v\ 



The 



OBnois A^cultural Assodatioii 



RECORD 



Publiihed monthly by the Illinois Agricultural Association at 165 So. Main St., Spencer, Ind. Editorial Offices, 608 So. Dearborn St., Chicago, 111. 

 Application for transfer of second class entry from Marshall, 111., to Spencer, Ind., pending. Acceptance for mailing at special rates of postage pro- 

 vided in Section 412, Act of Feb. 28, 19S6, authorized Oct. 27, 1925. Address all communications for publication to Editorial Offices, Illinois Agri- 

 cultural Association Kecord, 608 So. Dearborn St., Chicago. 



Number 6 



JUNE. 1932 



Volume 10 



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I. A. A. And Farm Bureaus Direct State- Wide Campaign To Reduce Cost of Government 



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A STATE- WIDE campaign of 

 study and investigation into 

 expenditures of local governments 

 where 80 to 90 per cent of the 

 farmers' tax money goes will be 

 carried on throughout June by 

 County Farm Bureaus supported 

 by the Illinois Agricultural As- 

 sociation. 



The movement will be assisted 

 in a series of district conferences. 

 Its object is to cut out unnec- 

 essary public offices and services, 

 promote reasonable reductions in 

 cost of needed services, reduce 

 and perhaps temporarily abolish 

 certain levies on property, and so 

 lower the farmers' tax burden. 



Dates and places of District Tax 

 Conferences were tentatively 

 scheduled as follows: district 14, 

 May 25, Aledo; district 15, June 2, 

 Rushville; district 25, June 6, 

 Murphysboro; district 24, June 

 7, Carmi; district 23, June 8, 

 Olney; district 19, June 9, Tus- 

 cola; district 18, June 10, Dan- 

 ville; district 20, June 20, Jack- 

 sonville; district 22, June 21, Ed- 

 wardsville: district 21, June 22, 

 Springfield; district 16, June 23, 

 Peoria; district 13, June 24, Ore- 

 gon; district 12, June 27, Syca- 

 more; district 

 17, June 2 8, 

 ; Blooming ton; 

 district 11, June 

 ; 29, Geneva. 



Farm Bureau 

 tax committees, 

 which already 

 have played a 

 leading part in 

 bringing about 

 substantial cuts 

 in assessed valu- 

 ations in nearly 

 all counties will 

 " be armed with 

 facts. They will 

 first check up 



the amount of bonded or other in- 

 debtedness in each taxing dis- 

 trict, get the levy on property in 

 each district, scrutinize annual 

 expenditures, and secure balances 

 in treasuries. 



Money paid into the county 

 general fund by the different fee 

 offices such as the county clerk, 

 circuit clerk, treasurer and sheriff, 

 and amounts received by each 

 school district from the state com- 

 mon school fund will be studied. 



Stop the waste, if any, of public 

 funds. Reduce or omit tax levies 

 where there is a substantial bal- 

 ance in public treasuries. Post- 

 pone unnecessary equipment ex- 

 penditures. Drive for reasonable 

 salary reductions. These will be 

 the principal aims of the tax com- 

 mittees. 



What can be done to lower taxes 

 by consolidating small taxing dis- 

 tricts into larger units? What sav- 

 ings can be effected by combining 

 country school districts and pay- 

 ing local taxpayers to transport 

 children to school? Are poor re- 

 lief funds being administered 

 wisely? Is the county poor farm 

 self-supporting and if not what 

 can be done to make it so? These 



THESE MEN TOOK AN ACTIVE PART IN OROANIZINO THE I. A. 

 BASIS IN THE MEMBERSHIP CAMPAIGN OF 1919-1920. HOW MANY 



are some of the questions the 

 Farm Bureau committees will dig 

 into. 



The Illinois Agricultural As- 

 sociation will concentrate its 

 efforts on a study of state ex- 

 penditures and laws determining 

 county and local expenditures. 

 The driving force behind the 

 movement is the knowledge that 

 in the past 10 years the tax bill 

 on all Illinois farm property has 

 decreased little or none in spite 

 of heavy loss of values and re- 

 peated cuts in farm land valua- 

 tions, whereas farm income in the 

 same period dropped nearly 70 

 per cent. 



The state-wide campaign to get 

 the facts on which to build a sen- 

 sible, constructive program of 

 further tax reduction is a con- 

 tinuation of the tax studies in- 

 itiated by the I. A. A. more than 

 10 years ago, the results of which 

 are familiar to informed Farm 

 Bureau members. 



A slash of one and one-half 

 million dollars from Illinois farm 

 taxes this year in comparison with 

 the 1931 tax bill is the latest ac- 

 complishment largely brought 

 about by efforts of county Farm 



Bureau tax com- 

 mittees and the 

 I. A. A. 



The 1932 taxes 

 on Illinois farm 

 lands and im- 

 provements are 

 at least $6,500,- 

 000 less than 

 they would have 

 been had the 

 high valuations 

 of 1923 not been 

 reduced. 



This means an 

 average saving 

 . ^„ (Continued on next 



A. ON ITS PRESENT _. ^v 



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