TAX ADMINISTRATION 197
supervision. So long as the state has a direct interest in the
receipts from the general property tax, it has immediate
interest in inequalities in assessments and in promoting the
highest degree of efficiency that can be obtained as a result of
administrative improvements. It is not intended to imply
that the state rate on general property might not be gradually
reduced, if such a step should prove to be feasible.
Some might contend that the changes which have been
under consideration are in direct violation of the home rule
system of local government. This would not necessarily be
the case, for the degree of home rule now in effect could be
maintained even though it were necessary to observe the
standards that the state might require under the system con-
templated. If a particular local government is inefficient in
administering the general property tax and perhaps in other
respects, a system of central supervision is to be preferred, no
matter to what extent the home rule principle might be
superseded. Certainly no one would recommend the con-
tinuance of home rule in cases where it has produced un-
desirable results.
PossiBLE CHANGES IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE INCOME
Tax AnD OTHER TAXES
It has been pointed out that decentralization in the ad-
ministration of state income taxes is not favorably regarded.
The states in which the income tax has been most successful
from the administrative standpoint are those which have
strong tax commissions in charge. Income tax statutes are
usually complicated, and it is too much to expect that local
assessors can interpret and administer the various features
of the law in a uniform manner. In Missouri the work of the
State Auditor has been most helpful. A copy of the statutes
with regulations and interpretations has been published from
time to time, and the regulations are naturally useful in
guiding the local assessors toward the goal of uniformity. It
is doubtful, however, that a degree of efficiency can ever be
obtained under the Missouri system which would be com-
parable with that possible under a more centralized system
of administration.
