Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1940-01-25
GOES INTO SCHOOL AID,
TAX MATTERS
Editor Askov American:

TAX MATTERS
Editor Askov American:
l find some people who don't quite
understand just what our present con-
troversy is about, so l am going to
try to make my position clear
When the income tax was enacted
into law it was clearly understood
by the debates in the legislature that
| it was to be a replacement tax or
in place of part of the present prop
erty tax burden. To illustrate: If
you were carrying a sack on your
right shoulder with 80 pounds in it
and two men came along to advise
you, one politician and the other
a statesman, the politician would adj
wise an 8O-pound sack on the left
shoulder to make you feel balanced
or total load of 160 pounds. The
statesman would advise taking 40
pounds from the sack on your right
shoulder and placing 40 pounds on
the left shoulder, or total load of
80 pounds.
Our legislature tried to play the
part of statesmen and in an effort
to see that the income tax was re-
placement tax they stipulated that
the entire tax was to be used for
education and distributed on basis
of census which included all children
in districts from 6 to 16
In 1897 the legislature amended
the law at the instigation of our
enemies so that $40 per pupil was
all that was to be distributed on
census basis and the balance was to
be distributed in supplementary aid.
Our legislative friends had slipped
up on one detail when making the
law, replacement certainty when
they failed to take away power of
districts to levy property tax at least
not to exceed mills
When the supplementary amend
ment was passed, the replacement
idea seemed to have been forgotten,
but the cry of help the poor districts
was supposed to make us all happy.
Nowadays if man is held up by
thugs and beaten and robbed, he is
supposed to go on home Whistling
if one of the thugs whispers to him
that it has been done to help the
poor and feed his family.
This amendment in its working
ought to be enough to make George
Washington turn over in his grave
and make Mr.. Stain throw another
birthday party, bravery decorations
and all. 1t is building football fields
and lighting them with electricity.
It is maintaining schools at cost of
thousands of dollars in territories
where tax collections have ceased,
where most self-supporting citizens
have fled and relief supports 80 per-
cent of its present population.
1t has caused dozens of school dis
tricts to call special meetings to raise
the levy to 80 mills and then go on
a spending spree. Only a few dis
tricts where the boards were above
average in intelligence and ability
have benefited. District SO went on
spending spree and spent $2,257
and arrived at annual meeting in
1888 with $3.50 less on hand than in
| 1887. I'll challenge the board of that
year to put up bonds for $500 and
sign an affidavit that they received
$1,000 supplementary aid. The only
receipt of the supplementary aid in
our records is on January 9, 1899, for
$428.82 in the clerks record We
had a 80 mill tax for two years.
| We were told at the special meet
ing called for the purpose of voting
to move the schoolhouse that if we
would levy $475 more and spend it,
that we could qualify for S1700 sup
Elementary aid if we spent it also.
l found the figures so far off on per
acre cost estimate I went to the
records. That is what you will find
in my previous article.
When the law was amended in
1887, it seems the State Board of
Education held up 1887 taxes col
lected, except $40 per pupil. This
is the fund 1 wrote about before. In
the Duluth News Tribune of Decem-
Der 10, page 4, column l, we find
that the Duluth school board won
it's suit to have part of this fund
collected before July l, 1887, distri-
buted. This is $1,200,00O.
Read last Session Law Supple
ment, page As, column Z, chapter
) 438 and you will find all funds COL
lected up to December 81, 1887, were
to be distributed on old basis or
1886 census. l have been told thai
about $12,OO0,000 was collected ir
1887 and it took 51s million dollar!