Constitution, article XI: KANSAS SEC. 6. * * such public debts shall never, in the aggregate, exceed $1,000,000 as hereinafter provided. Every debt shall be authorized by law * * * SEC. 9. The State shall never be a party in carrying on any work of internal improvement except that it may adopt, construct, reconstruct, and maintain a State system of highways, but no general property tax shall ever be levied, nor bonds issued by the State for such highways. Constitution: WISCONSIN For the purpose of defraying extraordinary expenditures, the State may contract public debts (but such debts shall never in the aggregate exceed $100,000). Every such debt shall be authorized by law General property law: * * SEC. 70.62. (2) The total amount of county taxes against the tax able property of any county in any one year shall not exceed in the whole 1 percent of total valuation of county for current year as fixed by tax commissioner * ** SEC. 157. Tax rate of cities, towns, counties, taxing districts, and other municipalities for other than school purposes shall not at an time exceed the following rates upon the value of taxable property therein: Towns or cities (15,000 population or more). Towns and cities (less than 15,000 population and not less than 10,000 popuation) Towns and cities (less than 10,000 population) (Exceptions listed.) $1.50 on the $100 1.00 on the $100 .75 on the $100 .50 on the $100 No county, city, town, taxing district, or other municipality shall be authorized or permitted to become indebted in any manner or for any purpose to an amount exceeding, in any year, the income and revenue provided for such year without two-thirds of the voters thereof voting at an election to be held for that purpose. SEC. 172. All property not exempted from taxation shall be assessed at its fair cash value estimated at price it would bring at a fair voluntary sale. Constitution, article VII: GEORGIA SECTION 1. PAR. 1. The right of taxation shall always be under complete control and revocable by the State notwithstanding any gift, grant, or contract whatsoever, by the general assembly. Article VII, paragraph 2 (3): The levy of taxes on property for any year by the general assembly for all purposes, except to provide for repelling invasions, suppressing insurrections, or defending the State in time of war, shall not exceed 5 mills on each dollar of the value of the property taxable in the State. PAR. 3. All taxes shall be levied and collected under general laws for public purposes only * * Constitution, article I: OKLAHOMA SEC. 23. The State shall not create or authorize creation of any debt or obligation or fund or pay any deficit against the State, or any institution or agency thereof, regardless of its form or the source of money from which it is to be paid, except as provided in sections 24 and 25. SEC. 24. In addition to the above, State may contract debts to repel invasions, suppress insurrections, or to defend the State in war, but the money arising from contracting these debts shall be applied to the purpose for which raised or to repay such debts * * * SEC. 25. Except the debts specified in sections 23 and 24, no debts shall be Fereafter contracted by or in behalf of the State unless such debt shall be authorized by law for some work or object, to be distinctly specified * *. No such law shall take effect until it shall at a general election have been submitted to the people and have received a majority of all votes cast for and against SEC. 26. No county, city, town, township, school district, or other political corporation or subdivision shall be allowed to become indebted in any manner, or for any purpose, to an amount exceeding, in any year, the income and revenue provided for such year without three-fifths of the voters voting at an election for the purpose, nor in cases requiring such assent shall any indebtedness be allowed to be incurred, to an amount, including existing indebtedness, in the aggregate exceeding 5 percent of the valuation Constitution, article V : NORTH CAROLINA * SEC. 6. The total of State and county tax on property shall not exceed 25 cents on the $100 value of the property except when the county property tax is levied for a special purpose with the special approval of the general assembly Constitution, article XI: ALABAMA * SEC. 214. The legislature shall not have the power to levy in any one year a greater rate of taxation than sixty-five one hundredths of 1 percent of the value of the taxable property within the State. SEC. 215. No county shall be authorized to levy a greater rate of taxation in any one year on the value of the taxable property therein than one-half of 1 percent ** * * (Exceptions listed.) SEC. 216. No city, town, village, or other municipal corporation * * * shall levy or collect a higher rate of taxation in any one year on the property situated therein than one-half of 1 percent of the value of such property as assessed for State taxation during the preceding year (Exceptions listed.) * SEC. 218. The legislature shall not have the power to require counties or other municipal corporations to pay any charges which are now payable out of the State treasury. Title 51, chapter 3: SEC. 17. All taxable property within this State shall be assessed for purpose of taxation at 60 percent of the fair and reasonable market value. Constitution, article X: * * LOUISIANA SEC. 1. The power of taxation shall be rested in the legislature; shall never be surrendered, suspended, or contracted away; and all taxes shall be uniform, No property shall be assessed for more than its actual cash value, ascertained as directed by law *. The valuation as fixed for State purposes shall be the valuation and classification for local purposes, but the taxing authorities may adopt a different percentage of such valuation for purpose of local taxation. SEC. 3. The rate of State taxation on property for all purposes shall not exceed in any one year, 54 mills on the dollar of its assessed value, provided the legislature may by vote of the members elected to each house increase such rate to not more than 534 mills on the dollar. * SEC. 10. For the purpose of constructing or improving public