Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1896-1899, 1898-01-25
School Election.
Two Directors to Be Chosen Next
March.
A Review Of Salem School Finances and
What Should Be Done.

BY the resignation of Adam Ohmart
there Will be two directors to elect at
the annual school meeting in March.
That will be the most important
school meeting ever held at Salem.
Salem school district has a bonded
| debt of S43, 900, and by next July will
have an estimated floating debt of
$25, 900.
The school district is paying about
$4,000 year interest, at rates ranging
from six, seven, eight to niue per cent
IL e past year.
About SIG, 200 bonds drawing eight
per cent fall due in 1900 and will have
to be refunded or provisions made for
paying them.
The district shOald elect two men
for directors who will favor funding
the debt of the district at four per
cent interest or less, thus reducing
the interest burden $4,000 year. Then
we can get along with less taxes or
have more money to spend for i'm
provementS.
The district should elect the best
class of business men for directors
who will finance the district from the
standpoint of the taxpayer, not in the
interest of bondholders and money
lenders.
The best financiers say and all know
as a matter Of fact that this district
can fund and carry its debts at four per
cent, and as fast as bonds come due
renew them at four per cent. Public
pride must be appealed to and men
elected who have the pride of the
scheol system at heart sufficiently to
serve the district instead of serving
themselves or some syndicate.
SCHOOL FINANCES.
Let US have plain talk about our
Salem school finances.
The tax rolls get into the sheriff's
hands about six months late and COL
lection is dragged along nearly
year.
The tax of 1897 should have given
the district S16,249.15 to work with.
Up to Nov. 3, 1897, this tax gave the
district S13,971.79. The same tax in
1898 will yield about $1,000 less.
1t will be seen the district does not
get all it leYies. The system is a
bad one and it is not a fault of the
sheriff or school board.
No one can figure out that the pres
ent six mill levy will pay running ex-
penses of the school. 1t will go to-
wards paying the running expenses
of the year ending July l, 1898, but
will not pay it all.
Levies for all purposes are about
sixteen months behind and the war
rant dealer and money lender gets
and per cent on all city, county and
school expenses during the time we
are behind. That is hoJ good thing
for the taxpayer.
The people are not to blame for this
condition of affairs Who is? Hard
to tell. The present bOaId has whit
tied down expenses for about five years
until there is almost nothing more To
whittle on. Teachers get less than in
any city on the coast. We have only |
4 nine months school.
What can be done? The taxes col !
lected for 1897 should be applied to |
the schools for the year be- |
ginning September 1898. All debt |
prior to that should be taken up and |
funded into call bonds that can be |
1oated at per cent or less. The peO-
pie should vote that at the coming |
March election. If man is in debt |
and has credit he is going to make |
his interest burden as low as he can.
We are paying 7 to 8 per cent for |
money on call notes to defray current
expenses. Current expenses should |
be met by the current tax levy in
cash. At Salem warrants draw no |
interest. This necessitates getting !
1n cash basis or borrowing money I
1f local banks at to per cent to de-
fray current expenses. School war
rants should draw per cent interest,
then if there were eyer deficit they
would float at par. But with delin-
luent taxes due there need be no de-
icit.