網頁圖片
PDF
ePub 版

State treasury. The corporations are required to submit to the auditor-general sworn statements of the capital stock, number of shares, par value of shares, gross and net earnings, surplus, dividends declared, etc. The rates of levy upon these bases are prescribed by law. The State constitution is explicit regarding corporations, lest these powerful bodies should purchase from a pliant Legislature exemption from civic burdens (152).

County Taxes.-The taxes levied by the county commissioners for county purposes are laid upon real estate, upon certain kinds of personal property, as business investments, domestic animals, furniture, etc.,-and upon occupations and polls. On the basis of returns made by the assessors, the county commissioners apportion the taxes to be raised for county use by the townships, wards, and districts. These taxes are collected by the regularly elected tax collectors. All persons who pay within two months are entitled to a five per cent. reduction, but all who do not pay within six months are charged five per cent. additional.

Township Taxes.-The supervisors, or commissioners, of a township can levy a tax, at a rate not exceeding one cent on a dollar, upon real and personal property, and upon certain occupations. The money is used in making and repairing bridges and roads, and for some other purposes. Upon the approval of two justices of the peace, the overseers of the poor may lay an assessment for a poor tax not exceeding one cent on a dollar. These taxes are collected by the regularly elected tax collector of the township, who gives a bond annually for the faithful performance of his duties. It is lawful for the supervisors and overseers of the poor, under certain conditions, either by themselves or by a person duly authorized, to collect the taxes by them laid.

Borough Taxes.-The rate of taxation in a borough is fixed by the council, and the expenses are under its control. The regularly elected tax collector furnishes each person, on the payment of taxes, with a numbered receipt containing the date, name, amount of tax, and district in which the taxpayer is assessed. The law requires that the tax collector shall send to the county commissioners, at least twenty days before election, lists of the persons who have paid taxes.

City Taxes.-The annual levy in cities is made by the select and common councils. Estimates of the amount required are furnished by the controller to the councils at the first stated meeting in January of each year, as a basis for fixing the levy and tax rate for the next fiscal year. The taxing processes may differ somewhat in cities of the different classes, but they now bear a close resemblance to each other, as well as to the methods employed in the counties and in the State itself. Some of the larger cities are, in population and wealth, equivalent to States in themselves. The forms of property upon which taxes are levied are varied, and the special purposes very numerous. The legislative powers of the city councils are not general like those of the General Assembly, but are limited by the charter of the city. In the case of the increase of debt beyond a certain amount, the State constitution requires the assent of the voters of the city at a public election (157).

The taxes levied in a city are much greater than those in rural districts, because of the great number of public institutions which the city is compelled to create for the welfare of its people. The care of the streets, the protection of the public health, the care of the poor, the equipment of a fire department, the maintenance of adequate police force to protect life and property, and many other public interests all tend to increase the taxes.

In addition to these natural causes of increase of taxation, there are others of a different character. The weakest point in the political management of affairs in this country is the question of city finance and city government. In our great cities a large part of the voters pay no direct taxes, and thus have no great interest in moderate taxation and economical administration. In regard to the city officials themselves, the great fault is that responsibility is so divided that it cannot be forcibly brought home to any one. Further restriction of the power of the State Legislature to interfere by special legislation with municipal government and the conduct of municipal affairs would seem to be necessary. Taken all in all, the forces that destroy true democratic government are most active in cities, and the defensive forces are most ill placed for resistance.

How the Taxes are Collected. The collection of all taxes, except the so-called delinquent taxes, is in charge of the city treasurer. On and after the first day of November in each year, the city treasurer must place duplicates of taxes in the hands of tax collectors by him appointed. These officers are paid by councils, and exercise all the powers vested by law in the collectors of State and county taxes.

City Sinking Fund.-Every city must create a sinking fund, which shall be inviolably pledged for the payment of its funded debt (181).

School Taxes. The question of school taxes and funds is discussed in the chapters on Education. The school district tax is levied by the board of directors, and collected by the stated tax collectors. Taxes are assessed and levied for school purposes upon real estate and personal property as provided by law. There is also an occupation or per capita tax of one dollar, assessed upon each and every male inhabitant of the

age of twenty-one years and upwards. The tax levy for school purposes in districts of the first class is fixed at not less than five nor more than six mills. In districts of the second class, the school taxes cannot exceed twenty mills on the dollar. Taxes in districts of the third and fourth classes cannot exceed twenty-five mills on the dollar, estimated on the total amount of the assessed valuation of all property taxable for school purposes therein,—that is, upon all property upon which the county taxes are levied and assessed. In all school districts of the second class, the school taxes are levied and assessed on the real estate and personal property therein as contained in the assessment made for city tax purposes. The total debt of any school district of the first class must not exceed two per centum of the assessed value of the property.

Certain Property Exempt.-All taxes must be uniform upon the same class of subjects within the jurisdiction of the taxing authority; but the General Assembly may, by general laws, exempt from taxation public property used for public purposes, actual places of religious worship, places of burial not held for private or corporate profit, and institutions of a purely public charity. Thus, under the laws enacted, courthouses, jails, churches, hospitals and other places of benevolence, and all institutions of learning are exempt from taxation; always provided that none of these be used for private profit (150).

Planting Shade Trees. In the Act of 1907, the Legislature provided a system whereby townships of the first class, boroughs, and cities of the Commonwealth may have and enjoy something approaching systematic tree-planting. The commissioners of any township of the first class, or the councils of any borough or city, may provide for the planting,

protection, and care of shade trees. The cost of planting the trees is borne by the owner of the property in front of which the trees are planted. The expense of caring for the trees thus planted is paid by a general tax.

Roads: State Highway Commissioner. The roads of Pennsylvania are generally poorly made, but the State is not exceptional in this respect. Supervisors are rarely skilled roadmakers, and their short term of office does not tend to fix responsibility nor lead to well-directed effort in road construction. The people have been unwilling to pay the taxes necessary to the production of good roads. Taxpayers, too, have the right to work out their road tax, and the highways have suffered from the efforts of inefficient laborers. However public sentiment has been aroused in the interest of improvement. Recent legislation reorganizes the State highway department and the initial appropriation is made for a chain of good roads which is to cover the entire State and cost not less than $50,000,000. It is the first comprehensive system of road-building that Pennsylvania has ever attempted upon an adequate scale, and it is a matter of the greatest importance to place at the head of the highway department a man of ideas and executive capacity joined with the engineering and road-building experience. The State highway commissioner is appointed by the Governor for a term of four years. The Sproul bill recently signed by Governor John K. Tener (1911), calls for a system of seven thousand miles of improved highways connecting by about three hundred routes the various county seats and other important cities and boroughs of the State.

All persons using automobiles must procure licenses from the commissioner, and such fees are appropriated to the use of the department.

« 上一頁繼續 »