Pagt Eight 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



State-wide Committee 

 Seeks Solution to Tax 



Weaknesses in Illinois 



Earl C. Smith Represents I. A. A. on 

 Fact Finding Body 



AV'^AYS and means of making facts 

 of taxation and public finance 

 available were discussed at a meeting 

 of the new state- 

 wide tax commit- 

 tee at the LaSalle 

 ^^^^^^ Hotel, Chicago, on 



"^fc^^^P May 11. This was 



^ -^>^j^^^» the third meeting 



of the group or- 

 ganized recently 

 to study and in- 

 vestigate the oper- 

 ation of the pres- 

 ent revenue laws 

 EMMi c. Smith o^ Illinois, and to 

 make recommend- 

 ations for their improvement. 



Omar H. Wright of Belvidere, vice- 

 president of the Illinois Bankers' As- 

 sociation, has been designated as 

 chairman of the new fact-finding body. 

 Other members of the executive com- 

 mittee of the tax conference are: 

 Fredrik L. Gjesdahl, secretary, Earl 

 C. Smith, Illinois Agricultural Asso- 

 ciation, James D. Cunningham, Illi- 

 nois Manufacturers Association, Vic- 

 tor A. Olander, Illinois State Associa- 

 tion of Labor, Max Murdock, Illinois 

 State Association of Real Estate 

 Boards, Robert C. Moore, Illinois State 

 Teachers Association, Miss Grace 

 Temple, Illinois Women's Joint Legis- 

 lative Council, Chief Justice Harry 

 Olson, Municipal Court of Chicago, 

 Professor Charles E. Merriam, De- 

 partment of Political Economy, Uni- 

 versity of Chicagro, Dr. Richard T. 

 Ely, and Professor Herbert D. Simp- 

 son of the Institute of Land Econom- 

 ics and Public Utilities, and George 

 O. Fairweather of the Joint Commis- 

 sion on Tax Valuations for Cook 

 county. 



Others Inrited 



At a preliminary meeting the execu- 

 tive committee was authorized to in- 

 crease its membership and invite other 

 state-wide org^anizations to send repre- 

 sentatives to the next meeting of the 

 tax conference. President Earl C. 

 Smith, John C. Watson, and Robert 

 A. Cowles represented the I. A. A. 

 at the first general conference. 



Among the experts in taxation and 

 public finance who will bring to the 

 committee their study and investiga- 

 tions are: Dr. Herbert D. Simpson of 

 Northwestern University, George O. 

 Fairweather, Dr. Jacob Viner of the 

 University of Chicago, John C. Wat- 

 son of the I. A. A., and Professor J. A. 

 Fairley of the University of Illinois. 



The committee recognizes that it is 

 entering on a long-time program 

 through which it hopes to bring about 

 changes in laws and constitutional 

 provisions where needed. 



Looking Him Over 



Country Life Conference 



June 19-20-21, Urbana 



THE eleventh annual conference of 

 the American Country Life Asso- 

 ciation will be held June 18-19-20 at 

 Urbana in co-operation with the Uni- 

 versity of Hlinois. 



A. D. Lynch, dairy marketing di- 

 rector of the I. A. A., will tell how 

 dealers and dairymen are working to- 

 gether at Peoria for their mutual bene- 

 fit, while John C. Watson, tax director, 

 will discuss "What We Are Learning 

 About Taxes." 



Talks and discussions relating to 

 country life and rural improvement by 

 people from many states have been 

 arranged. Eugene Davenport, former 

 dean of the Illinois College of Agri- 

 culture, will be the speaker at the 

 annual country life banquet on June 

 20. 



Knox County Farmers 



Save $87,000 in Taxes 



LAND owners in Knox county paid 

 I $87,000 less taxes in 1927 than 

 they paid in 1926, according to a re- 

 cent compilation by John C. Watson, 

 director of taxation. 



The reduction in taxes was brought 

 about by a 21 per cent cut in land 

 valuations secured following an appeal 

 to the county board of review by the 

 Knox County Farm Bureau. 



Sixteen njembers of township tax 

 committees in Knox county met at 

 Galesburg recently where Mr. Watson 

 discussed the state revenue laws and 

 their administration. Robert Gibbs, 

 H. S. Brown, Guy Routh, and James 

 McBride, the Farm Bureau's Public 

 Relations Committee, arranged the 

 meeting. 



Shaw to Milk Producers' 



WILFRED SHAW, farm adviser in 

 Peoria county, has been employed 

 as resident manager of the Illinois 

 Milk Producers' Association to work 

 with A. D. Lynch, dairy marketing 

 director of the I. A. A., in directing 

 the affairs of the co-operative market- 

 ing agency at Peoria. 



Shaw will begin his new duties as 

 soon as his -successor has been chosen 

 by the Peoria County Farm Bureau. 



Appeal To Attorney 

 General To Enforce 



Tax Commission Order 



Champaign County Tax Case Awaits 

 Further Action On Reassessment 



OSCAR CARLSTROM, attorney 

 general, was asked recently to 

 start proceedings in Champaign coun- 

 ty toward enforc- 

 ing the April 5 or- 

 der of the Illinois 

 Tax Commission 

 directing a reas- 

 sessment of prop- 

 erty by C h a m- 

 paign county tax 

 ofiicials. 



Action to en- 

 force its orders 

 was taken at a 

 meeting of the 

 State Tax Com- 



Wm. H. Malone 



mission in Chicago on May 7 when the 

 members voted unanimously to auth- 

 orize Chairman Wm. H. Malone to ap- 

 peal to the attorney general. 



According to reports Champaign 

 county officials ig^nored the Tax Com- 

 mission's orders and proceeded to ex- 

 tend taxes on old valuations which the 

 Commission declared null and void. 

 As a result many Champaig^n county 

 farmers have refused to pay their 

 taxes on the ground that they were 

 being illegally collected. 



The controversy, which began early 

 last summer, arose over findings of 

 inequalities in tax valuations between 

 farm lands and property, and real 

 estate in the taxing districts of Cham- 

 paign!, Urbana, and Rantoul by the 

 Champaign County Farm Bureau and 

 the Illinois Agricultural Association. 



The Farm Bureau alleges that farm 

 lands, and real estate in the smaller 

 villages of the county, were assessed 

 from 25 to 40 per cent higher than 

 property in the cities mentioned. 



After several hearings and subse- 

 quent investigations, the Tax Commis- 

 sion found that the farmers had a just 

 complaint, and in December, 1927, 

 ordered a reassessment. The Cham- 

 paign County Board of Review made 

 a slight revision in assessed valuations 

 which the farmers contended did not 

 bring any substantial relief. 



The Farm Bureau again appealed 

 to the Commission which issued its 

 second order for a reassessment on 

 April 5, 1928. This the Champaign 

 county officials ignored. 



Section 287 of the state tax laws 

 provides that if any taxing official 

 shall fail or neglect to perform any of 

 the duties required of him under the 

 Act, he shall be liable to a fine of not 

 less than $10 nor more than $500 to 

 be recovered in an action of debt in 

 the Circuit Court of the proper coun- 

 ty, and may be removed from office 

 at the discretion of the court. 



Reports coming to the State Tax 

 Commission are to the effect that a re- 

 cent order of reassessment issued for 

 St. Clair county for 1928 taxes is be- 

 ing carried out. 



I 



