Bri 3Q%mmsming 4 pa
STATE AND LOCAL TAX REVENUES 113
has made greater use of this method of financing than has
any other city of the group.
State Tax Receipts IN Missourr AND OTHER STATES
In this section the total state taxes of Missouri and the
use made of the principal sources of tax revenue will be com-
pared with similar data for the eleven states used as a basis
for comparison throughout this study. In each case the
absolute amounts are converted to a per capita basis, and in
considering the important sources of tax revenue emphasis
will be placed upon the per capita data as well as the per-
centage relationships of collections from specific sources to
tax receipts from all sources.
It should be kept in mind that there is considerable varia-
tion in the functions that are financed by the state govern-
ments and in the degree to which certain functions, such as
education, are financed out of state funds. Such variations
obviously have some effect on tax revenues. It is not pos-
sible, however, to make an accurate comparative appraisal
of the factors that might cause such variations.
Total Tax Receipts
Table 35 shows the total state taxes collected in Missouri
and the other states for the fiscal years! ended in 1923 to
1928, inclusive, and in Chart 3 per capita collections for
1928 are shown. In 1928 state tax collections in Missouri
were exceeded by those in only four states of the group,
Minnesota, Illinois, Ohio, and Wisconsin. In 1923 state
tax collections in Iowa and Indiana, as well as in the four
states just mentioned, were larger than in Missouri. Exam-
ination of the data for the intervening years indicates that,
while in Missouri state taxes in each year reached a larger
total than in the preceding year, such was not the case for a
number of other states. It is not to be inferred that the in-
crease in Missouri was spread gradually over the period
of years. The increase was not distinctly gradual, but it was,
nevertheless. continuous. On the other hand, the data for
1 “Fiscal year’ will not be used in the remainder of this section. . The data are
for fiscal years ended in the calendar years as indicated.
