Our Growing Tax Burden…

Total tax burden in California reached a new high estimated at $12.7 billion for fiscal 1960, according to the California Taxpayers Association. Taxes in the previous year amounted to $11.1 billion.

In comparison, individual incomes for the state amounted to about $39.6 billion for 1959 and are estimated at $42.3 billion for 1960.

Brought down to ordinary terms – taxes for 1959-60 amounted to about $150 out of every $500 of individual income in California.

Californians are heavy contributors to the federal treasury – they pay about 10.4 percent of all the federal taxes but are only about 8.7 percent of the nation’s population.

The $12.7 billion total tax bill for Californians for the year just completed represents an increase of nearly 15 percent from the $11.1 billion for the preceding year. For each Californian, the 1959-60 bill averaged $829 compared with $750 for 1958-59.

Sometime, somewhere, there will come along a new breed of politician who will mouth economy in government…and mean it.

August 11, 1960 — Sacramento Union Op-Ed Page

 

(Editor’s Note: Sometime, somewhere.)

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