Cost of living in German towns

Bibliographic data

Monograph

Identifikator:: 866449027

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-93831

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Cost of living in German towns

Place of publication:: London

Publisher:: Stat. Off.

Year of publication:: 1908

Scope:: 1 Online-Ressource (LXI, 548 Seiten)

Collection:: Economics Books

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STUTTGART. 473 uncommon for the contract to contain a clause to that effect. Lodgers usually engage their rooms by the month. The rent as a rule includes the water charge. The only municipal taxes which fall upon the working-class householder are the income tax, which is 50 per cent, of the State income tax, and the Church tax, which is levied upon the Protestants and Roman Catholics separately accord ing to the requirements of their special Church organisations, though Protestants who pay less than 18 marks State income tax and Roman Catholics who pay less than 15 marks are relieved of this obligation. By the law of Wurtemberg State income tax is levied on family income ; incomes below £25 are, however, exempted, and all incomes under £150 are taxed on a slightly lower scale if the taxpayer is responsible for the maintenance of one or more children. The exemption limit of £25 applies also at Stuttgart to the municipal supplementary tax. Beyond this amount the State and municipal income taxes run as follows :— Amount of Income. State Income Tax. £25 to £32 10s. £32 10s. to £40 £40 to £47 10s. £47 10s. to £55 £55 to £62 10s. £62 10s. to £70 £70 to £77 10s. £77 10s. to £85 £85 to £92 10s. £92 10s. to £100 s. d. 2 0 3 0 4 0 5 0 7 0 9 0 11 0 13 0 16 0 18 0 s. d. 1 0 1 6 2 0 2 6 3 6 4 6 5 6 6 6 8 0 9 0 Stuttgart has not as yet adopted an official system of house inspection, but has a substitute in the honorary service of some 120 house visitors, who have been at work since 1901. Each of these visitors has charge of a certain number of houses, containing as a rule from 200 to 250 separate dwellings, and these he is expected to visit once every three months whenever he has reason to believe that insanitary or other objectionable conditions prevail. In practice only working-class houses are visited, and armed with his " legitimation ”—a card vesting in him the right of entrance and inspection in the name of the municipal authority—a tactful visitor is seldom obstructed, save by suspicious landlords who would much prefer that their property did not come under scrutiny of the kind. The visitor advises on the spot in all urgent matters, and enters in his memorandum book for more formal report the general observations which his inspection suggests. If the defects to which he calls attention have not been remedied on a second visit it becomes the duty of the municipal authority to take summary action. Hitherto this system of inspection has rested on a voluntary basis, but it can hardly be said to have enlisted much civic enthusiasm, and it may be that the next development will be either obligatory service or the institution of paid officials. Very different in function is the Municipal House Bureau ( Wohnungsamt), which has existed in Stuttgart since 1902. It is the business of this office to act as intermediary between house owners and householders ; it is, in fact, a house agency with the element of self-interest eliminated. Householders are encouraged to notify the Bureau when tenements belonging to them become vacant or change hands, and on forms supplied for the purpose they describe the situation of their property, its size and advantages, and state the rent required ; while house seekers may likewise attend the Bureau to make known their wants 29038 3 O

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