The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-07-30
CITIZENS FORCE
HIGHER TAXES
Crowd Street improvements Upon the
City Administration.
HOW SCRIP SYSTEM WORKS
SPLENDID RECORD ON SIDE.
WALKS, SEWERS, ETC.

1 4
ers Of Salt Lake in the matter Of
public Improvement is hot For
years the excuse for muddy streets.
defective sidewalks and lack of sewers
has been that the taxpayers would not
pay for these improvements. The lie
direct has been given to all such state
ment in the past year. Street pave
ments. permanent sidewalks and sew
ers are now going is so rapidly In re-
| Spouse to the demands Of the taxpay-
| ers are now going in so rapidly in re-
| make a slight increase in the tax levy
| to- do its share of the work 1t has
been practically decided to increase
| the tax levy one mill in order that the
| city administration VIII have funds
! with whfSb, to pave street intersec-
| tions and do its small part in the put
! ting in Of new sidewalks; but even
| this increase viii not enable the city
| to keep up with the spirit OF progress
| that has taken possession of the Citi-
| zens. In addition to this cry of dis
| tress Is going up from a number or
the departments that are literally
! Swamped with work This is especially
true of the engineering department and
the board Of public works
Where the Movement Started.
The scrip law enacted by the last
legislature is held responsible for pres
| ent conditions This gives the prop
erty owners from five to ten years IN
which to pay for public improvements
| The city must pay the cash. Taxpay-
er5 responded quickly to the new law
| with the result that there is more side
| walk improvement ordered and in sight
| for this year than was done from the
time the emigrants entered the valley
| up to the close of 1900.
In street paving the city is expected
to pave the street intersections. In
sidewalk extensions the city pays for
! grading On the face of it this does
| not appear to be much, but in the
| wave OF improvements now sweeping
over the community, it is enough to
! make the administration cry out for
| time
At the present time there are thirty
| four miles Of cement sidewalks that
| have been ordered constructed for the
] present year. In addition to this the
city engineer is getting out estimates
| on twenty miles more. and this work
/ VIII be done If possible. But this is
only the beginning. Plans are on foot
7 to put down cement sidewalks on Drac-
ucally every foot of the territory ex-
tending from Second West to Tenth
I East and from Ninth South north to
| where good sidewalks do not already
i exist Notice at-intention-is- pilhIishAE
for sidewalks on First, Second and
I Third streets from A to the city limits
and on all the intersecting streets.
! Sidewalks are demanded in the ex-
! IRENE southwestern part-in fact the
/ demands are coming in from all direc-
TONS, ana coming in so rapidly that
| the city council and the other city Off
| Gals have great difficulty in keeping uD
! with the procession The Sidewa ks now
/ under CONSTRUCTION or ordered will cost
/ the city $42,823. Here is where the
pinch comes The city must paw cash
| for its share of the work. while the
! property owners have five years in
! which to pay for theirs.
/ Great Demand For Street Paving.
The street paving situation presents
a still more serious problem to those
/ who are responsible for the finances of
/ the city administration. The paving
now going on in Brigham street with
that to follow this year on Market from
Main to West Temple; on Fourth
South from West Temple TO Second
East and on State from Fourth to Fifth
South; on Main street from Fourth to
Ninth South; and on First street from
west Temple to the Oregon Short Line
tracks will cost the city $135. 600. The
problem is TO get the money without
raising the tax levy any more than
necessary But this is not all. The
Brigham street pavement is to be ex-
/ tended from Eighth East to Tenth East
at least The sentiment is growing to
extend il to. Thirteenth East Second
South street is demanding pavement
A petition has been circulated and
sure the Improvement lust as soon as
the city can do its share. The residents
on Second street are clanorinsr for
pavement They are determined TO have
their street paved all the way from q
street to the city limits on the east
Part of the plan is TO have al the
poles removed from the street in or
der 10 make one Of the most beautiful
urlVes IN the entire city a movement
is on TO have Sixth East paved from
Brigham TO the entrance of Liberty
park These are but outward express
slonS of the determination of the prom
erty owners to make of Salt Lake one
of the most beautiful cities on the con-
tinent.
Upsets Plans of Officials.
The crusade in favor of street i'm
Provements is a cause of regret to 8,
number of the officials of the present
city administration in one respect
They were determined to show more
ana better work for less money ex-
pended than has been shown in any
other recent administration. They
Planned for d reduction in the tax levy
Tor city purposes, and now the tax lew
must be increased as the direct result
OF the large amount of new street i'm
owners.
The tax levy for city purposes last
year was 10 mills. The figures submit
ted 10 the city council this week make
II appear absolutely necessary to in
crease this levy to II mills or call a
halt on the improvements of the
streets Even the IL mills will not
take care of all the work now in sight
and there is strong demand in some
quarters to make the increase stiU
greater III order that the improvements
may go forward at a rate to accom-
modate the exposed wishes of the tax
payers.
The figures submitted to the council
nv . IT,
tam that there can be a decrease of as
OF mill IN the contingent fund tax
IRIS is an accomplishment worthy Of
note in view of thesfact that six mem
bers have been added to the fire de-
partnent during the year and ten
members have been added to the police
department The reports show thai
there has been economy in all the de-
partments. greater efficiency and lar
ger receipts from fines and forfeitures
Another decrease of - mil is to be
made in the water supply tax.
Real Cause For the increase.
An increase Of SIS Of a mill is shown
GO be necessary in the sewer fund This