The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-06-20
Town. Highway. Village. School. Total

~ 10
ISM. 9, Is s' i ls'
1902 - 60 10 80 25 i.5O
lss3.........75 20 90 10 Los
At no time in ten years has the az
gregate of taxation risen to $780, it
has been as low as so 81, and the gross
average is S1.44t, A discount of four
per cent for payment to town treasurer
before a specified date has been inva-
riably made, leaving the net average
somewhat less than S1.40. The aver
age for the entire state is about 1925
SO that it it is clear that few towns in
the state, large or small, can show
better record, on the face of the returns,
than can Montpelier; and, when all the
facts are considered, we challenge any
town to show better record.
How has Montpelier disbursed the
money she has raised by taxation? Has
it all been expended for "running ex-
penses" solely9 If not, what has she
done with, and what has she to show
for, money spent outside OF regu-
lar and stated municipal charges2 In
1884, the village began the construc
ton of a resery DIR and connecting
mains for supplying its people with
water for general uses and for fire pro-
lection, and which has since been largely
diverted to mechanical purposes. In
this work the village has expended
1892, 800 and has a reservoir and water
supply of unrivaled excellence. These
are as permanent as the lakes and
streams of Vermont. The cost of
maintenance is very light. 1t can
never approach the danger-line of bur-
densome charge. During the ten years,
two lines of mains-aggregating, with
service connections, more than eighteen
miles of pipe-have been laid. The
revenue now exceeds the cost of main
tenance by the sum of SIS, 900 annually.
During the ten years covered by the
above exhibit of taxation, the village
has paid S72, 200 toward the extincuisha
ment of the construction debt, leaving
but 100000 to be paid--a sum that will
in few years be wiped out, not by
taxation, but By the profits alone from
The oCater-,corks. During this period
the village has put in an electric fire.
alarm system at cost of 5000, COM
bining, with the splendid protection af-
forded by its water system, to reduce to
the minimum that indirect tax, the in
surance rate. Out of the money raised
by taxation, the village has invested,
further, some $4,000 in concrete walks
of permanent character, which add to
the comfort and convenience, and con-
duce to the health, of its people.
SO much for the village. In 1884, the
first of the years covered by this ex-
hibit, the town of Montpelier's aggre-
gate debt was $40 900. In ten years
ST. 900 of the money raised by taxation
has been applied on this debt, leaving
remainder of $4,000, which repre-
sents the rear guard of once formid-
able railroad debt, the United States
deposit money, cemetery trust funds,
floating and every other form of in
debtedness. 1t is perhaps proper to
state here that some $4,000 of money
raised by taxation has been expended
in extension of school buildings and in
permanent improvements upon the
buildings.
1t thus appears that out of the vari
GUS sums of money raised in Montpelier
by taxation during the ten years ended
with 1898, a sum exceeding $4,000,
over and above running expenses, has
been paid in public works of great
value and in improvements of a per-
manent character. These investments
have provided the village with the best
water system in the state, secured its
residents practical immunity from de-
structive fires, enlarged and improved
its school facilities, and paid for miles
of concrete walk Of the best construc-
ton. These payments on pre-existing
railway debt, on the water system, and for
other purposes of permanent character,
amount to some sixty per cent of the
average aggregate of taxation. 1t thus
appears that the average annual tax
rate for running expenses "-including
schools, lights, streets, highways and
bridges, police, support of poor, and
every kind of stated and incidental
municipal expense-has been but about
eighty cents on dollar of the grand
list during the past ten years.
The town tax for the cerrent year
is eighty cents. Upon the village
devolves the bulk of the municipal
expenses. The towns grand list is
800. The bulk of the town tax will
be available to apply on the town debt,
carrying that burden far toward the