THE I. A, A. RECORD 



Page 



Seven 



districts, and other municipalities, with power to make 

 local improvements by special assessment or by special taxa- 

 tion of contiguous property, or otherwise. The words 

 "other municipalities" include ail taxing districts not spe- 

 cifically named. 



Without any mention of taxing districts other than cities, 

 towns and villages, it is usually believed that the General 

 Assembly cannot now vest the authorities of such other 

 taxing districts with power to make local improvements by 

 special taxation of contiguous property. This implied pres- 

 ent restriction has doubtless prevented many attempts to 

 secure the enactment of laws granting such poWer. Experi- 

 ence in other states, notably Iowa and Ohio, demonstrates 

 the danger of confiscatory special taxes on contiguous prop- 

 erty for road purposes. The proposed amendment would 

 open wide the door for confiscatory special taxes, especially 

 on contiguous property, for many purposes. 



Summary and Conclusions 



The Illinois Agricultural Association has long been and 

 is now heartily in favor of properly amending the revenue 

 .irticle of the state constitution. The pending amendment 

 contains some good features which the association would 

 .ipprove, if they could be voted on separately. Along with 

 the good features of the amendment, however, are several 

 provisions which would be wholly improper in our consti- 

 tution, since they would make our taxing system still more 

 burdensome to most property, especially real estate. 



Such improper provisions are: 



; 1. A grant to the General Assembly of /. / 



;/.■.■:. such broad power to classify property 



as to permit the use of different stand- 

 . ' . ards of value and different tax rates, 



AS in the low- rate taxation of intangi* 



■■;■.; bles. :■■:-. .V 



' . . 2. The restriction of the state to a per- . ■ - 

 '^■■-^'^.-...tion of any tax on incomes which ' v-i 



■-would be w^holly inadequate to its 

 .;,-■■',■ needs. 



.:;■.. , 3. A provision permitting the state to be 

 ;.,:■- :!^ stripped of the greater portion or all 



v.; -V /^of its present revenue from inheri- 

 ~tance, corporation and insurance privi- 

 ■{.•\ ^*8* taxes and even gasoline taxes, 



; "•^•' which would further hamper the state ,:..:. 



and make it more dependent on prop- 

 erty taxes. 



4. A provision permitting these various 

 taxes, after being taken away from 

 the state (w^here alone they would be 

 large enough to be replacement taxes 

 and decrease the levies on property) to 

 be distributed among so many taxing 

 districts and usually in such small 

 amounts that they could no longer be 

 lieu taxes, but would be additional 

 taxes. 



5. A provision permitted ANY taxing dis- 

 trict to levy confiscatory taxes by spe- 

 cial assessment on contiguous rural 

 property for local improvements. 



The Illinois Agricultural Association is convinced that 

 the improper provisions proposed in the pending amend- 

 ment, if adopted, not only could but would have very bad 

 results on tangible property, and most of all on real estate. 

 The good provisions of the amendment are far outweighed 

 by its bad provisions. The Illinois Agricultural Associa- 



tion, therefore, has no choice but to refuse any support for 

 the amendment. It regrets the delay of four years before a 

 proper amendment can be submitted, but believes that delay 

 is far safer than the incorporation of dangerous and im- 

 proper provisions in a constitution so notoriously difficult 

 to amend. In the meantime, much can be done not only 

 in better enforcing the present revenue laws, but also in 

 using the great power given the General Assembly by the 

 present constitution, under which an income tax free from 

 the restrictions proposed in the amendment can be enacted. 

 TTius would be made possible the use of revenue derived 

 from such a tax to reduce or replace pro{>erty taxes. 



Clay County Enforces the Law 



ONE of the iniquities of the general property tax is that 

 it is not enforced impartially. The state constitution 

 provides that all property shall pay a tax according to its 

 value. Following the lines of least resistance, the assessor 

 invariably lists real estate first because it is eaily accessible. 

 You can't hide land, buildings, live stock, and farm machin- 

 ery. Nor can you easily obscure their value. But with 

 personal property, including household goods, clothing, 

 jewels, motor cars, etc., it is different, particularly in our 

 towns and cities. These either escape taxation altogether 

 or else they are assessed notoriously low. Thus the burden 

 of taxation falls unfairly on real estate. 



In Clay county, Illinois, the local board of review, we 

 are informed, is attempting to improve its enforcement of 

 the property tax. Overassessment of farm lands and im- 

 provements disclosed by the Farm Bureau is being met with 

 a flat 20 per cent reduction. The loss in revenue will be 

 made up by assessing personal property on the same basis 

 as real estate is taxed. "In my town," said a Clay county 

 citizen, "fifty dollars is the highest value placed on any 

 taxpayer's personal property." Not even the price of a 

 good radio. In Chicago, 8 5 per cent of the people pay no 

 personal property taxes. The Clay County Board of Re- 

 view is to be commended for its effort at law enforcement. 



Dr. Warren Forecasts 



'TPHE overwhelmingly important cause of the agricultural 

 -L depression is falling prices and consequently maladjust- 

 pient between farm and retail prices, all of which is due 

 to an increasing value of gold. Dr. G. F. Warren explained 

 to the international conference of agricultural economists' 

 meeting at Cornell University recently. 



The depression will last as long as material deflation con- 

 tinues, and for a number of years after. If deflation should 

 discontinue now, the increased efficiency in farming, in- 

 creasing efficiency in handling products, and the infinite 

 number of adjustments in other prices might be expected 

 to end the agricultural depression in ten years or less, he 

 predicted. "I believe, however," said Dr. Warren, "that 

 prices will continue to decline to the pre-war level and prob- 

 ably they will go below that level. When the decline stops, 

 several years will be necessary to overcome the agricultural 

 depression." 



The individual farmer should anticipate still lower prices, 

 and be careful about long-time debts, except for things 

 that are below pre-war prices. He must reduce his costs 

 of production. He should not buy land nor work land that 

 does not produce a high output for each hour of labor. He 

 should make labor-saving plans of operation. His business 

 should be large enough to fully employ all of his time and 

 that of his labor. He should obtain high crop yields by 

 using fertilizers which are cheap, and by discontinuing to 

 work land that does not give high yields. Dr. Warren ad- 

 vised. 



