The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1859-01-14
hUndyd md eighty one shousand

49fys ~ ncAtiY 0ne-third OF the taxes liz
all t6rns and for all purposes. Ye
who would dispense with our schools
school houses, or lbrsriesi VIII,
does not know that this expenditur
is more than reimbursed in. tn
enhanced value Of property, and til
augmented power oithe people2 L
taxation for these and similar pul
poses, the proceeds being honestl
and economically applied, the peopl
cheettuIly consent, They murmu
and. justly ,nurmur, when the
burdens are angtnea1ed sbsyeud tn
proportion Of benefits by fmprovi
sdence, waste, or peculation. Fo
the prevention of these evils tn
people must look to County Commis
sioners, Township Trustees, Board
OF Education, and City and Villsg
Councils, even more than to th'
General Assembly. 1t cannot b.
too deeply impressd upon the public
mind that the discretion committed
to these local authorities, however
limited and guarded, must be ne
cesssrily large, aud that. in respec
TO the imposition Of lar the larges
proportion OF taxes, they constitut,
the real legislatures. Too much
care cannot be exercised in the
choice of citizens to fill these import.
ant positions.
To ensure the safcst and mos
beneficial workings Of our financia
system, it seems desirable that as
sessment, levy, collection and dis
bursencnI Oe brought as closely to
gether as possible. | can see nc
good reason why assessments may
not be made and equalized, levie,
determined and duplicates prepared
during the last quarter of each fiscal
year. This would bring levies into
close proximity to collections, and
ensure the most exact proportion
possible between values and taxes.
Nor do | perceive why County Treas
urers collecting revenue for the state
should not be required to report their
collections ut brief intervals in the
same manner, as the collectors on
canals. and hold them subject to the
draft OF the Comptroller, or why
their final settlements with the State
Treasurer should be delayed to the
late day now designated by law.
Each years income should, as
nearly as is practicable, pay each
years expenses. and no money
should remain in the treasury. except
what is needed for current disburse-
ments. The act passed at your late
session, providing for the semi-annu-
al collection of taxes, was, in my
Judgment, wise step in the right
direction, and am glad to know,
has given general satisfaction in its
practical operation. The act au
thorizing drafts by the Comptroller
upon the County Treasurers. for the
taxes collected in December, Just
past, in order to their application to
payment Of the interest due on III.
first OF tn , current month, was anoth
or step towards the same end
Justly obnoxious to censure as was
the practice Of collecting from the
County Treasurers by similar drafts,
in advance Of their regular settle
ments, largo sums to be added tc
large b dances already in the treasu
ry, or to supply, the place nf lara'
balances fraudulently abstracted, il
can now hardly admit of question
that our safest future policy will be
to pay our January interest from
December, and our July interest from
June collections. AS far as posi-.
BILE, also, the expenses of the frs,
two quarters Of each fiscal yeaI
should be betrayed from the former,
aud those OF the two last quarters
from the latter collections. recon-
mend such legislation as may be
deemed necessary to give practical
effect to these suggestions by pro.
piding for the prompt payment into
the state treasury OF tho states pro
portion of taxes as soon as collected
and requiring earlier settlements by
the County Treasurers with the State
Treasurer. Such legislation would
enable the Auditor of State to lay
before the General Assembly, at al
early day in each session, a state
ment OF tho actual receipts from tax
% in December, and the estimated
receipts in June, as we'll of tho actual
aud estimated receipts from all other
SOURCES during the year, and this
statement would supply a basis for
econ 'mical and intelligent appropri
ations for the ensuing three quarters
of the current, and the first quarter Of
the next fiscal year,
A judicious law prescribing rates
of levy, will tend to ensure moder
alton in taxation; the payment of
current expenses from current in,
come, will prevent the evils of accu
mutation in the treasury; the restrict
ion OF appropriations to actual re-.
ceipts, and OF expenditures to appro
priations, will restrain, the former.
legislative, and the latter, admins
trative extravaganza. These, in my
Judgment. are the essentials Of a good
financial system.
Under such system, the custody
OF the public revenue would involve
tar less hazard than heretofure.-
Still, under any system, while col
iections from taxes for all purposes.
state and local, cannot bo expected
soon to fall below four millions, and
may exceed, rs 10 1854 and in the
present year, four millions and o hall
semi-annuslly. OF which moiety
will not be re0uirad for disbnrsemant