Union gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1899-1900, 1900-04-06

printing Office. There have been
expensive boards of commissioners,
without which the state would bo
better off.
There are a number of tax con.
suming luxuries INDUCED in by the
state and its officials, which do not
benefit the general taxpayer, and
which beir.g so heavily burdened
as we now are, with taxes, seems to
be unnecessary and extravagant.
It may be well enough, in times of
universal prosperity, t, indulge in
experiments, and luxuries. in keep
ing with such times; but, in times
like the past several years, when
taxes have to be met with absolute
privations in other directions, and
when in many cases the property
has actually been sold to pay
taxes people could no longer sup
port, then it seems to me, it is high
time to inquire into the causes of
of these high taxes, and if the peo-
pie are really a sovereign people,
apply remedy.
In many directions there have
been increases of salaries out of
proportion to the value Of the ser
vices demanded or performed. The
salary aot, itself, while in many
respects excellent, operates as a
considerable loss to the taxpayers
in its present form.
Then there has been a constant
tendency of late years to multiply
expenses, and to increase the
amount Of existing expenses, in
stead of reducing them. Perhaps
this is one Of the consequences OF
having some things better and
more convenient now than formerly.
The present county court of Ben
ton county seems to have made an
earnest effort to check this growth,
but it as well as all county boards
in the state is to some extent
handicapped by the condition of the
laws.
1t is always hard to shake of
expensive habits, and to return to
original methods of economy; but
this becomes necessary when in
debtedness has to be paid off, and
interest burdens stopped.
+ To make a detailed statement ol
the alterations in the tax system
| which it is believed by the writer
would contribute to large reduc.
ton in annual expenses to all tax
payers, and also make the burden
| somewhat more equal than it now
| is between them, cannot be done in
a short letter. It would require 9
long and laborous statement, which
few people would care to read in
an article of this kind. I will men
ton, however, that I would like te
seen a bill in the legislature, which
would make the assessment com,
mence in January and end in Sep
tember. Have but one tax roll
the entire tax history of the county
and cities in one book; columns
used on the original roll to indi-
cate delinquencies; the treasurer to
collect all taxes, and the additions
necessary to his salary, or fees, as
the case might be, be a modification
of the salary or fees of the sheriff
who now collects the taxes. The
final enforcement of collections
should be a matter of statute, in
positive terms, and decisive in its
results, and the neglect to fulfill its
requirements should work a for.
feiture of the Office, for it is just in
this one particular that the great.
est of the tax burdens springs from.
So far as the present system goes
it's weakest point is in the final col
lections There now stands uncol.
lected on the Benton county tax
rolls, since 1883, enough delinquent
taxes to pay two or three times our
county debt. And to make up for
these delinquents, we are now taxed
at double what we would be taxed
had the system been so plain and
positive in the matter of final col
lections, that this delinquency could
not exist. The legislature has tried
to help the counties out, in a very
lame and insufficient manner, by
permitting the county to bid in
the property, but what good does
that do. when, az fact, the sales
made are from other defects in the
system void.
To supply remedy for existing
!
imperfections in the tax laws will
require an entire change in the tax
system. The bill I have long had
in contemplation, would result in 6