Al6—Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, March 1; 1980 ~
Alternative tax
could relieve
property tax
UNIVERSITY PARK -
An income tax, as a
substitute for the school pro
perty tax, would lower tax
burdens for many people, ac
cording to an economist at
Penn State. ;
“Citizens must be concern
ed, however, with what is
given up if the property tax
is no longer used to finance
schools,” declared Dr.
Theodore R. Alter,
agricultural economist with
the College of Agriculture at
Penn State.
Using 1975 as a typical
year. Alter and associates
found that property taxes in
Pennsylvania ranged from
7.5 per cent of income for
farmers with the lowest in
comes to 1.4 per cent of in
come for nonfanners with
the highest incomes.
Farm Tax burdens were
consistently higher than
those of nonfarmers for all
income groups and in total,
he added.
Dissatisfactions with the
property tax exist on the
part of both citizens and
government officials and
many people are pushing for
reform, Alter reported.
Property tax reform
generally means three
things, it was pointed out.
First, there is the possibility
of improving administration
of the current system.
Second, the current property
tax can sometimes be
modified to make it more
equitable and to reduce
other negative aspects. A
third reform is to substitute,
completely or partially,
another tax source for
property tax.
Alter and associates
studied both local and state
income taxes as full
substitutes for the 1975
school property tax. They
found that a local flat rate in
come tax would generally
lead to the greatest decrease
in tax burdens for most tax
payers.
The local flat rate was
folllowed in order of effec
tiveness by, first, a combin
ed flat rate tax was followed
to order of effectiveness, by,
first, a combined flat rate
state and local income tax,
and second, by a flat rate
state income tax.
Under each of these alter-
MILLER DIESEL INC.
THE DIESEL SPECIALISTS
Rd, - Harrisburg, Pa.
717-545-5931
IS THE DISTRIBUTOR FOR YOUR DIESELS BEST FRIEND
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natives, taxes for farmers
would on the average be
reduced significantly, it was
stated. For nonfarmers,
taxes would be reduced on
the average except for peo
ple with incomes over $15,000
where 1975 school taxes were
levied at 1.4 per cent of in
come.
The increases, however,
would be less than the tax
reductions experienced by
other nonfann and farm tax
payers. «•
Variations in load proper
ty and income tax bases
would result in some dif
ferences from this general
summary of tax burden
changes, Alter noted.
La defense of the property
tax, Alter said it is a stable
and productive source of
revenue. Then too, property
tax decisions keep citizens
keenly aware of, and involv
ed in, decisions regarding
school district revenue and
expenditures.
He said the property tax is
truly a local tax, in that most
decisions regarding its use
are made locally. Moving to
a state income tax to finance
schools could weaken the
link between preferences for
local expenditures and deci
sions to fund these expen
ditures, he observed.
The project was supported
in part of Fair Funds ad
ministered by the Pen
nyslvania Department of
Agriculture.
Collins tops Md. soybean list
with
EASTON, Md. - For the
fourth consecutive year,
Maryland’s top soybean
grower hails from the
Eastern Shore. But the
crown has shifted about 27
miles southwestward from
northern Caroline to central
Talbot County.
This year’s winner is
Maurice E. Collins of Easton
with a yield of 62.2 bushels
per acre of double-cropped
Essex soybeans.
Collins planted his
soybeans on July 1 in 20-inch
rows after harvesting a crop
Grange youth plan events
VIRGINVILLE - The
Youth of the Virginville
Grange is planning is hold a
full schedule of meetings and
special events during the
coming month.
The first event will be a
roller skating party on
Monday at Pheasantland.
The group’s regular meeting
will be held Wednesday at
the hall, followed by a county
youth meeting on March 10.
The county youth is.
planning a sale of Italian
sandwiches on April 12.
Interested persons should
contact Steve Mohn. The
following day the youth of
the grange will conduct their
community trash pickup
project.
USED HARVESTER s4>
MF 620 w/2 Row & Pickup
USED TRACTORS
MF 165 w/Sauder load^OLD
IHC Super C, fast hitch w/2 bottom plow
USED SPREADERS
JD 40 w/hydraulic end gate
NHSISOLD
NH 510 single beater
USED HARVESTER SPECIALS
NH 880 2-row narrow row head
NH 717 w/l-row head
NH 717
Fox 1000 RPM PTO w/2 row corn hd &
Pk up attach
USED BALER SPECIALS
John Deere 14T
John Deere 14T w/ejector
New Holland 68
USED GRAIN DRILLS
Co op 15x7 Fert Gram Drill w/grass seed attach $750 00
John Deere 15x7 FBB Drill 450 00
USED MOWER CONDITIONERS HAYBINES
New Holland 479, as is 2,150.00
Hesston 320 9’ 1,850 00
Geh| 770, 7 ft 1,975 00
Evergreen Tractor Co. Inc.
