, 1889-05-29

A PROPER VIEW.

Auditor Grant expresses himself as op
posed TO increasing the limit Of indebted
eduess to be incurred should a state gov
crnmcnt be organized. He says: Con
Crrss limits the Indebtedness of the terri
tory to | per cent OF the assessed valua-
ton of all taxable property; the indebt-
edness of counties to 4 per cent, that of
towns or cities to 4 per cent, and of each
school district to 4 per cent. As an illus
tration take Laramie county and the city
Of Cheyenne. Laramie county can create
an Indebtedness of 4 per cent of the as
sesscd valuation OF her taxable property;
the city of Cheyenne 4 per bent, and the
school district in which Cheyenne is stu
ated 4 per cent, making a total indebt-
edness of l3 per cent, which includes l
per cent for the territory.
"As | understand it, they have reached
the limit of Indebtedness placed on them
by congress-, but by statehood the expect
To get IA state constitution that will allow
them to increase their Indebtedness above
10 per cent. The Taxpayers OF Laramie
county and Cheyenne have TO pay inter
est on an Indebtedness of about $3.50, 900,
which includes Laramie c%ountv's proper
ton of the territorial debt. The interest
on this debt would be nearly half as much
as it would require to pay all the running
expenses Of the county, city and schools.
Other counties in the territory are in the
same condition as Laramie county.
THE tax levy is now very high; in
fact they levy all that the law allows ex-
cept for the territory, and yet they do not
raise money sufficient to pay all the run
ming expenses of the county governments
and the interest on their Indebtedness,
consequently there is an increase of in
dcbtedness each year.
1.-THE argument holds good that state
hood will bring immigration and capital
to develop our resources, thereby giving
us more taxable property, why do we
want n state constitution that will allow
us to increase our Indebtedness and rate
of taxation? If statehood increases
taxable property, our Indebtedness under
the present restrictions can be increased
in the same ratio / am in favor of n
state Constitution that will prohibit any
increase in the rate of taxaction. The
present limit of Indebtedness to ! per
cent for the territory and four per cent
oil counties, towns, cities and school dis
tricts should be lowered as the taxable
property increases"
Auditor Grant misconceived the senti-
ment of the recent board of trade meet
ing if he gained the impression that the
business Iien OF this city favored raising
the constitutional limit of taxation in the
event that i state government was formed.
The people of this section feel the bur
then of taxation as previously as the peo-
Pile do in any other part of the territory,
As a matter of fact they are
bitterly opposed to increased taxation
but they now feel, as Mr.. Grant indicates,
that statehood will materially aid in the
development of Wyoming and therefore
greatly increase the value OF taxable prop
erty. This, with the gift of land for sus.
tanning public buildings which congress
will give us. is expected TO make the rate
per capita less than it is now.
Mr.. Grants point that the present
limit OF taxation as placed by congress
should not be increased is well taken and
is one of the most important OF the many
important questions which must receive
careful consideration in n constitutional
convention.