Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-06-09
THE QUESTION OF LOCAL IMPROVE
MENT.

1t is understood that the City Trustees
will this morning fix the date upon which
the special election shall be held to ascer-
tain the will of the people concerning the
Issuance of improvement bonds OF course
the Board will fix the earliest possible
date, for the matter has already been
sadly delayed, and the season in which
effective work can be done is rapidly
passing.
We take it that there will be very little,
II any, objection to the issuance of the
bonds. Certainly there will be less the
more the people study the question. 1t
is not proposed that all the bonds shall
issue at once, and that we shall immedi-
ately create obligations of large amount
upon which interest will have to be paid.
On the contrary, while the authority must
be conferred upon the Trustees, that BODY
will not put forth more bonds than are
absolutely necessary to further the spirit
OF Improvement now animating the people
The proposition is one that, it seems to
us, ought to address itself with convincing
force to every voter. 1t is a simple ques-
ton, "Shall the city, as a whole, bear
some small cost of improving the streets;
so much, indeed, as under the old system
it bore; that is, the sum which is equal to
the cost of intersection work." If this is
not a question that should be answered In
the affirmative, then by general taxation
no cost of city government should be
borne. Property-owners now bear the
great burdens of taxation, personal prop
erty largely escapes, and such as is
assessed, it is, and long has been
charged, does not appear at anything like
true value. Why should not the city at
large, therefore, the people who use the
streets but own no property upon them,
pay small proportion of the cost of con-
structing good highways, as well as bear
portion of any other municipal charge?
We apprehend that if anyone under
takes to answer the question he will not
advance beyond the reply that it is con-
ventional to assess the cost of street work
upon the adjacent real property, and that
We should continue in the groove because
ii is a groove. Yet there are towns and
cities where the cost of all public i'm
provement of this order is borne by the
whole community, and in such commune
ties the Judgment obtains that the system
is wise one and an equitable distribution
of necessary burdens.
An objection that may be raised is that
numerous owners of property have in the
recent past borne the whole expense of
street improvement in front of their prop
erty, and therefore it is manifestly unjust
to now charge upon them any portion of
be replied that the Legislature, not the
city, is chargeable with the change in the
law that brought about the abandonment
of the system when street intersections
where paid for out of fund raised by
general taxation. That departure was not
approved by the people Of this city, and if
we recall history accurately there was
open protest against it at the time the bill
was discussed. But be that as it may, the
question now is, what is best for the
present and the future, not what have
been our errors or misfortunes in the past.
Every foot of street work done this and
the next season will inure to the benefit
of all property throughout the city. We
cannot facilitate ingress to the town by
good roads without benefiting all business,
all trades, all legitimate labor, and hence
every person in the city will be a gamer
directly. Street Improvement upon a
broad scale will tend to invite greater de-
sirable population; to stimulate home
building; to encourage better architectu-
raj construction; to bring in greater CAPT
tai for investment to make those now in
the city more content with it; to stimu-
late pride in our homes; to give character
to the Capital City-and all these things
will tend to increase the assessment roll
and decrease the rate of taxation.
We look, therefore, upon the PROPOSE
ton to borrow OF the future reasonable
sum-certainly it is not large one for a
city of the importance of this-as an
economic proposition, an investment that
will bring a larger, more direct and
speedy return than any other the people
can make.