Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-12-15
PLENTY OF MONEY.
New City Officials Will Not Have
 Their Hands Tied

Their Hands Tied
 The new city officials will have lots of money next year and great things will be expected of themi The only department that will not have all it asked for is the department of pub lie works, but even this is in better shape than ever before. The money to be raised by taxation added to the resources will make close onto a mil lion dollars Besides this there is in the neighborhood of $22,0OO of the storm water drainage money on hand and if the high water service bond of $100,O0O is issued the total amount will run up to eleven hundred thous- and dollars. But this is not all The city has authority to issue several hundred thousand dollars sewage dis posal bonds so that in case they get out of employment they can take. up the sewage question and keep them selves occupied with it until next fall. Talking about taxes last night Alder man Stanley said that he wished some way could be thought out by which the school board could get along without rebuilding the Elm street
 
 he said. 'that after putting up an ex- pensive building we have to pay for taking it down in few years and put up another to replace it. Whats the matter anyway? There's another building, the High school, a new structure, and it looks as if the end was going to fall out of it. I tell you there will be howl at this high rate of taxation from rate payers and from people who pay no taxes at all. In fact the ones who pay no direct tax are the ones to do the most faultfind- tng so that between the people who pay and those who don't have to pay this board will come in for some hard knocks"
 Alderman Beach, who smelled a rat some time ago and sold his home and went to live in somebody else's block, occupied seat behind MT Stanley and it was amusing to notice how he smil- ed at the remarks Of the alderman from the first district.
 The situation was rendered more serious later on when MT Chapman of the department of education said that the condition of the Crosby Grammar school building is not at all satisfac- tory duu ululeu CudJ CndC VIII SOOu have to come down, too, and Aldermen Murray and Beach agreed that new engine house was needed on Washing ton hill.
 It. looks now as though things had reached stage where people who rent houses and put their money out at interest have big advantage over those who own real estate, especially in parts of the full taxation district, where rents are low 1t is believed in many quarters that the whole trouble is due, not to extravaganza on the part of public officials, but to a vicious sys- tenn of taxation which compels prop erty owners to pay 151a mills on the dollar while their neighbors have to pay less than 3h mills on the dollar Property is worth more in some of the outside districts than on the inside and yet the former is assessed little or nothing, while the latter. has to pay an exorbitant rate. There is a great injustice in the system of taxation fin Waterbury and it is high time steps were taken to remedy the evil. If not large numbers of people will be obliged to sell out before they know where they are at. .. ~r-e~ -.--,.