The weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1878-1881, 1880-06-01
THE PROPOSED SCHOOL TAX.


At an early date the proposition of author
izing the trustees of School District No. 3 to
issue coupon bonds to the value of S., 900 will
be laid before the qualified voters of the dis
trict. Ii voted on af1irmatively the bonds
will be issued, the money raised, and It's pay
ment provided for by a special tax to be levied
on all property within the district. This sum
OF $1,000 is to be employed in building a new
school house, certainly a most pressing neces-
sity, as we SHOWED in our article of last week.
Still, even admitting that a new school house
is an urgent Iced, it by no means follows as
a corollary that it is our duty to proceed
forthwith to build it. If the tax to be levied
threatens to be 0nerous, or if its burden be at
all disprOportionate to the benefits received,
then we may very well defer until a more fit
ting season the contemplated Improvement.
We shall endeayor to show that instead of
being burdensome the tax will be so light as
scarcely to be noticeable.
District No. 3 includes Butte. VAUDEVILLE
and Meaderville, all area that will this year
contain at least So, 100000 worth of taxable
property, and within which all real estate and
city properties are rapidly approaching in
value. If the 5000 was to be raised in one
lump, by the imposition of a single tax, it
would require a levy of two and a half mills
on the dollar, OIL a property valuation of
s 100000 to raise it. This would be a vnry
material addition to taxes by no means too
light without any such increment. But the
rpQlnrpU aInpnpt 10 mai tp ha raiu ,d law c,o
tax levy. The bonds mature in six We: rs,
and bearing as they do 10 per cent. interest
payable semi-annually. we are only required
to levy a tax sufficient to pay the accruing in
terest of $3.50 every six months beside pro-
viding a small sinking fund for payment of
the principal. We say a small sinking fund
because no matter how light the levy we may
fix upon, the increase in the value OF town
property within the district will cause it tc
yield year after year u greater sum. Not
only this, but with each payment made from
the sinking fund the amount of bonded in
debtedness becomes less, together with a pro
portionate dlminution of interest. Accordin.
to the provisions Of the act the surrender o
bonds is made compulsory when payment Il
offered from the sinking fund, so there is NJ
danger of their being held on
for the full term of six years TO
the sake Of the full interest, ali,
good security. For the first year a levy 0
one-third of a mill on the dollar would pa,
the interest and make a slight reduction o
the principal. In the second year the SAM
levy, one third of a mill, would produce
larger revenue, owing to the increas e of prop
erty values, while the interest to be pai'
would be a little less than during the frs
year. And so it would 60, the revenue con
stantly increasing, the interest steadily dimiu
ishing, until finally the last bond would b
redeemed without our having noticed that W
hau been engaged in debt paying. 10 bull
the new school house will only necessitate lh
triling levy mentioned, say an increase c
: Onc-siNtIeth OH the taxes that we must inc,
ltably pay. When presented in this shape h
. who votes against the proposed tax cannC
surely be animated by IA very friendly teelin
towards our school system.