Much interest is attached to the Kaskaskia Commons fund on account of its long history and on account of the fact that it originated in a land grant given in 1722 by Louis XIV, king of France. Nevertheless, the principal and income of this fund are so small that nothing more than an exceedingly brief statement would be warranted here.13 Formerly, the fund was managed by a local board of trustees, but the Act of 1909 under which the fund is at present administered places the title and management of the fund with the state. TABLE IV CONDITION OF ILLINOIS PERMANENT SCHOOL FUNDS OR DEBTS, 1920 a Illinois Auditor of Public Accounts, Biennial Report, 1920, p. 157, Condition, June 30, 1920. b F. H. Swift, Permanent Common School Funds, p. 254, data furnished by Illinois superintendent of public instruction. Illinois Auditor of Public Accounts, Biennial Report, 1920, p. 114, reports $56,937.31 as "Interest on state school fund" for 1920. Ibid., 1920, p. 156, Statement No. 11 reports this amount as follows: "Paid two years' interest at 6 per cent on School Fund $113,874.62." It is evident that this amounts to $56,937.31 per annum. The total principal, valued at $251,304.06, consists of two parts: (1) $70,003.61 derived from the proceeds of sales of Kaskaskia Island school lands belonging to the fund; (2) mortgages held as securities against purchasers of Kaskaskia Commons school lands, valued at $181,300.45. "Some of these mortgages are made in amounts of less than ten ($10.00) dollars and run for a period of five years and are mainly for the accommodation of the people in the Island of Kaskaskia. Extraordinary care is taken in the investment of these funds and the trustees are very careful in their administration of the affairs of the entire fund." In consulting any Illinois statistical reports, it should be borne in mind that "these mortgages are falling due from time to time, covered into the state treasury and from there reloaned so that the amount of money ap A very 13 The history attached to what is regarded as probably the oldest permanent settlement in the Mississippi Valley has resulted in the production of a considerable amount of literature which the reader will find in any moderately well-equipped library, indexed under Kaskaskia. readable account of the origin of Kaskaskia Commons and fund will be found under the case headed "President and Trustees of the Commons of Kaskaskia vs. William McClure" (see Illinois Supreme Court Reports, 167:23; or Northeastern Reporter, 47:72-79). For the act providing for the sale of the Commons and the creation of the present fund, see Laws of Illinois, 1909-10, pp. 425-32. For supreme court confirmation of the constitutionality of the 1909 Act, see under case headed, "Land Commissioners of Kaskaskia etc." Illinois Supreme Court Reports, 249:578, or the Northeastern Reporter, 94:970-76. pearing in the principal fund as receipts and disbursements may vary considerably from time to time." The Kaskaskia Commons fund is a static fund of $251,304.06. It "can grow no larger and cannot be diminished so that the only deviation from the present income will be in the matter of a larger (or smaller) interest rate being charged." In view of the fact that all lands belonging to this fund have been sold, no income is derived from land rents or leases. The sole income is derived from interest on investment securities. TABLE V AUDITOR'S STATEMENT OF WARRANTS DRAWN ON STATE TREASURER FROM INCOME OF KASKASKIA COMMONS PERMANENT SCHOOL FUND, 1914-15a Amount paid for salary of teachers, janitors, truant officers, etc., District $3,335.68 Amount paid for furniture, books, fuel, labor, and general expenses, ... Amount paid for furniture, books, fuel, labor, and general expenses, Amount paid for salary of teachers, janitors, truant officer, etc., District 932.84 1,202.40 District No. 93 .... 251.97 TOTAL $5.722.89 Illinois Auditor of Public Accounts, Biennial Report, 1914-16, p. 78. District No. 121 which appears in the statement in the next paragraph did not exist in 1915. The income belongs exclusively to the inhabitants of the Island of Kaskaskia,14 i.e., school districts Number 76, Number 93, and Number 121, Randolph County.15 The income is distributed annually by the state auditor in the same manner as the state current school funds.1 The cash balance in the state treasury awaiting investment may vary so from time to time that the interest may vary considerably from year to year. The quotas due to Districts 76, 93, and 121 from the Kaskaskia fund are paid to them directly and not to the county treasurer. The income these districts receive from the Kaskaskia Commons fund is kept entirely distinct from aid derived from other sources, and their quotas of the district distributive fund are not decreased because they are recipients of aid from the Kaskaskia fund. The fact that the law provides no conditions which must be fulfilled by the inhabitants of Kaskaskia in order to receive their quota of the income is easily understood in view of the origin of the fund. The income 14 Laws of Illinois, 1909, p. 429, sec. 9. 15 Illinois State Auditor's Report, 1918, pp. 72 and 102. 16 Laws of Illinois, 1909-10, p. 14. is paid out by the state treasurer upon warrants issued by the state auditor upon certified, itemized bills. The income shall be expended by the districts only for teachers' wages, school building repairs, school grounds, fuel, school apparatus, textbooks for indigent children, library expenses, and necessary incidentals. The uses to which the income is devoted may be seen from a statement of the warrants drawn (see Table V). The payments from the income of the Kaskaskia fund in 1920 were as follows:18 The principal of the fund is static as already noted. The annual income has varied for many years from ten to eleven thousand dollars. Table VI shows the principal of the fund and its income from 1915 to 1920. TABLE VI PRINCIPAL AND INCOME OF KASKASKIA COMMONS PERMANENT SCHOOL FUND, 1914-20a Principal $251,304.06 $251,304.06 $251,304.06 $251,304.06 $251,304.06 10,583.99 10,237.38 11,391.56 I1,049.II 11,167.41 Computed from data furnished by state auditor in letter and questionnaire January 26, 1920, and from Illinois Auditor of Public Accounts, Biennial Report, 1920, p. 30. STATE SCHOOL TAX State school fund.