buildings, schoolhouses, roads, bridges, levees, sewerage or drainage work, or other works of permanent public improvement any political subdivision may levy taxes, in excess of the limitation otherwise fixed in this constitution, not to exceed in any one year 5 mills on the dollar for any one of said purposes and not to exceed in any one year 25 mills on the dollar *; for additional support to public schools, * * * * * taxes may be levied in excess of limitation otherwise fixed in , in any this constitution not to exceed in aggregate on any property one year, 8 mills on the dollar of assessed valuation * * ** SEC. 1. The city of New Orleans shall have the right to levy, impose, and collect any and all classes of taxes that may be imposed that are necessary for the proper operation and maintenance of the municipality, provided same is not prohibited by the Constitution of the State of Louisiana * MISSOURI Constitution, article X: SEC. 1. Taxing power may be exercised by the general assembly for State purposes and by counties and other political subdivisions under power granted to them by the general assembly for county, municipal, and other corporate purposes. SEC. 8. The State tax on real and tangible personal property, exclusive of tax necessary to pay bonded debt of the State, shall not exceed 10 cents on the hundred dollars of assessed valuation. SEC. 11. Taxes may be levied by counties and other political subdivisions on all property subject to their taxing power, but the assessed valuation therefor, in such other political subdivisions shall not exceed the assessed valuation of the same property for State and county purposes. Any tax imposed upon such property by municipalities, counties, or school districts for their respective purposes shall not exceed the following annual rates: Municipalities: $1 on the $100 of assessed valuation. Counties: $0.35 on the $100 assessed valuation in counties having $300,000,000 or more assessed valuation, and $0.50 on the $100 assessed valuation in all other counties. School districts (formed of cities and towns): $1 on the $100 of assessed valuation, except that in city of St. Louis, the annual rate shall not exceed $0.89 on the $100 assessed valuation. Other school districts: $0.65 on the $100 assessed valuation. (Tax rates limited above may be increased under certain conditions for certain purposes.) City of St. Louis may levy for county purposes in addition to municipal rates, a rate not exceeding the rate allowed for county purposes. Foregoing limitations shall not apply to taxes levied for purpose of paying on bonded debt. be levied or imposed by the State or any political subdivision thereof or any city or municipality, except by majority vote of the people voting at an election in the area affected. Article VI: SEC. 26. (a) No county, city, incorporated town or village, school district, or other political corporation or subdivision of the State shall become indebted in an amount exceeding in any 1 year the income and revenue provided for such year plus any unencumbered balances from previous years. (Except as otherwise provided.) Mr. SNYDER. County governments spent $1,967,000,000 in 1946, as compared with $1,696,000,000 the year before. This increase of 16 percent contrasts with an increase of only 4.1 percent between 1944 and 1945. Operation costs accounted for over four-fifths of the total general expenditure, or $1,578,000,000. This was 15.5 percent more than operation expenditure in 1945. The cost of every function of county government went up, with the sole exception of sanitation. The greatest rise in absolute amount was for highways. The largest percentage increase (also true in the case of cities and States) was in recreation expenditure. Although there was a sharp increase in the amount of new debt issued during 1946, this was not sufficient to halt the downward trend of county indebtedness. Gross debt outstanding at the close of 1946 amounted to $1,463,000,000 or 4.4 percent less than the $1,531,000,000 outstanding at the close of 1945. Many counties put extra amounts in their sinking funds; hence net long-term debt fell by a considerably greater amount than gross long. term-6 percent as compared with 4.7 percent. Net long-term debt reached $1,277,000,000 in 1946, having declined from the 1945 figure of $1,358,000,000. Substantially all county indebtedness was for general government purposes, only about 1 percent being for county. owned enterprises. (The above information is from Summary of County Government Finances in 1946-April 1948-a Census Bureau publication.) The seriousness of imposing a $10,000,000,000 program upon the Federal Government is emphasized in excerpts from official documents and statements on inflation in the housing and mortgage markets. From the President's Budget Message January 6, 1948, I quote: We are all aware of the imperative necessity for preventing further inflation. * * * Toward this end * * the expansion of Government credit and of Government guaranties of private credit is being restricted. The Federal housing program, under present legislation, places primary emphasis upon assuring adequate credit through guaranties of mortgage loans * * * In recent months, however, available credit has tended to outrun available production, and thus has helped to keep construction costs and housing prices at unreasonably high levels. The Housing and Home Finance Administrator, with the assistance of the National Housing Council, is tightening standards employed in administration of existing loan-guaranty programs * * * Then, from the Economic Report of the President, January 14, 1948, I quote: In the process of inflation, one of the most potentially dangerous sources of excessive demand is the expansion of credit. This applies to consumer credit, commercial credit, real estate credit, and credit on securities. Also dangerous is the mounting volume of mortgage debt, urban and rural. The longer-run interest of the people requires careful consideration of the present financing policies of both private and governmental agencies. When demand from other sources is already pressing against the price struc ture, the injection of large amounts of bank-created funds to support