Image provided by: SEIU Local 503; Salem, OR
About The Oregon state employee. (Salem, Oregon.) 1944-195? | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1947)
age. It seems to penalize the thrifty. Any method of taxation, such as a sales tax, which tends to i eventually eliminate all property taxes can not, in S justice, be lightly or selfishly Con demned! The factual data also shows that the payment of à sales tax attaches no great burden on any individual or family. Its payment is as nearly "painless” as any tax çan be. It comes in small amounts ajad at periods of time more nearly within the control of the individual than almost any other form of revenue raising. It also compels contribution by the out-of-state tourist, the transient worker, and others who now enjoy the benefits and privileges offered by Ore gon without contributing directly to their support. Shifts Tax Burden The ¡¡f&ctual E data partially answers the charge so often thrown at any sales tax proposal that "it -shifts the burden of taxation from z those most able to pay to those least I able to pay.” The so-called^ "burden” at issue appears, on a factual basis, ,to amount to from $12 to .$32 a year for a four person family in the aneóme groups of $1,000 to $3,000. It is certain that a three per cent salés,, tax on spending (food pur chases are not subject to the tax) can never exceed-’$-3.00 per hundred dollars spent. Many of us can recall many in stances where personal, unnecessary and unprofitable expenditures have far ex ceeded speh amounts, with no' tears shed afterward! Many people who' would pay senne small tax Via the easy sales tax method áre now exempt from sharing in the responsibilities of gov ernmental support, yet enjóy tlaé same protections and benefits which the pay ers -make possible. Prudent people avoid the glittering spellbinding of those who advocate and promise "something for nothing.” I The reduction of property taxes, (a direct result of the passage of the sales tax) offers relief to the many who own their own homès but lffrie else! The salés tax "shifts” a burden f rom a Tew 11 to the many, a democratic procedure. •It shifts part of the responsibility of governmental support to those who now enjoy its benefits but do not pay for them. Some speak of the laborer, the farmer, the aged, the school teacher, the weal thy, etc. as ‘‘classes” of people who are to be injured or benefitted by a sales tax. They should also recognize that there are about 1,300,000 people in Ore gon, all? of whom should contribute in some measure to the wealth and pros perity of the State. He should recog nize the value to the State of the chil dren who help raise and harvest out Crops; the public servants who provide the services that protect our lives and properties; those who design, construct and maintain opr roads- so-people and goods Can travel safely; those who haz ard their money in business and manu facturing that all of Us may have the /tools, materials, goods and necessities to live better than the pioneers. A factory worker knows that it takes a farmer and a money investment ¡to provide him with the means of existence. A farmer knows that good roads, modern con veniences, agricultural research and ad- vice are desirable and valuable to his livelihood. Businesses and manufactur ing enterprises are necessary to permit us to live in cities or to live anywhere, in comfort, and depend on the coopera tion of others for their ability to pro duce. Those in public employment ren der service' benefits in multitudinous ways which affect the lives and com forts of all. Sober ref lectioii reveals that there are really no "classes” of individ uals with rights above those of Other human, beings. What we commonly rec ognize as a "class” of people is still basically just a few- human beings, a minority, who would be completely helpless if all other "classes” became non-existent or unduly oppressed. All Must Contribute It is time for individual thought. The progress of our State depends on clear thinking by each person, on the exer- (Continued on page 12)
