Waterbury Democrat., 1901-11-20
TROLLEY TOBLAME
In a Measure For Present High
 Rate of Taxation.
PEOPLE RUSH TO SUBURBS.

Build Houses and Ask City for Water, l Sewers and Police Protection l Brings Down Rents in Center and
 Also Reduces Valuation, While i Property in Suburbs Is Still Lisred as Farm Lands.
 The expansion of the trolley system l in Waterbury was q big boom lo su- burban property, but it is q qnestlpn whether it enhanced the value, or real 1 estate ill the thickly settled districis. i It is certain that it. is to some exIeht i responsible for our high rate or taxn- l ton and also reduced the income rom l tenement blocks about the center, for ! many prefer to pay the difference Ill
 the price of rents in trolley fares Ill
 order to live away from the denseiy populated portions of the city, Will I the result that rents on the inside have l had to take drop. In addition to this l q large share of the funds appropri- ated annually for public improvements
 are swallowed up in following people 1 into remote quarters with water mains and sewers, and ill many instances property in no way benefited by the outlay has to bear big expenses i'll Inc | form of sewer assessments. assess
 ments arising from grades and layouts
 and the cost of laying sidewalks far
 the accommodation of q few persons {, who wish to choose their neiglbors. 1 For example. a man goes to the ex- treme end of an unaccepted street anl
 buys lot with frontage of fifty feet. l We'll assume such a person has Il | pull--all such fellows have-and iiil- diately presents petition to the city l government asking for the grade aid layout of the street. The whole thing goes through, no matter how stiff tae opposition on the part of those Who
 do not want it, and large benefits arc assessed against property that pro- duces nothing but rocks and has very little market value. The next move 1 is for the extension of the water main and sewer. The former is paid for out of the general tax, but the latter is charged against abuttng property at the rate of $1.50 per front foot. Three
 months after it becomes due and paya- ble. if the cash is not forthcoming, lien is placed on the property and 1t bears interest al the rate of 9 per cent per annrlm. In most such cases some people have long stretches of undevel- oped land and to pay assessments that ruin into the thousands and often
 put them out of business while the
 man with the fifty foot lot at the end
 of the street. who gets off at modei-
 ate outlay, is supremely happy and
 never bestows q thought upon the
 hardships he has inflicted upon hia
 neighbors. He does not stop at thar.
 He must have q sidewalk. It won't
 cost him over $50 or S75. and the fact
 that it means vast sums to others is
 no concern of his so long as he Is to profit by it. To top it off, the city passes by all the undeyeloped property that has been made to meet all this
 expense with an electric light aud
 starts it burning close to his property line, not in front of it. mind you. That
 might draw the flies and small boys
 about his home and prove a source of
 annoyance to him and his family, and not to disturb him in any way the light is placed opposite someone else'S property. [ Of course it must be admitted that
 all property along the line is benefited by the improvements this man sue. ceeded in bringing about, but did pubs lie necessity and convenience require them? Was the expense incurred in
 the interest of the public or for the
 accommodation of a few? If the man
 with the pull had not located there the city would not be called upon to make
 these improvements until the place
 was pretty well built up and the mon-. ey it put into it, if raised at all, could
 be used for permanent street. paVng and thus reduce the cost of the streeu
 department. It would also relieve people from trying to meet obligations that they would not have to do with until their property could be disposed
 of to advantage. Who wants to ba
 compelled to sink several thousand dollars in sewers and sidewalks in
 front of property that is not likely to be built upon for the next half cen>. tury, especially for the accommoda> 1 tion of q few persons who prefer tot be alone rather than live close to the, center? There is a good deal of this business going on in Waterbury and we are likely to have it on a larger
 scale once the town and city governs ment come under one head This
 should be stopped. No one disputes 1 d mans right to locate in out of tha
 way districts, but if he prefers seclu.
 sion he has no right to expect that the city will follow him with public l improvements at an expense that makes taxation burdensome not only on his neighbors but on the whola community. Such people should ba
 left alone in their glory until civiliza-
 ton reaches them in the shape of
 homes occupied by men, women anu
 laughing children. Then. and not bic.
 fore, should the city fathers act fa~ 1 yorably on q petition for public inns
 provements in such places as we arc
 talking about.