The Weiser signal. [volume] (Weiser, Idaho) 1890-1904, 1895-10-24
COUNTY WARRANTS.
A Middle That Has DEPRECATED Them to Sew
enty-Five Cents. But IT is Evident the
County Must Go Cash

The county warrants issued at the
July meeting of the board of COM
missioners sold for 92 cents on the
dollar. There was outside money
here at that time for the purchase of
warrants. Just now there is no out
side money here, and the highest To-
cal offer is rs cents on the dollar
the same figure that prevailed the
last time local capital had the field
all to itself 1t is singular coinci-
dence, but the reason given by war
rant buyers is that things are now in
such chaotic state in regard TO their
redemption that it is matter of the
utmost doubt when they will ever be
cashed There is no condition bear
ing on the October issue that did not
bear on the July issue, yet nothing
OF this grave alarm was heard at that
time. The presence of outside CAPT.
tai may have allayed those fears.
The warrants of this years issue
will certainly be paid in January if
the laws mean what they say and are
worth anything, and if they don t
and are not, we might us well burn
every statute, start in anew and try
and get up something that is not a
farce and fzzle. The warrants
must surely be paid in January but
local buyers say say they are afraid
not.
The redemption of this years war
rants out of the current expense rev.
enue of this year can be the only re-
suit of law passed last winter for
the purpose of carrying out the in
tention of the constitution and put
ting the counties on q cash basis.
1t is a section added to Chapter
TX of the Revised Statutes and reads
as follows:
Section 17l2. All taxes levied and col
lected in each county for county purposes,
including such special taxes as are or may
be authorized by law, all fines and for
FIXTURES, all receipts from toll roads,
bridges and ferries. and all poll taxes
shall, after the amount belonging to the
state has been deducted, be paid into and
constitute fund to be called the Current
Expense Fund" which shall be used for
the pryment of the current expenses of
the county for the current wear; Provided
That nothing in this section shall be so
construed rs to interfere with or relate to
taxes levied for school purposes, or school
moneys received from the sale of school
lands or otherwise. or taxes levied for the
payment of interest on or redemption of
county bonds or county warrants.
That is, all current expense war
rants issued this year must be re-
deemed out of the current expense
fund of this year-taxes levied and
collected for this year and and set
apart to that fund-and if there be
any surplus, such surplus shall go
towards the redemption of Older war
rants. Some pretend that this sec
ito (as is common with so many of
our laws) does not mean what it says.
We believe it does. 1t is in perfect
harmony with and carries out the
plain intention of the Constitution,
Art. VII, section Is of which says:
Section Is. The legislature shall provide
by law such system of county finance as
shall cause the business of the several
| counties to be conducted on u cash basis
1t shall also provide that whenever any
county shall have any warrants outstand-
ing unpaid, for the payment of which
there are no funds in the county treasury.
the county commissioners, in addition to
other taxes provided by law shall levy a
special tax. not to exceed ten Q0) mills on
the dollar of taxable property, as shown
by the last preceding assessment, for the
| creation OF special fund for the redemp-
tlon OF said warrants; and after the levy
Of such special tax, all warrants issued
before such levy shall be paid exclusively
out of said fund. All moneys in the
county treasury at the end OF each fiscal
year not needed for current expenses
shall be transferred to said redemption
fund.
The first and second state legisla-
lures failed to carry out this provis-
ion, and &C was to do so that the Sec
ton Q7l2) first above quoted was
enacted by the third Legislature last
winter, and if the two ccnjointly isn't
plain enough, what can be? If it
were possible to make it stronger
and palmer, it was done so at the
same time by amending section l4l1
of the Political Code so as to read:
Section l4ll. The board of county COM
missoners of each county must on the
second Monday Of September annually,
to be levied in order to secure the amount
apportioned to such county by the state
board of equalization as certified by the
state auditor on each one hundred dollars
of taxable property in said county as
shown by the last assessment and must
| levy the same, and at the same time fix
the rate of taxes TO be levied for county
purposes, designating the number of cents
ON each one hundred dollars of taxable
I III