Evening star., 1932-04-06

Small wonder that the real estate
owners have been groaning under the
load for many years and have been
trying in one way or another to shift
the burden of taxes to some other
sources. The cities have been getting
about per cent Of their taxes from
licenses and permits. but all their mis-
cellaneous taxes combined do not
amount to per cent OF the total re-
ceipts.
In the States, however, we find a
variety of taxes, with business licenses
yielding about 1712 per cent and motor
vehicle licenses bringing about the
same percentage, while gasoline taxes
yield approximately 16 per cent.
Inheritance taxes have been bringing
in only about per cent Of the taxes
for the States and income taxes less
than 4 per cent, so that it may well
be said that while the States have
spread their taxation much better than
have the cities, the various sources of
State taxation are still limited.
There are fully 250,000 different tax
ing units in the United States and
these, Of course, are almost entirely
State and local and county.
Thirty-five Million a Day.
Somebody has figured it out thai
Federal, State and local government:
combined are spending approximately
S35, 100000 a day, or $400 every time
the clock ticks, In 1918, the spending
was at the rate of 5000 900 a day
While the Federal expenditures grew
mostly out Of the war, the States and
municipalities have been spending mos
of their money for capital improve
ment, particularly highways.
The revenue-raising side has not KEEP
pace with the spending proclivity
| Comparatively little progress has beer
made in the States and cities in i'm
| proving the reVenue-getting machiner!
| of local government.
| Whenever States and cities needed
| extra revenue, they used to increas'
the general property tax or supplement
it with special property taxes. Thu
! States did not, however, continue thl:
| trend when they discovered the auto
! mobile tax and the gasoline tax.
The situation has been complicated
| by the shift in the percentage o
| assessed to actual values OF property
| In Iowa, according to a report jus
| submitted to the Legislature, assessed
valuation decreased from 1918 to 1885,
by about $3.50. .000,0 900, or about 10 pc
| cent, while the taxes were increased
from $77,000,o0 to $145,000,000 a tota
of about 100 per cent. In most State,
property values have increased, but not
nearly as rapidly as taxes, so that a
| a general rule the rate has been rising
Property Tax Burden.
Thirty-one committees of one kind o.
another made reports to 40 differen
! 7 nd ha ~
I theme of them all was property ia,
relief" The difficulty in finding othe
/ sources of revenue has, however, beer
/ an obstacle. The Iowa report estimated
that a personal income tax in tina
| State would yield only about So, 900 900
One difficulty about other forms O
taxation besides the property tax il
that most people fear that othe
sources of revenue will be used for ex
trayagant expenditures and the prop
erty tax retained after all
More than a hundred years age
Pennsylvania enacted a statute pro,
viding for a tax on intangibles of Il
cents on each $500. This was aimed
at those who owned stocks and bonds
but who, it was supposed, never con
tributed anything to local government
Connecticut and Maryland, during tn,
!
had Intangible taxes, but until 1911 these
three States were the only ones which
had taken steps to put intangible prop
erty on the tax roll. Minnesota an,
Iowa were added to the list in 1911
and Wisconsin finally enacted wha
might be called the first State incom
tax law. Massachusetts, and Virgini;
had experimental with this as far bacl
as Colonial times and other States ha,
tried it, but Wisconsin was the pionee
in effective enforcement. Today Il
States have intangible taxes and q
have income taxes.
First Gasoline Tax.
In 1919, oregon, Colorado and Nortl
Dakota imposed the first gasoline ia.
of cent gallon. Every one of tn
43 States now has such tax, witt
!, rates ranging anywhere from to
cents. and the tax produces total o