Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-03-20

more valuable block by block. The
point is that levies carsnot be fairly
compared without comparing valua-
lions. Furthermore our five mills for
paving intersections would alone &C
count for the difference in levies Wat
erloo has less than half as much paw
ing as we have and must assess for 1t
when she gets any more If this We're
not enough Marshalltown owns $685.
600 worth of water works and street
lights with less Indebtedness than
Waterloo while Waterloo owns nothing
of the kind. Again Marahalltown peo-
pie have voted two mills library tax
to Waterloo's one.
Fort Dodge.
Our levy exceeds For1. Dodge by 60
mills. Two mills is park tax. Fort
Dodge has none. Two mills is sewer
tax. Fort Dodge assesses abutting
property Two mills is paid fire de-
partment. Fort Dodge has none. This
accounts for six mills Of the increase.
Now Fort Dodge Is not larger than
Marshalltown nor her property more
valuable, yet her taxable one-fourth
valuation is $2,224,O0O to our $1,000
600.
Mason City.
Yes, our levy exceeds that of Mason
City eight mills. Mason City assesses
the property owner for sewers. She
has had no library tax. she has no
park tax and no paid iire department.
These things cost us eight mills Ma
son City has only two miles OF paving
to our eleven, hence she probably has
no extra levy for this, while we have
llVe mills. but we can inch' q this and
still be even with her whea we count
out sewer, library, park and fire de-
partment taxes
Oskaloosa.
1t Is true Oskaloosa shows levy
2.l5 mills less. but Oskaloosa has no
park tax nor any paid fire department.
These cost us four mills.
Boone.
Mr.. Sutton is right about Boone, too.
She has city levy less by three mills,
but Boone assesses property owners
for sewers, has no park tax. and a fire
department only one-half as large as
SaAs'. iiio Noulu account lOT IL QlIIer-
ence of five mills
Municipal Ownership.
1t is true that municipal ownership
of water works and street lights Is not
all gain in the making OF comparisons
since, as explained by Mr.. Sutton, the
towns which do not own these utilities
must pay somebody else for them, but
the point to be considered is that Mar
shalltown owns something. NJ Abb
bolt says he can float company to
buy the city's water and light plants
for $295,000 and $4,000 respectively.
and Marshalltown now has this prop
erty all paid for except $4,000 the
of the water works bonds or
except $4,000 If we choose to use the
c1ty's net indebtedness on March 81,
1904. Other towns that do not own
these things must invest about the
same sums from their taxes to get.
them, but to date have been assessing
very nearly the same amount of taxes
with nothing to show for it. If Mr..
Sutton could say that he owned s315.-
OOO worth of income bearing property
and owed only $4,000 or $4,000 on it.
he would not be doing SO much
knocking" against his home town.
Paving.
AS to paving the point is that a great
many of us who want to make our
homes in Marshalltown are proud of
the fact that we have eleven miles of
paving as compared to- five miles in
waterloo and two miles in Mason City.
we like to have these comforts and
we feel like boasting about it. We
believe the money has been well spent
and don't feel bit sorry for the money
tenders and well-to-do people who
nave been assessed for it. Charles
l1aPlant says he has bought and sold
and paved seven different properties
In Marshalltown and has made money
on every one of them and it is safe to
say that there is not a man i'm Mar
shalltown who now has his paving paid
for who would allow it to be taken up
II he could get his money back. AS to
rotten" paving, so far as there is any
proof, we have none. Men who are re-
sisting their assessments claim that
there is some and committee appoint
ed by the court is testing every block.
The forty or fifty samples taken from
Fourth avenue and Church streets have
averaged very near the contract speci-
f1cations. Neither Mr.. Sutton nor the
T.-R. knows whether the paving is
rotten" or not and neither has the
right to say so until he does know.
Measure of Satisfaction."
The T.-R. has tried to be very pa
font with
make clear with facts and figures every
statement made regarding the city's
financial condition, but it would seem
that when men do not want to see they
become very blind indeed. The editor
Of the T.-R. has lived in Marshalltown
eight years. During that time he has
seen the Electric addition built up from
4 COW pasture, the suburb west of the
Soldiers Home developed from an agri-
cultural field, the entire Sutton &
Evans addition across the creek and
The Brennecke & Heald addition built
from farm lands. Delano T. Smiths
property then vacant and the unoccu-
pied commons near the Arnold school
now support magnificent homes and
hundreds of dwellings, have been built
.hruout the city. The editor of the
T.-R. owns an interest in two large
business corporations of the town and
both are prospecting highly satisfac-
,orily. For these reasons it has SEEM
ID that Marshalltown was a pretty good
own after all. At least the bitterness
If politics would hardly justify a man
n knocking" The T.-R. is not trying
@ elect anybody. Mr.. Sutton is and
hat NAV account for the difference in