B4 THE FISCAL PROBLEM IN MISSOURI
of association or incorporation. Additional taxes must be
paid when the capital stock is increased.
The real and personal property of the state, counties, and
other municipal corporations, and of cemeteries is exempt
from taxation by constitutional provision.! Lots and the
buildings thereon used exclusively for religious worship, for
schools, or for charitable purposes may be exempted from
taxation by general laws. A lot thus exempted may not
exceed one acre, when located in a city or a town or within a
mile of the limits of a city or town. A maximum of five
acres is permissible in all other cases. Real and personal
property used exclusively by agricultural or horticultural
societies may also be exempted by general law. All laws
exempting property other than that which has been ex-
empted by constitutional provision are specifically declared
to be void.2
Provisions Concerning State Tax Rates
The state tax rate on taxable property is definitely limited
by the constitution. Section 8 provides that the state tax
on property for ordinary purposes, exclusive of the tax
necessary to pay the bonded debt of the state, shall not ex-
ceed $0.20 per $100 valuation, and that the maximum shall
be $0.15 per $100 valuation whenever the taxable property
of the state shall amount to $900 million. The latter figure
has long since been exceeded, and the $0.20 per $100 maxi-
mum has therefore not been effective for many years.
Section 14 provides for the levying and collecting of an
annual tax sufficient to pay the accruing interest on the
bonded debt of the state and to reduce the principal by an
amount not less than $250,000 per annum.
In addition to the provisions concerning property tax
rates for state purposes, the rates for the organization tax
are specifically mentioned in the constitution? As this tax
is treated fully in a later section, it is not necessary to con-
sider the rates at this point.
Other sections of the constitution refer either directly or
indirectly to tax rates and taxation for state purposes. For
1 Section 6. The property owned by the Federal Government, of course, is exempt.
? Section 7. 3 Section 21.
