The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-03-21

However, if people require more and more services from their city government eventually a point Of expenditures will be reached where it will be unfair to expect to de- rive the extra necessary revenue from taxes on real-estate," the Mayor added
 If that time arrives then some other sources of revenue Will need be adopted to carry the burden; such as a sales tax or an income tax. Citing the prevalence Of such procedure already in effect else- where the Mayor added he under stood that Milwaukee has a mum icipal income tax of which 60 per- cent is retained and 40 percent giV- en to the state.
 waterbury is going along fairly well now in revenue sources and comparable expenditures, ule Mayor said. "If any sales tax IS 10 be imposed 1t should be on a state wide basis such as we already nave on cigarettes, gasolint, etc"
 Jenks Opposed ., , Chief Assessor Aldro Jenks said today he felt strongly opposed to the average municipal sales tax as ne knaw of few, if any, instances where the sales tax offset to any apprec- fable degree the tax burden or tle property owner" ,,
 They are not fair, as a rule" the assessor said. They fall upon everyone no matter what the in- dividuaps income, so that the man earning $500 a month pays no more taxes than the man earning $lOO a month. Tn addition to this they tend to penalize those people who receive no benefits from the taxing munich pality: such as strangers who enter the city, spend few dollars earned elsewhere, pay taxes on their spend- ing and yet receive no benefits from that municipality other than the liberty of passing through the town.
 New York City is an example where sales taxes are imposed yet the tax burden on property owners has not been benefited" he pointed out.
 City Budget Director Anold F. Furlong said today that he had not given any specialized considera- ton to a sales tax for Waterbury, because, like the Mayor, he felt the city was fairly well" at this time.
 There is the possibility that the administration of such a tax, the costs of collection and for enforce ment agencies may offset many benefits in a municipality the size of Waterbury" the budget director said.
 City Income Tax
 Some municipalities elsewhere, such as Philadelphia, have put into effect an income tax" imposed solely on people who earn their in- come in the municipality but live ln an adjoining small town. In such instances the small town has an in- dependent form of government.
 Tn such cases the income tax IS imposed on the earnings of the in- dividual as those earnings are de- rived from the municipality.
 In many instances people who work in Waterbury now have moved their residences to such towns as Woodbury, Middlebury, Cheshire. and Prospect. Often these people are those -arning better-than-aver- age incomes. These small towns have low tax rates, in most cases, even though offering benefits nearly comparable to Waterbury.
 rate because of the grants they receive Gas a community from the state in the form of proportionate shares of revenue from cigarette gasoline, motor vehicle and other taxes. Should 8 serious, crippling depression again befall Waterbury for example, resulting in serious economic setbacks, then possibly
 However, these small towns are in a position to offer the low tax the state would have to assist this city or any other, so affected with a similar grant.
 Other Taxation
 Other municipalities with sales taxes in effect are: Louisville, Rich mond, Evanston and Chicago. In the South, revenue has been derived from business taxes, which is a payment for the privilege of con- ducting business. Birmingham has collected $1,OOO,OOO annually this way and Richmond, $7O0,000. Others in this category are, Montgomery, Mobile and Little Rock. A some what similar tax, based on a busi- ness gross income is also in effect in Seattle. Los Angeles is now con- sidering a cigarette tax and Miami an amusement tax-the latter be- ing somewhat like bringing coals