The Augusta Courier

Georgia Must Raise Sufficient Money To Educate Its People, Spalding Says

Georgia must have 40 million dollars more each year to operate its schools and to build roads, according to Hughes Spalding, Atlanta lawyer, who is chairman of Governor Talmadge's Board of Regents.

"That is a lot of dough; that is a lot of money, but nevertheless, we have got to have it," said Spalding.

"Now I am for this minimum education foundation very strongly. I am not influenced by anything except we must educate our people, and we must educate them properly. I am also influenced by the fact that I am on the Boards of Regents. I was one of the original members of the Board that was appointed by Governor Russell in '31, and then I have gone back on there and they have made great progress too, but we are in a pitiful situation as far as plant and equipment is concerned. We can get along and pay our teachers and those kind of things. You gentlemen have been generous with us, and the Governor has been generous with us, but when you come to things like dormitories and housing for the young people, they are unfit, some of them, for human habitation, the places these young men and women have to live; not necessarily on the campus of the institution they are so over-crowded they have to take places all around the town and the community where they attend school.

"And another thing, you can't have any great university or you can't have any great schools unless you have an adequate library. You can't have any good lawyers unless he at least has a Georgia Reporter and the Georgia Code. The two greatest institutions in Georgia, of course, as I see it well, they are the largest anyhow, the University of Georgia with 6500 students, and Georgia Tech out here with over 5,000 students, and they have no library facilities worthy of their name. That is a must. Library and housing is a 'Must' for the University System. The other things we can get along fairly well without but we have got to have housing facilities and libraries and school buildings, and we can't get them unless the state raises more money by taxation and gives it to the University System and common schools.

"Now when we come to taxes, that is a question, and that is a serious question. It is not up to me to tell you gentlemen how to raise money by taxation. That is the job peculiarly delegated to you, but I hope you will excuse me for saying that. Now we collected approximately $110,000,000 in taxes last year. That includes the fees to the different departments, and so forth-$109,998,000. It looks to me like we have got to have $40,000,000 more."

40 Million Dollars Needed To Meet Minimum School Foundation Program

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think that is about right.

That is a lot of dough; that is a lot of money, but nevertheless, we have got to have it. Now when you set about ways and means of raising that money, you can't ruin what we have. You can't make the tax burden so heavy on people that are making the state wealthy and making the state prosper that if will bring them into financial distress or cause them to move out of the state and go somewhere else, or cause other people not to come into the state. You have got to have all those things in mind."

News on September 16, 1949, The Georgia Democrat, The Atlanta Journal, The Columbus Inquiry and The Waycross Journal Herald as the "Purdom Tax Plan". Briefly this plan would completely rewrite and revise the tax system of Georgia whereby one hundred per cent of the people would contribute their just proportional part of the taxes according to their income and ability to pay taxes. The hundred some odd so called nuisance taxes, levies, penalties and assessments would be completely repealed and the citizens and businesses would not be harassed with petty politicians daily calling upon them for some kind of an inspection, penalty, license or the payment of these special nuisance taxes. The ad valorem tax field would be left to the counties and municipalities, with the State supervising the assessments of property.

The State's taxes should be divided into five classes, each would be coordinated with the other. I do not believe a sales tax within itself is a fair form of taxation, but a sales tax coordinated with an income tax will broaden the base for taxation and at the same time will let each person contribute according to his ability to pay. The four classes of taxes are:

1. The general sales tax.

2. A special sales tax which would include whiskey, wine, beer, tobacco and other luxury items.

3. An income tax closely coordinated with the general sales tax, this would include inheritance tax which is a subdivision of income tax.

4. A state tax on public utilities.

5. A gasoline tax which should be spent on improving the road system of the State.

This tax program has been approved by a number of the civic clubs and organizations of the State. The officials of the Georgia Bankers Association, when they appeared before the Tax Revision Committee recently, went on record as approving a similar tax program including sales tax. I am glad to note that last week the Glynn County Grand Jury also recommended a similar program including a sales tax.

It is estimated that should the plan advocated by me be put into effect that the income of Georgia would be a little more than One Hundred Fifty Million Dollars which should finance the expanded services to which the people are entitled without having to beg and humble themselves to the State officials, to adequately provide a State Highway road system and other State services in comparison with adjoining states and last but not least, to put into effect the Minimum Foundation Program for Education in Georgia, whereby teachers will be treated and paid as skilled professional people and not as a daily laborer.

The old Jews in Bible days sought a short-cut to heaven, so they undertook the building of the tower of Babel, and their efforts resulted in confusion. All efforts in modern times to take a shortcut to perfection or to heaven still results in confusion.

"The United States never lost a war or won a conference."—Will Rogers.