San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1894-10-25
A STRAIGHT QUESTION.
Why Doesn't the City Collect the
Back Taxes

odCh 1d8es
To the Daily LIGHT.
notice from the city council
proceedings that a certain party,
has offered to collect all back taxes
due the city since 1876, now
amounting to about $3.50, 900, and to
file suits against all delinquent tax
payers within fifteen days, for l0%6,
or in the aggregate $4,000, and that
the assessment committee actually
| recommended that the proposition
be accepted and the mayor be in
structed to sign such contract.
IL these suits are filed within Is
days, and pushed vigorously, final
action can be had in all of them
within twelve months, and the
city will then have collected either
the taxes or will have sold our
peoples homesteads and other
properties at Sheriff's sale, and the
tax question settled.
Our city attorney is paid $4,000
and his assistant 100000 per year
for doing the very thing which the
assessment committee recommends
paying an additional $45,000.00
to some one else. If Mayor Elmen.
dorf or any other good business
man pays an attorney a yearly
salary to attend to all of his firms
legal business, he certainly would
not pay an outsider extra fees to
collect debts due, particularly if
these debts are secured by liens on
real estate as is the case with our
city taxes. All that the city au-
thorities need do is to push
these tax collections vigorously,
using the same vigilance and
energy as persons in private life do
to collect debts due them, and they
will find that delinquents will pay
up, and that promptly too. Have
less politics and more sense in this
matter. Jump on the big fellows
as hard as on the poor $500 home
stead owners, and get after them
all with sharp stick, whether
they have a political "pull" or
not, and every body knowing what
to expect will pay their city taxes.
L do not know how much work
the city attorney does to earn ST.
600 year, nor how much his as
sistant does to earn 5000, but it
would be economy for the city to
hire two more assistants at $1,000
each and give them the handling
OF this business rather than pay
$4,000 to any outsider; they could
easily "clean the docket" in very
short order, particularly as all the
data has already been compiled
"at great expense" during the early
part of ex-Mayor Paschal's regime.
II am not mistaken the office
OF assistant attorney was created
to enable the city attorney to de-
vote more time to the collection of
delinquent taxes; this was done
with a great flourish of trumpets,
but no practical results have yet
been obtained in the way of COL
lections except remitting interests
and costs to few who because of
selling or mortgaging their prop
critics, had to clear their titles.
/ am not much of a kicker but
on the proposition Of paying 49,
600 extra for doing that for which
the city now pays two men, the
attorney and his assistant, a
princely salary these hard times,
do KICK. Instead of doing so, let
the Council preemptorily instruct
it's law department to get "move
on ITSELF" devote more time TO
business than to politics, and there.
by show the people that is a "Busi-
ness Administration"
Jos. RYAN.
The LIGHT is of the opinion that
the suggestion of the Assessment
committee is a good one, as for the
past twenty years we have never
yet had a city attorney who ever
had time enough to attend to the
city's business, without neglecting
his private practice. For Heavens
sake don't create any more new
offices. The city is burdened with
too many sinecures now.
A Suspicious Method.
| John Iutich has been arrested