STATE AND LOCAL TAX REVENUES 115
years. In four of the years per capita state taxes in Ohio
were smaller than in Missouri, but it should be remembered
that in Ohio state taxes in 1926 and 1927 comprised a
smaller proportion of combined state and local taxes than
in anv other state of the United States.
The General Property Tax
Table 36 shows the general property tax receipts of the
several state governments. In 1928 Missouri collected a
smaller amount on account of the general property tax than
any one of the states in the group, with the exception of
Oklahoma and Arkansas. In the preceding year only Okla-
homa and Ohio obtained less revenue from this source than
did Missouri.
The relationship between general property tax collections
and total tax collections in the several states forms a more
interesting basis for comparison than do absolute amounts.
For example, in 1928 Missouri obtained a smaller proportion
of total tax revenue from this source than any other state
except Oklahoma, while in 1925 and 1926 the proportion for
Missouri was smaller than for any other state except Ohio.
In 1923, however, the proportion for Missouri was larger
than for three other states, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Ohio.
Of the group of states, only Oklahoma derived a larger pro-
portion of the total tax receipts from this source in 1928 than
in 1923. In a number of states, including Missouri, the
relative decline between these years was very considerable.
For example, the general property tax accounted for 70%, of
the total state tax revenue in Arkansas in 1923, but only
29.6% in 1928.
Per capita state general property taxes in Missouri are
relatively small as compared with the other eleven states
considered as a group. Only Oklahoma and Ohio showed
smaller per capita collections from this source in 1928, and
in all other states the per capita collections were much larger
than in Missouri, the per capita collections varying between
$2.52 for Arkansas and $7.95 for Nebraska, as compared with
%1.79 for Missouri.
1 National Industrial Conference Board, Cost of Government in the United
States, 1927-1928. pp. 74 f,
