96

1	way or another; but there is a bill in the City Council to
2	provide that the Historic Preservation Commission be
3	expanded and that its duties be enlarged to permit tax
4	exemption, complete or partial, to be granted to any
5	building or structure designated by the Commission as
6	worthy of protection, if in the judgment of this Commission
7	they find that it is uneconomic for the owner to retain
8	the monument or structure in place in its proper condition
9	without such exemption or abatement.
10	Now, there is a public policy involved, but it
11	is another example of shifting the burden. None of these
12	tax exemptions reduce the cost of government. They result
13	in a shift in the cost of government and the thing that
14	I wanted to comment on here is the net result. When the
15	Constitution, when the Declaration of Rights, Article 51,
16	stated that taxes ought to be uniform, they were dealing
17	with the question of property tax which was the main stay
18	of all State and local government at that time.
19	We now hava many renters, many people who do not
20	own property. Many of these people are in poorer" financial
21	condition than the ones who own property. This is certainly