Arizona weekly citizen., 1885-05-02
THE C. T. & NV. R. R.
Why Pima County should Vote Aid

why Pima County should Vote Aid.
 EDITOR CITIZEN: In behalf of the pest interests of Pima county I am in- auced to ask brief space to submit to The people few reasons why county aid should be granted to the aboye.named enterprise.
 The question has been asked. why the taS-payers of Pima county should be taxed to donate aid to the construction of this road?
 10 this We reply that the county does not Tn reality donate dollar-it merely LENDS ITS AID to assist the enternrise ana the enterprise itself not only event ualiy pays the bonds, but pays the in- terest as well. 4 few facts and fignree will demonstrate this.
 The Southern Pacific is taxed upon o5A4 milesst road in this county at an assessed valuation of S6,OOO Der mile. amounting to S379,5OOO. It is also as sessed upon other real estate within this county sSl.OOO; and upon personal property, Sl2O, ,355, 50, making a total of assessment upon all of its property of S5SO,355.6O.
 The road from Tucson to Calabasas. aside from switches, turnouts. etc. will not be less than fiftY-five miles. or about elght miles shorter than the llne of the 5. r. within this county.
 Upon this basis the following estimate IS reasonable:
 55 miles of track at S6,OOO per
 mIle ......-.-........ S330, 900 % heal estate-ssy ] tract of
 pa-','., -, | .... ..''.-.--.... 4lOOO OO fersonal property ..... SO,OOO %
 AOtai --............ S4JO, 900 % follows:
 Entire tax in school district
 NO l..... ...............S , s ID remainder of the county. 2 45
 At the latter rate the railroad vould pay upon the above valuation, annual taxes amounting to Sll, l,l600O.
 One hundred thousand dollars of county bonds are asked for this portion or the road, the annual interest upon winch IS S1,OOOOO. The annual taxes paid by the railroad company would therefore pay tbe annual interest on the ponds and leave an annual surplus ot l6O.OO to be placed in a sinking fund for the redemption of the bonds, and thls amount annually paid into the lund would in 3O years, the length of tune the bonds run, produce Sl2i,SO0.O0. even If II were not invested from year to year to produce interest; but if this annual surplus should be invested in government bonds at 3 per cent. even without compromising, IL would produce SlI5UO0O0, or a surplus after paving the bonds of S75,000-sufficient to pay also our Court House bonds-or within S25,OOO of enOlgh to pay also the SlOl.- UOO bonds asked for the northern exten- sion, without taking into Gccouct the taxes received from that portion of the road.
 have figured only upon the first DOT ton of the road, for whatever is true in regard to that, Is true of the whole, and from these figures 1t is apparent that with only the taxes from tho road itself, the rate of taxation may be materially reduced, and yet the interest on the bonds and the bonds themselves be paid from the taxes assessed upon the rail- road alone.
 have not ID this plain statement in- dulged in any fanciful speculation, TOT included other taxable property, which will be owned by the Improvement Con- pRny, and which will at least equal the taxable property of the railroad in a short time, nor the increased value of other property. nor the general business pros- perity which will result from these ens terprises. l have only attempted to prove that the issuing of these bonds to the railroad company will not cost the county one dollar, nor increase the taxes of any man, no matter whether his prop erty consists of mines, or merchandise, or ranches, or cattle, or railroads, or money, but that on the other hand IL will in short time reduce the taxes. and 1t the only thing, so far as We can now see that will.
 If the people of Pima county blindly refuse to give this aid they must expect @ further decline in business, and a con stant diminution Tn population as well as in the value Of property and such diminutiOn in values must necessarily increase the rate of taxation to meet our present indebtedness, and the current expenses of our government.
 It must be remembered that our pres ent indebtedness, with the exception of a few outstanding road warrants, has not added to productive improvements, nor added, except indirectly, and to very small extent, to our taxable prop erty. It is an unproductive indebted ness. We could better afford to owe a half million dollers for railroad improve ments, than $10l,00000 for these un- productive purposes.
 The full completion of the entire road and branches, would add, directly and indirectly, more than S2000,000O0 to the value of taxable property in this county, or more than four times the value upon which the foregoing calcula- tion is based. JOHN HAYNES.