AUTHORIZED
30 EVERGREEN RD., LEBANON, PA 17042 MMNB
' PHONE (717) 272-4641
double-cropped entry
of wheat. His planting rate
was 90 pounds of seed per
acre. The field had been
planted to sweet com in 1978.
Runnerup for the second
consecutive year was
another Talbot County
farmer, Earl J. Hutchinson
of Cordova. His 1979 contest
yield was 61.4 bushels per
acre.
Hutchinson’s cultural
methods were almost
identical to those of Collins.
He planted Essex soybeans
on June 14 in 18-inch rows at
a rate of 90 pounds of seed
Five new members were
accepted at the grange
meeting on Feb. 21. They
include Dwayne DeLong,
Lewis Stump, Wayne Stump,
Raymond Reppert and
Shirley Green. A cherry pie
baking contest was con
ducted at the meeting and
winners were Lillian
Mengel, first; Shirley
Dreibelbis, second; and
Joyce Miller, third.
A decision was made to
enter the community
project. Persons interested
in helping to rebuild the
home of the Curtis Lash
family should contact Irvin
Kauffman.
$3,850.00
1,675.00
$1.050 00
975.00
850.00
$3,650.00
2,195 00
1,175 00
1,495 00
$750 00
450 00
550 00
per acre. His soybeans were
double-cropped m tandem
with barley.
Like his stpte champion
counterpart, Hutchinson
used Lasso, Lorox and
Paraquat herbicides for
week control; he did no
cultivation; and he applied
no insecticide.
Maryland’s official yield
record for soybeans (69.8
bushels per acre) was set in
1976 by Dale Reagan of
Federalburg (Caroline
County).
The top 10 growers in the
1979 Maryland contest at
tained an average yield of
57.38 bushels per acre. This
achievement is noteworthy
in a year when the statewide
average soybean yield fell
below that of the previous
year.
Talbot county placed five
soybean growers in
Maryland’s top 10 last year,
and Queen Annes county had
four. Seven of these nine
growers planted Essex
soybeans; one had the Miles
variety, and one raised
Williams. The top three .in
Talbot county utilized 18 or
20-inch rows, while the top
three in Queen Annes county
had 7-inch rows.
All six of these no-till
farmers had applied lime to
their contest fields in the last
two years at a rate of one ton
USED HAYBINE
NH 1495, SPl2' w/partial Cab - -_ A
Real Sharp *l4>75U.
USED PLANTER SPECIALS
John Deere 1250 6R Plateless
USED TILLAGE SPECIALS
Ford 4-16" Plow
JD KBA 32x18 Wheel Carrier Disc
Dunham 15 RollerHarro"'f»\Qider
& Hoses only used on
USED COMBINE SPECIALS
Cockshutt 427 w/Power Steering & 10’ Platform $1,450.00
JD 55 Corn Soybean Special 12’ head 9,700 00
JD 55 Diesel w/cab, 12' platform 7,500.00
MISCELLANEOUS
John Deere #5B Loader A 1 Shape
John Deere #lB 1-row Corn Picker
New Set 18 4x30 Snap on Duals w/New
GoodyearS Ply Tires
Used NH #8 Crop carrier
SPECIAL SAVINGS FOR YOU
Haytool Replacement Parts
Discounts Apply March Ist thru 15th
5% Cash Discount - $50.00 to $lOO.OO
10% Cash Discount - $lOO.OO or more
per acre. None had used
insecticide treatments on
their soybeans, a practice
typical of double-cropping.
John H. Brown, Jr., of
Goldsboro, Caroline county,
had the top 1979 Maryland
yield for soybean grown
under conventional tillage
methods. His yield of 61.3
bushels per acre with Essex
soybeans* placed him third m
the over-all standings.
Brown planted his foun
dation seed in 38-inch rows
on May 7 at a rate of only 25
pounds per acre. The field
had produced carrots during
1978. He cultivated twice and
used a Lorox-Lasso her
bicide combination.
Winners in both the official
Maryland corn and soybean
yield contests were honored
Tuesday night in the
Tidewater Inn at Easton
during the seventy-third
annual meeting of the
Maryland Crop Im
provement Association.
The official, statewide
yield contests have been
conducted eacfi year since
1952 as part of the crop
improvement programs of
the Cooperative Extension
Service at the University of
Maryland in College Park.
Yield measurements are
supervised by Extension
agricultural agents in
participating counties.
$2,450.00
$950 00
875 00
3,450.00
$1,800.00
950 00
1,050.00
1150 00
PARTS and SERVICE