Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1890-10-04
SINGLE TAX DEPARTMENT.
Why THE BARN WASN'T BUILT.

one, ana you must nave monty ohouB"
laid by from the sale Of your crops the
past few years to pay for new buildings
and fences and make your home look q
hundred per cent better, to say nothing
Of tho saving. Why, that old, tumble
down barn doesn't hold more than one
half of your hay and grain, and the loss
from stacking out OF doors must be lar
more than the interest on the cost OF
new barn. Besides that old rookery Is
disgrace on such fine land as you have
here, and then there must be some
danger OF its blowing down In one OF
these heavy gales and killing some OF
your stock"
swell, Frank" answered his uncle,
''all you say is true enough, but / guess
you don't just understand the situation.
You see, in the first place, haven't
quite enough saved up to build such
barn rs / want, and so would have to
hire some money and pay interest on 1t;
but then wouldn't think Of building At
present II had more than enough"
'Why, Uncle Ben, don't you want bet
ter bui:dings?"
''0f course do. my boy; but then you
see just as soon as put up o new barn
the assessor would come along and raise
the valuation Of my farm, and the taxes
would be so heavy that 1t would take
about all could raise to pay them. Only
last year / cleared up and drained that
bit Of swamp land down beside the road
there and built few rods Of highway
fence alongside OF 1t, where the brush
and weeds used to grow; and the as
Sessors raised the valuation five hun
dred dollars, and that added about
twelve dollars to my tax, besides the in
crease OF highway and school taxes, and
all that on account Of clearing up less
than an acre of land"
"Well, uncle, it made your farm look
ever so much better. That brush patch
was always an eye sore to me, at least"
"Yes, Frank, it did look bad enough
right there beside the highway, and III
admit that it made at least five hundred
dollars difference in the appearance OF
the farm. But then could not afford
to make many such improvements and
be compelled to pay the increased tax
on them"
"But, uncle, why are the taxes so high
here? 1t seems to me Us II they were
outrageous"
"Oh! you SEQ the town is bonded for
S143, 900 to aid in building the Midland
railroad, and we are paying the interest
on the bonds now, and shall have to be-
gin payment of the principal in two or
three years. The bonds were made pay
able in twenty years and we have been
paying the interest ever since"
swell, Uncle Ben, would like to talk
over this bonding business some other
time; but now we will talk about
this tax on improvements. Now, uncle.
YOU have about one hundred and fifty
acres of land here How much were
your taxes last year?"
"Let me see; there was $40 for town,
county and State tax; then there was
S11 school tax, and worked out $40
highway tax, making in all about S17O.
swell, uncle, that is about Sl.13 per
acre for your whole farm. Now, how
much does Smith pay on that fifteen
acre swamp pasture Of his down there
adjoining your field?"
'Oh! he doesn't pay much on that.
Why, his school tax on that was only a
few cents when was collector last year,
and asked him how much he paid in all
on it, and he said about three dollars. "
'But it is good land II 1t was brought
into cultivation, is it not, uncle?'
eyes, OF course. it is; and tell you
Smith makes pretty good thing of OF
1t now. You SEQ he pastures his young
stock there, and it is good pasture, too,
as the scattering bushes on it don't in
jure it much for that purpose, and 1t is
Just wet enough to raise an abundance
OF green grass the summer through.
Why, he has nine or ten head Of cattle
in there, and then it's increasing In
value every year as the land is cleared
UP and improved around it. / suppose
when cleared up that acre adjoining 1t
that it added as much or more in pro-
portion to the value Of that field as 1t
did to the value Of my farm.
"But, Uncle, did these assessors add
to his valuation on that ACCOUNT"
"Oh, no; of course not; he had not
made any Improvements on 1t"
''Oh, / see. They don't tax the value
Of the land, It is only the improvements
that are taxed"
"Well, / guess 1t amounts to about
that, after all"
"But, Uncle, don't you think 1t would
be nearer fair thing II the land were
taxed according to its value, without re-
gard to the Improvements, so that Smith
would have to pay as much on those
fifteen acres as you pay on fifteen acres
Of your land?'
swell, don't know but 1t would. !
never thought much about that before,
but / guess, come to think Of it, Smith
~ q a.