-The common school fund act, providing a two-mill state school tax, has been quoted (see above under Common School Fund). Evidence of the intent and desire of the legislature to provide for such a tax is expressed not only in the common school fund act but in the following section of the revised statutes: There shall be annually assessed and collected at the same time and in the same manner, as other state taxes, such rate of tax on the equalized valuation of the property of this state, as is or may be provided by the laws concerning free schools, which tax shall be denominated the "state school tax," and the moneys arising therefrom be distributed in such manner as is or may be provided by the laws of this state concerning free schools; and no part of the fund raised by the aforesaid tax shall be diverted to or used for any other purpose than the support and maintenance of free schools in this state.19 17 Laws of Illinois, 1909-10, p. 430, sec. 13. 18 Illinois Auditor of Public Accounts, Biennial Report, 1920, p. 108. 19 Illinois Revised Statutes, 1921, p. 2886, ch. 120, sec. 137. As will be explained in the immediately following paragraphs, in the year 1873 Illinois adopted the policy of making biennial appropriations in lieu of the state two-mill school tax provided by law. It should be noted carefully, however, that the adoption of this policy did not do away with levying a state tax to raise school revenue; for on the same day the act of 1873 providing for an appropriation of $1,000,000 a year was passed, another act was passed providing for levying annually a state general property tax of a rate to be determined by the governor and the auditor, such rate to be sufficient to produce this $1,000,000 per year and the proceeds of which were to be designated the state school fund. A study of the legislation from 1873 to 1923 will show that each successive legislature pursued this same policy, i.e., first, providing a state appropriation of fixed amount, and second, providing for the levying of a state tax to produce the same.20 It will be seen that the statement frequently made that Illinois abolished her state school tax and substituted therefor flat appropriations is both inaccurate and misleading in so far as it conveys the impression that Illinois levies no state tax to provide school revenue. It is true that the legislation of 1873 and subsequent years put an end to the two-mill tax which would have produced an ever increasing revenue as the wealth of the state increased. It is true, also, that down to 1909 the appropriation was never increased beyond the $1,000,000 per year. On the other hand, the funds for such appropriations have always been provided by the levying of a special state general property tax and have never been taken from the general revenues of the state. Of such importance are these two acts of 1873, it has seemed advisable to quote them in full.10 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the following named sums be and they are hereby appropriated to meet the ordinary and contingent expenses of the state government until the expiration of the first fiscal quarter after the adjournment of the next regular session of the general assembly: Twenty-third-The sum of one million dollars annually, out of the state school fund, to pay the amount of the auditor's orders issued for the distribution of said fund to the several counties. The auditor shall issue his warrant, on the proper evidence that the amount distributed has been paid to the county school superintendents. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That there shall be raised, by levying a tax, by valuation, upon the taxable property in this state, the following sums for the purposes hereinafter set forth— For general state purposes, to be designated "Revenue Fund," two millions five hundred thousand dollars upon the assessed value of property for the year 1873, and one million five hundred thousand dollars annually thereafter; for state school purposes, 20 Laws of Illinois, 1873, pp. 30, 33, and 149; ibid., 1921, pp. 91 and 761-62; ibid., 1923, p. 484, House Bill No. 408. to be designated "State School Fund" (in lieu of the two mill tax therefor) one million dollars annually. 2. The governor and auditor shall, annually, compute the separate rates per cent. required to produce not less than the above amounts, anything in any other act providing a different manner of ascertaining the amount of revenue required to be levied for state purposes, to the contrary notwithstanding; and when so ascertained, the auditor shall certify to the county clerks the proper separate rates per cent. therefor, and also such definite rates for other purposes as are now or may hereafter be provided by law to be levied and collected as state taxes. 3. All laws or parts of laws in conflict with this act are hereby repealed. Approved May 3rd, 1873. Illinois, in marked contrast to Massachusetts and California, makes no distinction between the property taxed by the state and that taxed by minor constituent units. The unsoundness of this policy has been pointed out again and again by students of taxation. In Illinois the state and school districts levy their taxes for school purposes upon exactly the same property, as is indicated by the following letter. DEAR SIR: STATE OF ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD September 24, 1923. Replying to your letter of the 21st instant, we beg to inform you that the annual state school tax is provided for by an appropriation made by the General Assembly of this state. In this appropriation act, the legislature requires that the Governor, State Auditor and State Treasurer fix the state tax rate to raise the amount of the annual state school fund appropriation. This rate is fixed and certified by the Auditor of Public Accounts to the various county clerks throughout the state, and said rate is extended against the assessed value of all property, real and personal, corporation capital stock and railroad property assessment. Levys for school district tax are certified by the school district authority and the county clerk fixes the tax rate sufficient to raise the amount of taxes certified to him by the school district authority. This rate is also extended against the assessed value of property mentioned above. The amount of taxes obtained from the state school fund levy is paid into the state treasury by the several county collectors and is credited to the state school fund and no portion of it goes into the General State Revenue Fund. The amount of taxes collected by the collectors on account of school district levy taxes is paid by the county collectors to the township school treasurer and credited by him to the various school districts levying such taxes and said tax is not considered as a part of the General State Revenue Fund or the General State School Fund. Corporation franchise taxes are collected by the Secretary of State and are paid into the State Treasurer by him and under the law said taxes are credited to the General Revenue Fund. |