business, real estate, and consumer expenditures necessarily contributes to further inflation. From testimony of Raymond M. Foley, Housing and Home Finance Administrator, before the Reconstruction Finance Corporation Subcommittee of the Senate Banking and Currency Committee, January 16, 1948, explaining why he does not recommend the reinstitution "of a Government sponsored unlimited secondary market" for veterans home loan, I quote: It would be virtually impossible to restrict the operation of such a market to areas of credit shortage. We would, therefore, run the risk of a further aggravation of the already serious inflationary pressures in the real estate market. From Mr. Foley's testimony before the Joint Committee on Housing, January 20, 1948, presenting a "plan of action:" First, a comprehensive program of legislative enactment designed to give greater stimulus and incentive to private enterprise efforts, with adequate and appropriate safeguards against inflation. * * * From the report of the Joint Committee on Housing, entitled "Housing in America," I quote: There has been so much credit available-Government guaranteed for the most part, that the bidding for a limited supply of existing houses and for a limited supply of materials and manpower with which to built new houses has pushed prices and costs to great heights. I quote from the testimony of Marriner S. Eccles, then Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, before the Joint Committee on the Economic Report, November 25, 1947 : One of the most inflationary factors-perhaps the most inflationary single factor-in the present situation is excessively easy mortgage credit for housing. More than half of the current unprecedented volume of mortgage lending is sponsored by the Federal Government under legislation enacted by Congress. The Government must, therefore, assume much of the responsibility for any adverse effects of this type of lending. If the easy credit situation were producing a substantial additional volume of housing at supportable values in the long run, it would be justified, but because of the limitations of labor and materials it produces, instead a dangerously inflated market which cannot be sustained for both old and new houses. I believe that by curtailment of credit for housing in closer relationship to the supply of labor and materials, the price trend would be reversed and a market for houses assured over a long period of years. Good low-cost housing cannot be built with high-cost materials and high-cost labor. Neither Government nor private industry can produce this miracle. For the reasons which I have stated, Congress should reconsider in the longer term interest of the country the present policy and program of the Federal Government in the field of housing credit. In his testimony before this committee on S. 866, May 3, 1948. Mr. Foley said: * * * * * * The task which we face in housing is a difficult one. It cannot be solved simply by a 2- or 3-year period of construction volume. The extension to March 31, 1949, of title VI of the National Housing Act, appear necessary to afford reasonable assurance that it will operate with increasing effectiveness (speaking of title VI Federal Housing Administration). This would make possible an orderly transition from the very liberal emergency type of assistance provided under title VI to the permanent type of Federal Housing Administration insurance operations. They are also designed (amendments) to make a number of perfecting changes in the present provisions of title II which the operating experience of the Federal Housing Administration has shown to be necessary and desirable. I should like to read certain sections from the Joint Committee on the Economic Report which is Report No. 1358 of the Senate, second session of the Eightieth Congress, issued May 18. On page 32 of the report it says: The attainment of our objectives will depend upon the best efforts of industry, agriculture, and labor, working with sympathetic understanding of one another's problems and of the common good. It will depend on a clear appreciation of maladjustments in the relationships among production, prices, and purchasing power; it will depend upon the willingness of all concerned to make necessary adjustments and upon vigorous and forward-looking Government. Then, it continues: * Nor can we agree that the need for "vigorous and forward-looking" government is any greater than it was in the years when the 2-percent pattern of growth of productivity was established. Progress in productivity has always been primarily the result of the self-seeking efforts of individuals to advance their own economic welfare by invention, by investment, and by the development of new markets for the goods or services which they have to sell. With respect to this major part of the contribution, it is more important that Government shall avoid actions that retard progress than it is that they shall participate with "vigor" but at this time the problem calls for study and for clarity of thinking, and not for vigor of action. The report lists a multiplicity of good things to do; it does not help us to decide to what extent, in an economy fully employed, re sources could or should be diverted from present uses to these uses, nor what is the priority between them. In the thirty's, social projects might be endorsed almost recklessly on the theory that they were a net addition to output in an economy filled with idle resources. But now, and in the full employment economy visualized in the report for the future, one project can be carried through only by crowding out another. * * * Financial costs are once more real costs. In other words, the report up here emphasizes, if it does not overlook, the economic criterion of all developmental investments, public or private; namely, whether the resulting addition to output can be expected to exceed that from any other known use of the same resources, and in any case exceed the values used up in the project. This is especially important with regard to public investments, because it is easier for a government than for an individual or business concern to disregard the ratio of output to cost. |