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s> nortn shore man aia flot give* n very much atte ntion. Knowing his home community, it was unthinkable that bis home town should be touched by the' blight.' Chicago teachers, 'tià true, were in a sorry piight, but sud <a dilemnia could, not reach. this c.om* munity. ,There .was.not -very close analysis as to. the possible. results f rom flot collecting any taxes in 1928 It was oply 'when. the additional deliinquencies f rom current tax col- lections began serious ly. to cramp officials of villages,ý schooI boaïrds and park boards that the real significance of, the situation. dawned* on officiais and citizens aliiçe. Then the.bue anid cry to, cut expenses arose in the land. Spen&der Have Power It was pointed -Oui bere last week btat irrespective of assessed valua- tions and, taxing rates, the real power in taxation lies.with the tax spen ders -those bodies, which bave, the authority to levy taxes and to spend the proceeds ýon public services. Cer- tain forward-looking civic leaders. realizing this, started organizations *whicb became national in scope and whicb preacbJed economies, Newspa- pers conducted economly crusades.1 Here and tbere economies. were accomplishied. These efforts and the tax revolution ini Cook county, by which real estate assessments were being decreased 'and. p ersonal prop- çrty assessments increased, combined to bring some reductions ini taxes, especially among tbe local taxing bodies of New. Trier township. Tbese were not uniform, whicb was perhaps too much to expect. Neither were the tax levies spread with the saine officiai theories in mind. Needs *were not ail alike. For inistance, the Village of Winnetka, owning its wa- * ter and elect rie utilities and making profit thereon, bas been so opulent that it c ouid even invest in the securi- ties of its, home library, schools and ev en high, school. Slightly different was the case. of the Wilmette parks, which, because they had on hand the * proceeds of a bond issue unexpended, could avoid issuing tax anticipation warrants. therébv savinoe the tax- é 5 per cent.. 1 t Levies ShouId RLue y What does this mean to taxes? It smeans that a village. that hâd tut its i expenses te, say,1 )$ 00and really *had te bave that $100,000 in céash'to ekeep on operatiîàg, should have levied s$133,,000 three years ago in order te-o 1. be able to borrow $100,000 by mgeanis 1 of, a.7* per cent warrant issue. Thé salie village. in 1931 should, have 1ev- ied $166,000 in order to be able, to borrow $100,O0, on the basis of 60 per cent of its levy. I should b ave i ievied $200,000 (or about -that) in thé 1summer of 1932 if it was expecting to epincu rent funds through bor- rowings on the basis of 50 per cent of its tax levy in Warrants. Thus ail the time the tax. Ievy sbould, be rising, although after the first serious siashes in municipal expenses thiere1 were no- increases, in budgets. Took fWrong Procedure. But this was flot quite what hap- pejed. Municipal officialsingeneral in New Trier township, like everyone elise, expected tumes to improve and with improvement a better collectiont of taxes. The result was that gener-t aliy tax levies were, reduced simuita- neously with slashed budgets.. This- seemed thé logical thing to do, but itt appears now to have been something ' of a mistake. Attention was called te this situation in these articles a year ago. At that tume the questions was askecl as to which was the wiser f policy, discounting the likelihood ofc ample collections of delinquent taxes,a or tre >ating such delinquencies as as- sets. The best judgment now seexusn to indicate that huge amounts ofv taxes levied and billed wiIl neyer beP çbllected. At any rate, those munici- Iý palities which cut their tax levies ti pretty mnuch to correspond with their t reduced>expenses in the laudable de- sire to pass the savings in expenses on to the citizen, in the shape of say-d ings in taxes, now find theniselvesý in t stringent circunistances and forced i to increase their levies so high that cl apparently the, taxes to bé. collectied di I ~,jj~ jnecessary to operate on borrowings ail tis situation has, flarebacks mb~fll~CAVU UO by means of tax anticipation war- any direction that has to do wi»th E Irants, which cost terrifically in inter- sterilig up credit. For instance, ecosteeasdeaTirHhscolhsotbnest. Witb anything like normal col- more than a year and a haif N' catcz up bUIRCWhat Dy iWcreased tax levies and aiso that delinquencies contribute in tine sonie cash, the spectacle of the cost for tbe continu- ous issuing, o f,warrants is startling. 111V moment tL I JpEy teacers àu ~per- cent of their salaries in casb, and it owes no current bills. So mucb is the damage that can arise froni the infectionof the impafrment of cred its tbrougbout ail Cook county because of tax clelinquencies.,. The great unknown quantity i this. dilemma, wbicb makes it impos- ,,sible for municipal .officials- to fore- cast accurately, is* the questionable value. of delinquenit. taxes. At 'the> moment, there are perbaps. tbree, out- standing types of delinquencies; the deliberate tax-striker, who does 'lot. 'pay taxes. because bis 'taxes, are deemed -by, hirn too high; the- prop-_ erty owner who is in very difficuit financial st.raits, and the bome-owner who is waiting, for the Illinois Su- preme court to say whether or not the order by the: tax review board to redu'ce the, 1931 assessments on homes. and smali apartments by 1.5 percent ýis valid. The real estate properties in New Trier township are so Iargely of the home type that doubtlesi there îs a large amount of tax arrearage froni the 1931 levy of this last character., If so, it is a bit of silver lining to our clouds, for cur- rently about 52,per cent of local 1931 taxes. are in han'd, even without tbe assistance of the property owner who* is awaiting this court decision. If good iuck attend us after the deci- sion is rendered (presumably th is month) our record of collections may cross the dread 60 per cent line and approxi.nate the 7.5 percent and more collected for 1930. This might inake a. favorable differerice in the warrant-issuing power of ail munici- palities. Then the hypothetical vil- lage mentioned above might begin to think of cutting its levy frôm $200,000 .0 $166,000. With ahi this strugglitng, with the danger of, many teachers in the township -getting not even warrants n pay this rnonth,1 the price paid for current solvency in warrant interest loes not seemn excess .ive. Yet .how I