Waterbury Democrat., 1901-11-16
WHAT MILL HE TAX BE ]?
People Alarmed at the Talk of
 52 Mills.
Owners of Houses Will Raise Rents to Offset the High iaN-Money Lenders Seem to Have the Best End nf tho Tayatinn OrpStiOn

to Offset the High iaX-Money
 Lenders Seem to Have the Best End
 of the Taxation Question.
 The talk of a 5 mill tax has occa- stoned a good deal of comment about town. and while some take it seriously others regard it as nothing more than a joke The latter class claims Inat our taxes will not be as high tllis year as they have been for some tune past, and goes on to prove it by statlng l1tI the liquor license money which goes to the city this year for the nrst tihie will reduce the tax on property Wltnln the old city lines about 6 mills on the dollar. The town tax will De higher, but not high enough to make the Dhf- den as heavy on city rate payers asDe- fore the new order of things. IL Is claimed that after all the resources are figured up the taxes will be about the same IS what people paid this season, probably q mill or two above that.
 That's one way of looking at it, but others see it in an entirely different light, and in order to put themselves in position to meet what they believe is coming some of the many house owners have taken time by the forelock and notified their tenants that on and after January l, 1902, rents will be advanced all the way from ID to 20 per cent. If this order of things becomes general tenants will begin to realize Inat it does make some differ ence to them whether taxes are high or low. There is not much money i'll tenements these times, and with the increase. in taxes and the cost of wa ter the revenue will be reduced unless the price Of rents go upward. And there is nothing else ill sight. It is certain that if d man has to pay more taxes. and higher water rates, such as
 we are going to have when we get the
 meter system completed, some of it will have to come out of the tenants, and these, it would seem. are paying enough now, so that an advance in the price Of rents will crate row that
 will be felt from one end of the city
 to the other and will result ill many people changing from one place to an other. in the hope Of being able to les sen the cost of living.
 Waterbury is enjoying a phenomenal growth, and as q large share of our citizens prefer to pay rent rather than own their own homes, the burden Of taxation is likely to become so op- pressive that rents will of necessity have to go mp. Filings may appear
 bad enough, but they'll be far worse i'll another year or so when we com
 mence to pay interest on q big sewage disposal bond. People who are in the worst fix are those who are planking down taxes on property i'll which they have but a small equity If the place is worth $4,000 and the owner has a mortgage of $3,O00 on it, which is fre- Quently the case, his taxes are the same as if there WAS not T cent due on it, so that he pays on what he does not own as we'll as on what belongs to him. The money lenders are the ones who are on the ground noor in this business. They practically own the town, and yet succeed in lodging the assessor. Of course. if they had to pay tax, they'd add that to the in- tereSt and the owners would have to pay It. There is no way of escape for q man once he gets his name on the assessors books. The only parties he can look to for little assistance are his tenants, and if he mentions such q thing to them the chances are they will move out and leave him ill a worse box than ever. Once in q while q tenant goes without any explanation and probably takes couple of months rent with him. The assessors will not make any allowance for this. nor for the time the place is vacant. After all, when you stop to look at it the system of taxation in the bureau of water IS fairer than in the assessors once. 1T your tenement is idle, the water department charges nothing for e nIaf T., At You must come down with the dust to the collector of taxes whether your tenement is occupied or not.
 Many claim Mayor Kiiduff is the equal of Bill Nye as q joker They say his statement that property insur- ed for S11O,000 is down on the grand
 llst for S45,0OO, is one of his latest. PfoDaDly this Is true, but all the same DuC 1t IS pretty generally believed lHat With real estate as we'll as wafel
 the big fellows have the best of if and
 m consequence sthe plain people, are
 Kept on the hustle to suuare accountS
 With the collector and make ends meet m other directions. The rate of taxa tlon should be made as low as nossihIa ana every man should be compelled to pay Ill proportion to what he owns
 There are many things that need at
 lentlon, but some of them can stand
 ana they should be put on the waiting
 list. W should take into consideration
 the ability of the people to pay as we'll
 as the demands for public improve
 liiehts- Tn other words, we shouldnst
 speiiu more than we can afford. no
 matter how urgent the case may an pear. People who are trying to secnra
 homes Tor themselves and their cbii-
 dfen act upon that Drincinla lf +I,
 did otherwise their names ,yo,,td ssas.,
 De erased from the grand list Tho city fathers should bear this in mind ana not look altogether at what thav
 .nlnk we ought ill the way of nublic improvements. puo'ic
 ELKs' FAREWELL NIGHT,