Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1881-01-15
THE FINANCIAL CONDITION OF
THE COUNTY.
wing Briefly what are the Prospects
and Why the Bonds Should be Voted.

the books, and are able to give ou
patrons some idea of tn" state of tn,
county finances, which, we believe, vii
be interesting reading matter
Al the commencement Of the yea
1880. the amount Of outstanding indcbt
cdncss WAS but small outside Of tht
bonds then issued which amounted tt
81 40. The certificates of indchtncss
as we before said. was small, and ha,
since been all paid. The oldest ccrti
ficn'u now unpaid, was issued June l7th
1880. The total ammlnt Of bills allow 60
N that meeting and at all subsequen,
ones mp to this date, is very nearly
$1,000. This amount, ii io proposed t.
! pay IN county bonds ~ per proposed act
Of legislation, the text OF which is pub
! lishcI in another column OF thi, issue of
/ the CHRoNlCLE. This will clear MP all
! the floating debt and will be matter of
great economy 10 the county III this
way that it will raise the current val
lie Of certificates to about 50 cents on the
dollar whereas, they are nOH worth bui
% cents. At present, whenever ANY
! service is performed for the county, un-
less the amount to be charged is fixed
! by statntiary provision, the creditor
charges enough to clear him in cash. iic
price he expects 10 receive for his sery
ices, thereby making lhc county pay two
dollars for one. There is no way 10
avoid this heavy drain upon the county
funds, except by raising the current
value of certificates. We believe for
this reason, If for no other that the
proposed bombing is a good scheme. A.
to ihe alvisabiht> Of hlilding 4 court
house and jail, the latter at least. seem,
- hc impcralivcly necessary, while the
new county road is about equally so.
Surprising that the bonds should be
issued, that would leave us 10 start with
a clear balance sheet SO far as currcn.
and ~ nor expenses are concerned. We
would nave To pay interest On about
S2i.W'D Wprth Of bonds at H. per cent.
which Norld amount to 5000 per year
sinking fund 800 per year should
po established, in order to meet the
bonds when due, the interest on which
would more than cover the interest
On the bonds, so that each year, thar
item would grow smaller We shall
probably rrqnire =, J0O more for current
expenses during 1881. We think that
THIS amount ought 10 be ample to KEEP
w the expenses Of the county, this
would make a total during this year of
600. which must hc raised during the
year. 70 do this, we have the taxes
amounting to an average Of forty-.ix
and one-half mills on s!"2. .1i0 %. or ~,
11S.So. We have also thc liquor liccEoe4
at 500 year, on at present saloons,
making s! 400 per year, this would give
us only S7.l5S.7S, with which to meet
$1,000 But with the opening Of spring,
there is 40 doubt of at least ten more
saloons being opened in Hayward, Junr
ton. kiddyillc, and this place. VIII,
would just about make up the defir',u
with six months licenses at So
or II 900 in all. This shows tu.., We
have reasonably fair chance to keep
ny the current value of our certificates
OF indebtness, even under the present
valuation on which taxes will be levied
this year. But it must he remembered
that a new assessment will be made
this spring, which will no doubt more
than double the valuation and taxes can
then be very materially reduced, even
though our expenses increase consider
ably. 1t may be thought that as the ex-
penses of this year are nearly $4,000,
that $500 is too small q figure for the
present year, but it should be taken into
consideration that there Was nearly
81 500 of this amount allowed for ex-
penses incurred in 1879, but not passed
upon until the January meeting If 1880,
while of the remaining 81 500 the greater
portion has been incurred at the rate Of
about two dollars to one, which will not
be the case when certificates are nearly
par. Taking the whole matter into con
sidcration, it certainly looks as though
we might clear ourselves during 1881
and from that time on along keep our
county pavcr at very near par. The
above estimate, it will he born in mind
provides for sinking fund sufficient to
clear off all the bonds in ten wears.
In looking over the commissioners
ACCOUNTS, we find that in almost every
bill allowed there has been "A most prais-
worthy economy eXertizcd. court ex-.
penses for the two terms have been only
81 ,065. 40, and will this year he probably
about $1,000; all other expenditures
wiih one exception have been moderate.
The one exception to which We refer
has, we understand, been qnite as much
"a matter Of astonishment to the county
board as it was to the writer to learn Of
it. 1t is for the care, board, medical
attendance and medicines for JOe CaInD-