Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 116, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 May 1918 — TAXES RAISED BY HARD TIMES [ARTICLE]

TAXES RAISED BY HARD TIMES

Burden Is Lightest in Communities Boasting Live and Thriving Towns. FARMER FEELS THE EFFECT Io Inclined, to Forget, at Time*, That Ho Is Most Vitally, Interested In Prosperity of Near-by ' Cities. ? (Copyright, IDIT, Western Newspaper Union.) Taxes are always heavy—to the man who has to pay them—but ip some communities are much .higher than in others. If you have ever stopped to Investigate the matter you have discovered that the lowest taxes are found In the most prosperous communities. And there’s a reason, .rtr x The prosperous community has the lowest taxes because there is a large amount of wealth In the community against which the taxes may be assessed. There are prosperous merchants with large stocks of goods upon which taxes are levied. Property values are high and there are thriving industries which pay a large, proportion of the taxes. The higher the property va|ues and the greater the wealth of the; commu- . nity the lower are the tax levies, for a lower tax on each hundred dollars of valuation is required to» produce the necessary revenue for the administration of the dty and county, governments. • ~ ! ,' 1J Other Taxes Are Raised. On ther other hand, take a dead town. Property values are low. Merchants’ stocks are small, and they have little .money in the bank. Industries which ordinarily pay a large part of the taxes of a community have closed down. There are vacant store buildings which were formerly filled with stocks of merchandise upon which the owners paid heavy taxes. Who pays the taxes that were once paid by the mecbants, the manufacturers, the . bankers and the men had large .holdings of high-priced property! The taxes to conduct the city and county governments, to malntaln the schools, to build and repair the roads must be collected'from someone. Who pays them? The man who owns bls little home or the .vacant lot or two. upon which he has. been planning. to build his home must pay double or triple, the amount which he paid in, the times when the town was prosperous, to make up for the taxes which are not paid now by the merchants, the bankers, the manufacturers and the big property owners who bore the heaviest burdens of taxation when times were good. The farmers in the country surrounding the town are also among the heaviest sufferers .from the ebbing of the town’s prosperity. A certain amount of money must, be raised by taxation to . provide for the expenses of the county, lioads must be built and kept in repair. Bridges must be .built and maintained. Salaries of county officers must be paid. County institutions for the care of the sick and the poor must be maintained. In counties which contain one or more thriving towns, a large proportion of ..the taxes for the county are paid by the towns. The greater the wealth of the towns higher the .property valuations, the lowerAhe tafUevy for the ten tire county .jYpen thejtax farmer to light

Burden Faile on Farmer. _ JVfcen, the j»unty prosperous end wealthy! towns, the greater part of She Durden of County ./falls, jgxm the fanner. The, value of the farmer’s property does not fail in proportion.to tpb value of the property In the town and the higher tax levy that results from the lower property .yalues in bls taxes higher. The farmer forgets at times that he' is vitally Interested in the prosperity of rids town." He thinks that it' is up to the tewn .to tgke we qt itself and that It Is up to him tp take care of himself apd he overlooks that fact that the prosperity of the townmeana as touch to him as to those whot live In It The farmer whols lnclined to .overlook this fact has only to. .think otthe matter of taxes <md he is likely to change his point of jtAFJfy are one tiring that neither he nor anyone else can escape, and they pjgffio thing in which the farmer takes a yery lively interest How Earmer Can There is just ope way in which farmer .can best promote prosperity & the town near which he hve»hn& that is by spending bls money in that town instead (rs sending Lt away to the fardistant dty. Every time the farmer sends an order to a mail order house he helps to destroy the of hte own community and to boost his' own taxes. When he sends a dollar away from home he gets none of it back. When he spends a dollar at home, a part of that dollar comes back to him in some way. It helps the town where it is spent to provide a profitable market for his products and it helps the town pay a large part of his taxes. The farmer Is the ope man to the commuirity, above all others, who j should have no love for the mall order t houses for they are doing mo« to *44 to his troubles than ally othar one agency. _ - ■ -