The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1897-12-18
DOING THE CITY A WRONG
Council Protests Against the Al
lotment of the Road Tax.
IT Is NOT SATISFACTORY
The City Would Make Money by Having
Its Own Assessor-It Gets the Worst
of the Deal With the County
Doing the Work.

An official visit was paid yesterday
afternoon by the mayor and finance
committee of the city council to the
! board of county commissioners. The
object was TO try and induce the latter
body TO order a change in the appor-
tianment of the money collected for
road tax, the amount allotted to the
city for the present year not being sat
isfactory to the council. as the pro-
portion is much smaller than in former
years Under the law the division is
made upon the basis of the respective
votes cast by the county and city at
any regular election held during the
year.
Last year the city was given six
eleyenths of the whole amount collect
I'd, the division being based upon the
vote polled at the city election held in
1885, While for this year its allowance
was only 4b 2-3 per cent not quite one
half In making the apportionment for
1889, the commissioners took for their
basis the vote cast by the outside pre-
cincts last fall. which was the heaviest
ever polled in the county. The coun-
ell holds that this is unjust to the city,
contending that because of the great
and unusual interest that was at
tached to the last general election the
outside vote was much larger than ever
htItiF anu IiuGI Id1StI IfldlI 1t VIII
be again for "A long time to come. Con-
sequently, its members say. to accept
that vote as basis is manifestly doing
the city Il wrong.
Another subject the committee in
tended TO talk over with the board is the
matter of diverting the license money
PAID by the fire insurance companies
which the law provides shall go toward
the maintenance of the various fire
departments. This subject, however,
was not reached and no conclusion was
arrived at relative to the other matters
and another conference viii be held.
After the committee had returned to
the city hall and while the object of the
conference was under discussion. AL
derman Heilig said that in his opinion
the sooner the city took advantage of
the right given 1t by law 70 have its
own assessor the better il would he of
He was of the belief that by having a
city assessor difference of at least
R2e 600 annually would be made in the
eitY's favor in the matter of taxes col
lected. To his own knowledge. much
property that was really subject To a
realty tax was now carried on the tax
roll as mining ground and its owners
escaped with a tax of s. only, the
amount levied on mining claims. Two
parcels of ground. he said. that We're
divided into lots and blocks. regularly
numbered and plated as such, appear
on the tax list as mining ground With
the streets and alleys vacated No
doubt there were other cases Of this
kir4l, he said but of the two in ques-
tion he was fully congniZant and the
records would bear him out BY having
a city assessor such wrongful assess
ments could not be made and carried
ON the tax rolls.
Another way in which the city was
made TO lose "A great deal each year,
he said. was in being compelled to
strike from it's rolls property, the as
sessment on which had been cancelled
by the county when really no reason
existed why the city should not collect
lis taxes. Often 1t occurred that prop
erty was carried on the city rolls With
the proper amount Of taxes charged
against it and when attempt was made