The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-12-02
Local Government Takes Lions Share of Taxes In United States; Gets $4, 800, ,OOO, ,OOO Annually
By NEA Service

 argument about taxes, 1t is @ good Idea to fortify yourself with a few facts. That will put you one up In practically any tax argument.
 A lot of basic, fundamental things about taxes which everybody ought to know, but scarcely anybody does, are summed up in the December FORTUNE. And if you think you know about taxes, try yourself. out on these tax slants from FOR TUNES article:
 The annual tax bill of the United States is now about Si2,0O0, 900, GOO. That is getting on toward $l0O a year for every man, woman and child in the nation; nearly S40O for the head of every family.
 Of that $l2,000, 100000 tax bill, only $5,000, ,000 900, or much less than half, goes to Washington in taxes for the federal government. That surprises you Q little, ehp
 Little Units Get It
 Who gets the rest then? The statesp No, they get only S2,600, ,000,- 900. It is the small local govern ment taxing units, l75,000 of them in the country, which get all the $500 000, 900 remaining in that tax bill.
 Counties, cities. townships, school districts, sanitary districts, and down to mosquito abatement districts. To these taxing units, many of which you probably didn't know exist, goes share of United States taxes ale most as large as that demanded by the federal government itself.
 It is a tremendous tax burden, the biggest in the world, taken in lump. But per person, 1t is lower than the British and only Q little higher than the French or German bill.
 Because the average American in- come Is SO much higher than that of any Of those countries, the tax burden of MT. Average American takes q lower per cent of his ino come than Is the case in most countries, He feels the burden less heavily.
 In fact, FORTUNE believes, the average American has no idea that 20 cents out of every dollar he earns goes to one tax collector or another,
 It's You Who Pays
 Let's say you pay no income tax, You may be aware of buying an automobile license for your car, and you may have noticed that little revenue stamp on your package of cigarets. But 1t may never have occurred to you that If you pay rent, you pay taxes. You don't? Well, where did you suppose the landlord got the money to pay them2
 Every time you buy anything at all, you pay taxes. Indirectly, of course, but you pay them.
 Careful studies have indicated FORTUNE ayers, that even people making so little as $500 a year may pay almost $i00 in taxes.
 Everybody wants lower taxes, Where can they bo cut? The chance of materially and permanently cut ting the cost of the federal govern. tHellbl SSkbA ONh 9 buINSJ AiNASHVSSl is just about e rimleSS zero.
 Rightly or wrongly, tho federal government is taking on more work more functions, all the time. Relief, road building, public works, parks, mprovements--gradually they gravi. tate toward the federal government, and away from local governments. Fight to Keep Jobs
 That ought to mean less work, less responsibility, fewer Jobs, lower tax demands by local units. But, and here FORTUNE finds tho key to the whole situation, 1t doesn't, Local Job holders fight to the last ditch to keep their jobs going, even when they have nothing left to do
 The picture of tho Kansas rural school teacher sitting daily in an empty Bchoolhouse and drawing her pay from local taxes Is symbolic.
 Cook county. Illinois, had In 1928 just 4i7 tax.collecting units. Illinois has more than any other state, IT, 336. It goes without saying that this ton. It means the end of local
 To illustrate, Macon county, Ill., inois, saved $800,000 in i6 years by abolishing superhuouS township tax collectors.
 Jut That Much Tougher
 It is real estate that carries, ale most single handed. that local tax load. Ninety per cent of local taxes are from that old-fashioned source --land and buildings--which cannot be concealed or hidden. And such taxation is subject to four bad de- fects:
 The overlapping of tax jurisdic- tons. the fuctuation of rates, the huctuation of assessed valuations, and the exempt property.
 Perhaps one-eighth of all real es- tate iS exempt as religious, chari- table, educational, or government owned. That makes It just that much tougher on the other seven- eighths.
 aaniI.,.. .an .atlaR la Ina inua than