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Show I : IMi THE LICENSE H That Is Question Thai. Agitates Minds of Merchants and CoimcilmeJi. H MONEY COLLECTED AMOUNTS TO ABOUT $80,000 A YEAR Taxes Would Have to Bo In-creased In-creased to Meet the Deficit. r Chairman Stewart of tho Li- r r eonso committee of tho Cit' -tv I Council: "The aggregate of the 4 merchants' licenses in Salt Lake City amount to approximately $SO.00O a year. Should wo re- , peal the lieeuso tax ordiimec, ' where do you gentlemen sun- I- gest that we secure this rove- nue?" I- Lou J. Haddock, secretary or J 1 r the Merchants and Manufactur- !- ors' association: "Oh, that is . v 4- up to you." :- Councilman Martin: "Should -:- j r we decrease the revenues by the -j 4 amount, proposed it would take 4 4 a tax at least lJ,-j mills ro make 4 4 the amount up. Don't 3ou sup- 4 4- pose that every property owner 4 ' 4- jii this city would sign a counter 4 4 petition if it was proposed to 4 4 thus increase taxation?" 4-: I The above quotations do not com- r - -prise all that was said at the confer- j eneo of tho merchants and the Munici-! : pal Laws and License committees of tho f Cit3' Council Thursday, evening but . they contain the frist of all that was j said. ! i Much has recently been said concern- l ' ing the petition of the Merchants and h Manufacturers' association, backed .by! virtually every merchant in the cit3', asking for the repeal of the ordinance , requiring merchants to pay a license i 1 lax. Thursday evening the petitioners j : v and the committees got together. j I George S. McAllister, president of the I association, was the first of tho ni'ti- I tioncrs to bo heard. Mr. Mc"istjr I said that the imposition of the tax iii i question was double taxation, as the j , . merchants wcro nlreadv taxed upou the value of their stocks. lie also said that j . . out of sixteen letters written to sur- I rounding cities, fifteen replies had been received and that of the fifteen eleven j had reported that they had no mer- j chants' tax, and were glad of it. Mr, r 1 McAllister also urged the repeal of tho t lax for the reasou that all the mcr- j I chants had asked for it. j Say It's Double Taxation. I -Arthur Parsons of the Z. C. M.' T. took a similar view as to double taxa- l lion, and contended that the tax was I holding the e'113' back- He also referred I . t to the fact that commercial travelers L-i and manufacturers' agents paid no lax. Charles A. Quiglcy of the Studebakcr I' Bros, company said he did not care so I 7iiuch for the financial end of the rnut- 1 ter as ho did for other features, TIo I thought, however, that outsiders were I gutting tho better of the proposition, as I tlK'3" could come in and do business I . . without putting up anything. But what D hurt Mr. Quigle3' most was the action I " of the License Assessor in refusing (0 1 take the word of merchants as to tho mr value of their stock. I Lou J. lladdock, secretary of the Mer- I 1 chants and Manufacturers' association. I and Sam C. Park of the Park .iewelrj' f"1 . store talked along the same lines. I ' When it cair.e to the question, how- I ever, of devising ways and means, by I which to make up the amount, in the I event that tho tax was. abolished, there I , were no suggestions, Mr. Haddock de- I, 1 claring that this question was one for 1 the Council to determine. L. Much stress was laid upon the propo- I sition that all tho merchants were in I favor of the repeal, but Mr. Martin de- I clarcd that virtually every property E' owner in the citv would protest against I ' the repeal if it. meant to raise the I j amount thus lost by increasing taxa- 1 I lion. I .Finally, Mr. Fernstorm moved that I the chairman of the committee secure ' tho exact figures, as nearly as possible. I; as to the amount of the tax, the cost of I collection, etc., and submit them to a L meeting to be held later. This motion I prevailed, aud the meeting ad.iourned. |
