Evening star., 1936-06-12

as regards the latter half Of the
/ doctrine
| Budget balancing had been pro-
posed by Landon'S predecessors, but
! he was the first to achieve 1t. Wood
ring had sought q budget act, but
| 1t was Landon who finally secured
one by passage OF an amendment. He
proceeded TO take the utmost advsnt-
age of it.
| Tied in with the budget program
were two other highly important
pieces OF legisls tion which Landon
obtained
The FIRST was the So called cash
basis" law, under which the State
and local governments were pre-
vented from spending more than they
took in from the taxpayers.
Maximum Set
for Tax LevieS.
The second was the tax hmita-
ton" act, which set q maximum for
tax levieS
1t was the cash basis" law that
really started Kansas on its way
the debt-pyramiding practice Of max
ing overdrafts or Of borrowing in
anticipation Of taxes 10 be paid. 1t
abolished what had become known as
the mo funds warrant" by which
communities could secure loans from
banks TO carry on their activities. 1t
had been the custom Of county or
tcin to To
bank q warrant marked no funds"
and such 4 warrant was good for
cash, TO be repaid II and when the
taxes came in. More often than not
the taxes were slow In arriving and
debts OF the local government sccu-
mulated alarmingly.
The cash basis" meant just what
its name implied. Every Kansas
school board, county commission or
other governmental body now must
balance outgo with income within q
given year. In case Of emergency
such as q catastrophe OF nature or an
epidemic requiring extraordinary ex-
penditures the county or municipal
ity may apply to State board for
special permission TO borrow. The
board hears all the circumstances at
tending the request and fixes the
amount OF the debt that may be in
Cured.
A corollary Of this law was one re-
quiring an annual audit under State
supervision Of all county and mu-
| nicipal political units, with a man
datory provision that any shortage
discovered by the auditor must be
called Immediately to the attention
Of the prosecutor for thorough inves-
tigation.
Limit Designed
to Protect Taxpayers.
The tax limits ton law fixed q re-
duced limitation on levies which could
be made by local governments. The
limit was designed to protect the tax
payers from inordinate burdens OF
government.
Through all these reforms Kansas
found itself actually paying its own
way without getting into debt-and,
incredible as it seemed to the tax
payers, actually reducing taxes at the
same time
Taxes in Kansas now are 80 per
cent under the 1929 peak, and the
cost of government Is AZ per cent un-
der that Of 1912. Counties and COM
munities in the State paid on $22,-
600. 900 in bonded Indebtedness from
1882 to 1884 and issued only S5,OOO,-
600 in new bonds, leaving a net re-
duction In Indebtedness of SIT ,OOO, 900.
The per capita cost Of State and
local government in Kansas In 1929
was $7l. Last year it had dropped
to $50.
1t is but natural that the average
Kansan, In appreciation of this saw
ing in taxes, is an ardent Landonite.
Party lines were ignored when Lam
don was reelected In 1884. Landon
was the only Republican Governor
elected in the Midwest farm region
in 1882, the presidential year.
Landon Is not Kansan by birth.