Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1934-07-21
FARM TAX LOAD
REDUCED 3 WAYS
Economlzing on Local Gov
eminent Units OF Plans
Proposed.

me excessive bufden 81 farm prop
erty taxes could be ligftened in one or
more Of three ways. says the Bureau
Of Agricultural Economics Of the De-
partment Of Agriculture in a report on
the farmers tax problem, just pub
llshed a. House Document 406. The
report was prepared at the request Of
Representative Marvin Jones. One OF
the three ways proposed 70 lower farm
q yes is 70 reduce the number OF local
governmental units, second way Is
n combine governmental functions
and reallocate them as between State
and counties, and the third way sug
rcsted is n put more Of the revenue
load on sources other than general
property.
Definite possibilities for the reduc-
ton Of public expenses picked from
the results OF studies, are suggested in
the report Among these are. The
substitution OF rural county unit
school system for the present school
district system, turning over road ad-
ministration from townships To coun-
ties and merging counties and town
ships into bigger units.
Personal Income Tax.
The report discusses the personal
income tax as q possible means OF re-
ducing the taxes on real estate and In
that way giving the farmer relief at
the time he needs 1t moSt-When his
income Is low. Such a change would
help toward solution OF the problem.
says the report. provided expenditures
are kept down at the same time.
The bureau presents statistics TO
show that farm taxes, in relation TO
farm realty values. are more than
double what they were in 1918 and
that taxes In recent years have taken
o large part, and in many cases all or
more. OF the net income of farming.
Taxes per acre OF farm real estate
reached O peak In 1929 at 24l per
cent of the tax per acre In 1918. Taxes
have declined since then to 1853 per
cent Of prewar. but up to the past
year land values had declined rela-
lively more, thus increasing the bur-
der Of the tax In relation to the value
Of property, the bureau points out.
Estimated values of farm real estate
per acre increased 4 per cent In the
last year and taxes declined about ID
per cent. thus reversing. for the first
time In Is years, the trend OF taxes
relative to land values.
Tax Burden Increase.
The trend OF farm property taxes
relative to the trend of prices OF
farm products and of income in aRri-
culture shows even more strikingly
the increase In the farm tax burden,
saws the bureau In 1882 gross in
come per share from farm production
was S5.08, compared with $7.73 In 1918
and $i224 in 1928, the 1882 figure
3 being ~ per cent below that Of 1918,
while taxes per acre were 80 per cent
above prewar. In 1892 the gross IN
come from acres was required to
pay the taxes on 100 acres OF land,
whereas the gross income from only
acres was sufficient in 1918 I'm
movement is noted for 1888. income
having increased and taxes declined,
with the result that the number of
average acres, the gross income from
which was required for the real estate
taxes on 100 acres, was reduced from
Q TO 6.
An alarming growth OF tax delin-
ouency in recent years has resulted
from the excessive burden of taxes,
says the bureau, citing survey which
revealed that in ] ,040 counties in 10
States there we're two and one-half
times as many tax delinquent farm
properties in 1892 as in 1928.
These facts, says the bureau. in
dictate plainly that taxation presents
one OF the most important problems
confronting farmers, and that some
practical means to help meet this
problem is urgently needed. This
problem, 1t is stated, is due primarily
TO increased expenditures for State
and local purposes, and to continued
dependence on the general property
tax as means of raising nearly
four-fi of the combined tax rev.
enues of State and local governments,
and about nine -tenths of the reve-
nues of the latter
Under the pressure OF high rates
and administrative difficulties. the
property tax has come TO be little more
than a real estate tax, since large
amounts Of personal property-prin-
cipally 1ntangibleS-eScape taxation,
says the bureau The farmers prop
erty consists of real estate and
tangible personality such as livestock
and farm implements, which cannot
be hidden from the tax assessor nor
removed to another taxing jurisdic-
ton. Hence his property does not
escape taxation. and his dependence
on these forms OF property makes him
especially subject TO the general
property tax. It is stated
Reduction in taxes on farm property
may be achieved, says the bureau, by
economy in local government, by cur
tailment of the functions of State and
local government, and by tax revision
to reduce dependence on the general
property tax, supplementing and re-
placing a part of the property levy
from other sources of revenue
- ---------