The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1933-01-28
STATEFUNDED
5 MONTH Term
ISSPONSORED
MacLean Will Offer and
Urge Adoption of Meas
ure Is Believed
By ]. c. Baskerville
The Times-New Bureau
Sir Walter Hotel

RALEIGH, Jan. 2S.-A state
supported, state controlled eight
months school term, which will
remove all property taxes for
school purposes except in the
larger special charter districts,
will undoubtedly be proposed and
its adoption urged by Senator A.
D. MacLean, it became apparent
here Friday. 1t has been expect
ed for several months that Sena-
tor MacLean would make this
move sooner or later, since he
made several speeches before the
general assembly opened in which
he said that the next and most
logical step from the state sup
ported six months school term was
to a state supported eight months
school term. 1t was Senator Mac
Lean who proposed and put
through the now famous MacLean
law in the 1881 general assembly
providing for the support Of the
six months school term without
any taxes on property, although
the 1881 general assembly eventu-
ally failed to carry it out 100 per
cent.
1t is evident, however, that Sen
ator MacLean's interest in advo"
eating a state supported eight
months school term is not based in
any interest to help either the
schools or the school people, but
that it is purely tax reduction
measure. For he admits from the
outset that sales tax will be
necessary to put his plan into eff
feet and that its success "will de-
pend upon what kind Of n sales
tax is enacted"
The primary purpose for which
the state-supported eight months
school term is being advocated by
Senator MacI.can is that it would
remove about 100000 in prop
erty taxes now being paid in spc-
cial tax and charter districts foI
the support of the extended term
The greater portion of all proper
ty taxes, hence of all school taxes
are paid by railroads, power com.
panies, large corporations and
large areas Of land owned by cor
rpratious, especially lumber com
panies. This is especially true OF
the special charter and special tax
school districts for the extended
term schools, which are usually
made to include large blocs OF
corporate property.
1t has already been shown that
the removal Of the IS cents tax
on property for schools, supposed
to have yielded about 400, 00O
year, will remove a total of only
about $450,000 n year from tho
farm owners, about $1,S00,0O0 a
year from non-corporate city prop
erty owners and about $2,500,000
a year from corporate property
owners. 1t is also a foregonr
conclusion that this IS cents state
property tax will be removed.
But if the State-supported eight
months school term plan goe.
through and another $4,000,00O
in taxes is removed from the
property owners, the corporations
will benefit even more than from
the removal of the Is cents tax,
since the extended term districts
are so set up that the heavier part
of the tax burden falls on them
and less on the farmers and home
property owners. 1t is estimated
that if this $4.G00,000 is removed,
at least $3,O00,00O of it will be
removed from the larger corpora
tons, such as the railroads, power
companies and other large prop
erty owners. If a sales tax is sub
stituted for this tax. it is pointed