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Show t rr 'f Battle Creek Pitiful moans for help are rever-brating. rever-brating. throughout the drought-ridden drought-ridden valleys of the Beehive State. Traced to their source, the pathetic wails are found to be emerging from the City Fathers of Salt Lake City. Chief moaner, at this writing is Adiel F. Stewart, mayor of Utah's most populous city. According to Mr. Stewart, his home town is in a bad way, financially, fin-ancially, that is. In fact, he says that if he and other members of the City Commission spend money as they would like to, the town's cash box will be minus about two million, come the last day of 1957. Since running out of spending money is a politician's worst nightmare, night-mare, Mayor Stewart and associates assoc-iates have been doing a little heavy thinking. First off, they thought they had it a half of one per cent city sales tax. Shoppers in Salt Lake City would pay the extra half-penny, the city could get the money and everything -would be financially rosy. The plan really looked goo3. Shoppers from outside areas would also pay their "Tribute to Rome" every time they spent a dollar or fraction thereof; and the merchants mer-chants would do the collecting, without fuss or fanfare. Simple, and very sharp, thought the Commissioners. Com-missioners. Had they dropped an atomic bomb on Main Street, they could not have detonated a more violent explosion. Metropolitan businessmen business-men rose up to a man and denounced de-nounced the proposal as a curse and an abomination. Said one of them, "It will ruin us all. Not only will outside shoppers buy at home; but our own citizens will leave the city limits to trade." So, that ended that. The City Fathers went into a second huddle; and resourceful souls that they are, came up with another one. They now propose an additional one per cent sales tax to be collected state-wide; the state to do the collecting along with the present two per cent. ThJ state would keep a half- cent and turn the other half-cent over to the various cities and towns, where it was collected. "Of course," said Mayor Stewart, "Utah cities which did not need the extra money, could allow it to be spent by the state." Fair, isn't it? Well sir, it's the same old story over again. This new tax, if approved ap-proved by the current State Legislature, Leg-islature, will be rounded up and placed firmly upon the shoulders of those least able to pay the common folk. The man with the large family; others, who of necessity nec-essity spend all that they earn; the widow with children to support sup-port and oldsters on pension or social security will pick up the lion's share of the check. Those in the higher income brackets, brac-kets, who spend only a part of their incomes, the large corporations, corpora-tions, and such like, will pay relatively rela-tively much less. If Salt Lake City needs more money, they need more money; and the citizens should assume the responsibility re-sponsibility cf raising it, without burdening other tax-ridden people of the state. There are other ways more equitable than this. Some fair-minded Salt Lakers have advocated a graduated city income withholding tax. This plan has considerable merit. Based on the principle that the more you earn, the more you pay, .the plan has much to recommend it. In addition, ad-dition, highly-payed workers who live in rented apartments or trailers trail-ers and pay little if any property tax, would be compelled to assume their just share of the cost of schc;ls, roads, public safety and city government. Again, commuters, who live outside out-side and profit from lucerative city jobs, would pay in part for the advantage. Seems to this column that income taxes are about the most equitable methods ever devised de-vised for raising funds for public benefit. If you don't earn it, you needn't pay it. If you do, you should. Fair, sensible and entirely justifiable. So long 'til Thursday. |