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Show WHAT IT COSTS TO GOVERN US Hy PROF. M. H. HUNTKR Dept. ol KiOil in, Uiilvriilty Ol Illinois. Where Cities Get Their Money IN )!U.r, Iho last year for which accurate ac-curate figures i I'D now available, the Income of tlwi American cities of more than LHI.Ot K) population oilier than borrowed funds, was about !!l,(HH,ltO. This was a total of uboul $71) for every man, woman, and child living In Iheso cities. Of this total, alMiut (SI) per cent came from the general properly lax while In l'.IUH only about S1 per cent came from this souretf. 'The general properly tax Is levied upon the vulue of the real and personal property of Individuals. Of Ihe n Under of the revenue, Komu $(il,4'.ll,IWK) came from SH.'elal taxes of one kind or another. Many cities tax corporations by some other method, or hy some method in addition addi-tion to tax on property. Special taxes are frequently levied upon savlngi banks, trust companies, and Insurance companies, and upon Inheritances and Incomes. Specific taxes are also sometimes some-times levied upon animals, grain, and vessels In addition to the tax upon them as properly. The receipts from the more Important of these special taxes In l'.l'Jri, were: Hanks, $S,80-I,-IXK); street railways and other corporations, cor-porations, Jll.icJ'J.'KK); Inheritances, Sl.b'.iT.UlKJ; incomes, $l!'J,S0i.t)O0; montages, mon-tages, ?G,M.),0(KI. Some cities continue to make use of the poll tax, either at u fixed amount per individual or graded on the basis ot occupation. The total collection from this source was but JI.e.Hi.tKiO. Many cities exact license payments, some of which are for business privileges, priv-ileges, as peddling, and others for nonbusiness non-business purpo-vs, ns those upon dogs nnd nut( biles. The total receipts from license payments were $7'J,711,-IKAI. $7'J,711,-IKAI. Many grants come to cities from the state and from Individuals and corporations. The-e nre usually for some siiecltlc purpo.-e, nnd In U1-"' amounted to $1-7,'J03.ii. In paving streets-, laving sidewalks, building sewers, and Installing lighting light-ing systems, cities usually meet the cost by a special nvc-sment upon the property which Is Increased In value ' by the improvement. Ti e use of the ct reels, moreover, is a vnmiii'ic .,,- llege- to telephone companies, street i railways, etc., and ns a charge for ! their use the cities collected S11S.-GOT.'XXI. S11S.-GOT.'XXI. Many of t tie city departments show , earnings, while some of the municipal- , ly-owned public service enterprises, I such ns tlie water works, show con- ; siderable earnings-. Tlie total of such earnings was SH- l,o7-i0. : I Income Taxes for State Revenue rnr, of course, know that the federal fed-eral government levies n tax on Incomes. Put did you realize that eleven states receive something like $ idxkihm) a year from a tax on personal per-sonal Incomes? These nre Delaware. Massachusetts. Mississippi, Missouri. New York. North Carolina. North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Wisconsin. There is considerable ngitation for Its adoption in other states, while in others a constitutional amendment to make It possible is being be-ing considered. The idea of a state tax on Incomes Is not new. In fact, there has never been a time when one or more of tlie states tlid not make some provision for tlie taxation of incomes. Kven In some of the colonies Income was use.! as one of the taxable bases, in most of the early attempts, however, there was no centralization of administration administra-tion and little pressure from otlicials. Wisconsin is frequently Cod as the first state to adopt the income tax, since It has been of considerable Importance Im-portance in her revenue system sine-Kill. sine-Kill. From the Income tax Individuals ure allowed to deduct the nmount of tax paid on personal property. 1 his has meant a deduction of about 40 per cent of the tax levy. The rmes are progressive from 1 tier cent to riper ri-per cent, the latter applying to all Incomes of more than S12.1XKI. No ex emptions are allowed, but deductions are made from the tax for single Individuals, heads of families, unit dependents. Sixty per cent of I lie re celpts are distributed to localities. Massachusetts does not use progres sive rates but classilies incomes and taxes the classes at different rates The Income from intangibles Is taxed it ti per cent; that from annuities 1 per cent; that from professions and occupations. per cent. An ex emption of S'J.OUH is allowed a single individual, ?'2,.rilKl to the head of a family, and $'-i"(l for each deemlout The receipts, above cost of admiuis trillion, are distribuied to localities. Tlie slate of New York adopted the income tax in Klltl. One per cent Is levied upon incomes not exceeding. 51(1.000; 2 per cent from JI0.000 to $;"0.000; and S per cenl on Ihe re ivainiler. An exemption of SI. dim i-Hllowed i-Hllowed a single individual, $'J.UOl-tlie $'J.UOl-tlie head of a family, witli S-lon foi each dependent. One half the receipt--Is retained for state use and the remainder re-mainder distributed to localities on Ihe basis of Ihe nssossed value of real pslaie. In none of the oilier stales has tlie income tax reached the importance It has in these three. In the future incomes will doubtless receive more attention, as a source of slate revenue. rev-enue. (cl rr:8, W'caleria Nuwspauei Union. l |