, 1875-08-17
WHEN CITY TAXES ARE COLLECTED,

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WREN CITY TAXES ARE COLLECTED,
1t WINS shown in MI nrticle III Sundays TH1B-
uSE TINT thu grcat increase Of tho outstand-
ing liabilities or tloating indebtedness of tile
city Mt tho end Of eacll fiscal year, since
April /, 1871, was caused by the acts Of tho
Legialaturo postponing the time for taking
Judgments for delinquent taxes from March
until July of tho next fiscal year. For long
time previous to tho Great Fire the law a,,-
thorizcd the City Government to take
judgment md proceed to sell real estate
TINT was delinquent in March, Which wns the
Inst month of the city's fiscal year. Before
tho first day Of April {tho commencement Of
the now fiscal year) tile great bulk Of the
taxes wcro always paid into the City Treas
lsry, aud during the month Of April tho re-
1nainlcr WIS all paid in except tho small
fraction involved in contested and appealed
cnsoa The result was, TINT tho temporary
liabilities OF the city wero paid OF before
the beginning OF the now fiscal year, and
at most there WIS only Il small amount Of
claims nupaid. Thus, on tho tirBt day Of April,
1871, previous to the Fro, there were only
$314, III due, all told, mud within thirty days
thereafter there was probably not dollar of
this amount unpaid. Tho rule before tho Fire
was to liquidate tho expenditures Of each
municipal year with tho taxes collected with
in &hat yeaz. Tho exception rarely amounted
to 10 por cent Of the years appropriations,
aud there WIS always money enough collect
Cd from delinquent taxpayers in the first
month Of the now ycar, that is, In April, not
only to clear of tho unpaid balance, but to
provide funds enough for several months
nhcal.
But tho Legislature that met shortly after
the Fro postponed tho time for tho tax-sales
from March until July, and by this bnneful
net rendered It. simply impossible for
tho City Government to collect ita
revenues within tho municipal year. Tho
postponemcut was made by the Legislature
| rs n ~ relief measure" to tax-payers who had
suffered by the Fire; but in relieving thcn. it
most seriously embarrassed the City Govern
ment. Tho General Assembly gavo tho peo-
| pie five or sir months longer in which TO pay
their taxes; but in 10 doing 1t has left tho
City Government t!yo months without money
| with which to pay its current expenses, aud
has driven it to tho necessity Of borrowing
monoy on certificates Of indebtedness to
bridge over this intcrregnum Of nearly half
a year, :
The CITY can no longer collect it's taxes
within tho 1aunicinal year, It must now
wait until the middle Of the nett municipal
| year before m enforced collection can bo
made. The Times says that it was "untlor
MEp114s administration TINT the floating
debt yas increased" mud adls, by way OF
peroratjon;
ths important fact shown by his trnt huaneo report
this; i was The beginning OF our unlawful city doat
5osssn Mspt t"oa a ~, a' 'aa" "nu psIn 'ns ua
xolsion Of . eonstttutousl prohibition UPON .uch In.
crease Of tho city .iebt which thou .hysan helped to
frame aud establish.
| The individual thus addressed never before
knew that he enacted the Law postponiug the
time Of the ta1-aa!es from March to July. Ho
most certainly believed that he opposed the
change Of tile law, having written to member
urging them not to postpone tho time for ta]k
ing judgment against delinquents; he wen
to Springfield to lobby against tho change
but discovered that II was utterly i'm
possible to prevent IT, The pressurt
for "rcllef was TOO great Tor an,
one man or any hundred men to resist
The subsequent legislation IN fesard TO en-
forced collection by Judgment and aalt
, continued the timo l1oa by tue aot Q! lo'2
1t was Impossible to lnduco the Legislature
to eAact restoration OF the March Ax~sales
as tho Cook County delegation did not fayo
0 1t. People weEo willing enough in 1872 Il
4 postpone the timo Of paying their city taxe
r a7e months, but they have been quito un
? willing ever since to give buck tha
u I've months To tho City doycrnmen