The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-12-30
TALKED ABOUT LA W
MAYOR, COMMISSIONERS AND REP.
RESENTATIVES HOLD COUNCIL.
Plan Outlined to Secure Needed Leg
islation-TaxeS to DO Remedied-
Officers Fees to be Looked After.
Needed Laws Governing Issuance
OF Special Improvement Bonds.

Yesterday an important meeting was
held in the Office of the city clerk in
which the following gentlemen partici-
pated: Mayor Cox, Representative
elect Otto Eckstein and P. A. Rohr-
baugh, County Commissioners Allen,
and Webb, City Clerk Smith and Ex-city
attorney Wyatt. The meeting was for
the purpose of having a talk on the
kind of legislation needed for Wichita
and Sedgwick county.
Five subjects were considered and
discussed carefully.
The first of these is the question Of
refunding the bonds for special assess
ments. such as paving bonds, etc. At
present the law does not confer author
ity on municipalities to issue bonds for
a longer period than ten years and this
time is deemed entirely too short for a
CROWN, progressive young city. 1t
throws all the burden of taxation upon
those whose enterprise build the city
and leaves none Of the burden for those
who will enjoy the improvements made
in the next generation. The Sedgwick
county delegation will introduce and
favor a bill for the extension of time to
twenty years and it will include author
ity also to refund the special improve
ment bonds now outstanding.
The next thing that was taken up
and discussed is a very important SUBJ
ject to counties. There is hardly a
county In the state whose Golfers do
not suffers from the exorbitant expenses
of officers who go after prisoners. For
instance man who has committed an
offense in the county in located in Cal
ifornia and the county attorney wants
to send after him a warrant is placed
in he hon de of he CHI
peace officer. He takes the train and
goes to California and as an exorbi-
tant mileage is allowed he goes and
comes and whether he has the criminal
or not he puts in a bill against the
county for 81 600 or 81, 500 and the coun-
ty must pay it even though the COM
missioners or the people care not wheth-
er the man is apprehended or not. There
have been more than one case of this
kind in Sedgwick county recently and
the commissioners think it is about time
it should be stopped. A bill will be in
troduced to remedy the evil either by
Mr.. Rohrbaugh or Mr.. EcksteIn.
Another act of the Legislature which
the meeting thought Wichita needed is
the repeal Of the existing law establish
ing the rate of interest On delinquent
taxes. Now the rate is 10 per cent;
heretofore it was % per cent. The old
rate is what is thought to be needed.
since the rate was reduced TO 10 per
cent there has been no inducen,ent for
speculation in tax titles and hence the
county has to bid them in and own the
property until the owners pay up the
taxes and have the property released.
On account of this fact cities are kept
out Of the money for three years after
the taxes are levied and the result is
that the treasury is continually empty
and enough money connot be raised to
pay current expenses. If the rate of in
terest was put back to % per cent it
would cause the property TO be bid in
by monied people and in this way the
txes could be collected promptly. At
the present time the city of Wichita
has $4,000 tied up in property sold for
delinquent taxes and bid in by the
county. 1t would not be so bed if the
city received the interest, but accord
ing to the law that goes to the county
and the city gets none of it.
The fourth subject they considered is
the matter of assessment They
thought that all property should be
assessed on it's full valuation and they
strongly advocated the passage of a
law making 1t pentl offense for any
assessor who fails to do SO.
The fifth subject to be discussed was
the matter Of changing the law so that
the county surveyor could not draw
$500 per day for sitting in his office |
anddoing nothing as mostly all the
surveyors in the state are now doing.