
and state, are no different from indi-
viduals and families in their spend,
ing habits. They are based on the
same fundamental principles OF
maintaining standard of keeping up
pace as in the case of individuals.
eff the Joneses have a car the
Smiths think they must have one al.
So If the Joneses get larger car,
the Smiths are likely to follow suit
Likewise if City A makes some ex-
tensive public Improvements, it isn't
long before City B is trying to put
across a similar program.
1.-The enormous expenditures OF
funds during the war created reck-
and irresponsible state of mind
on the part of the public. Individuals
felt that the day Of reckoning would
never come. After the close of the
war this policy was universally con-
| tinued
Funds have been so tied up that
local units of government have been
tempted to go beyond their means in
order to get state and federal appro-.
priations. This has been especially
true of highway and school funds,
This principle of matching funds has
been carried too far in many cases.
@Road construction is one of the
| two largest items in the tax budget.
We are going through transition
period in transportation. An enor-
NOUS amount of money is being
spent on the construction of new type
of roads, and it is inevitable that a
part of this money will not be spent
| to the best advantage of the public.
| Transportation companies are COM
mercializing this expenditure of pub
| lie funds to their own advantage and
| to the detriment of the public purse.
| Private concerns are so much quick
er to perceive, as to how they can
| turn public expenditures to their adj
vantage, that they reap the advan-
tages of it before public opinion is
developed to the stage where private
ambition and greed is curbed to pro-
tect the interest of the public"
Judge Rosa stated specifically that
he did not want to be destructive in
critizing the expenditures of pub
lie funds for school purposes; how
ever, he explained that it is his opin-
ion we are following an unbusiness-
like policy in our school expansion.
. He stated that it is just as unbusi-
nesslike for one state to try to put
across an extravaganza educational
program, just because some other
state may have adopted that policy,
as it is for the Smiths to buy big
car just because the Jonses have a
big car. He added that the practical
problem of financial means ought to
be- given more consideration.
AS Judge Rosa well says, the prob
| lem of taxation is a constantly chang
| ing one, due to changing conditions,
and every citizen would do well to
inform himself as fully as possible as
to the purpose for which tax money
is raised and how it is ultimately
spent. It is one of his duties as q
member of self-governing society,
duty which he owes to his neighbor
as we'll as himself THE Wisconsin
Farmer.