The Colfax chronicle., 1890-12-13
SINGLE TAX DEPARTMENT.
WY THE BARN WASN'T BUILT.

r
laid by from the sale of your crops tn
past few years to pay for new building
4, and fences and make your home look
hundred per cent better, to say NOTHING
of the saving. Why, that old. tumble
down barn doesn't hold more than one
half of your hay and grain, and the los
from stacking out OF doors must be IA
more than the interest on the cost of |
new barn. Besides that old rookery Il
. disgrace on such fine land as you have
here, and then there must be some
danger of its blowing down in one o.
these heavy gales and killing some o.
your stock"
"Well, Frank" answered his uncle
''all you say is true enough, but guess
yon don't just understand the situation,
You see, in the first place, haven't
quite enough saved up to build such q
barn as | want, and SO would have to
hire some money and pay interest on it
but then wouldn't think Of building al
present If had more than enough"
why, Uncle Ben, don't you want bet
ter bui.dings?"
''Of course dc, my boy; but then you
see just as soon as I put up new barn
the assessor would come along and raise
the valuation of my farm, and the taxes
would be SO heavy that it would take
about all l could raise to pay them. Only
last year ] cleared up and drained that
bit of swamp band down beside the road
there and built few rods of highway
fence alongside OF it, where the brush
and weeds used to grow; and the as
SCISSORS raised the valuation five hum
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 laHd."
well, uncle, it made your farm look
ever SO much better. That brush patch
was always an eye sore to me, at least" T"
"Yes, Frank, 1t did look bad enough
right there beside the highway. and I'll
admit that it made at least Ave 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 as If they were
outrageous"
''Oh! you see the town is bonded for
$148, 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"
"Well, 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?"
sLet me see; there vsas $40 for town,
county and State tax; then there was
s11 school tax, and worked out $40
tax, making in all about S170.
"Well, uncle, that IL about 1.lS per
acre for your whole farm. Now, how
much does Smith pay on that fifteen
acre swamp pasture of his down there
adjoining your felde"
''Oh! he doesn't pay much ON that
Why, his school tax on that was only q
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 it was brought
INTO cultivation, is 1t not, nncleY'
Yes, of course. it Isl; and I tell you
smith makes pretty good thing of of !
t now. You see he pastures his young
'tock there, and it is good pasture, too,
IS the scattering bushes ON it don't in |
ure 1t much for that purpose, and it il |
ust wet enough to raise an abundance |
Il green grass the summer through.
Why, he has nine or ten head OF cattle
n there, and then it's increasing in
'alue every year as the land is cleared
lp and improved around it. / suppose
vhen cleared up that acre adjoining it
hat IL added as much or more IN pro-
'ortion to the value of that field as it
i'd to the value of my farm.
''But, Uncle, did these assessors add
o his valuation ON that ACCOUNT"
''Oh, no; Of course not; he had not
lade any improvements on it."
'Oh, see. They don't tax the value
I the land. it is only the improvements
bat are taxed"
well, / guess 1t amounts to about
hat, after all"
"But, Uncle, don't you think it would
Q nearer fair thing If the land were
sxed according to its value, without re-
ard to the improvements. so that Smith
ould have to pay as much on those
fteen acres as you pay on fifteen acres
your land?'
well, don't know but IL would. II
ever thought much about that before,
ut guess, come to think of it, Smith
onld be likely to cut the bushes of /,
nd improve it in that case, for he don't .
ct quite as much value of it now as
D for the same number Of acres"
"But, Uncle, IL you don't have to pay | |
ny tax on improvements your tax would l
. no more to the acre than his is now, IL
ould it? And then you could build . |
Bw harm !" a