The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1906-10-25
COUNTY HAS NO DEBT

No Bonds or Warrants Outstanding
and the County In Good Shape
to Build a New Court House.
In conversation with gentleman
from the south part of the county the
past week we learned that it has been
reported that Decatur county was
greatly in debt and therefore it would
not be wise to vote for a new court
house at this time. This is a gross
mistake. Decatur county is in ex-
cellent shape so far as finances are
concerned, not having a dollar of out
standing Indebtedness, and by this we
mean that there are no county bonds
outstanding or any warrants which
have not heen paid for want of funds.
This is one of the few counties in the
state which is entirely out of debt.
And in addition to being out of debt there
is cash on hands in the banks to the
credit of the county treasurer 100000,
amply sufficient to meet all demands
for expenses as they come in.
Decatur county people can we'll
afford to vote for the proposed new
court house, and it will not hurt the
county bit. In fact, the court house
tax would be so small that unless the
taxpayer was told of it the two mill
court house tax could be levied and
collected and he would never know he
was paying it. A few years ago Clarke
county voted to build new court
house at Osceola, and small levy was
made for ten years to pay off the bonds,
and to the surprise of everyone, the
total rate of taxation was not increased
during the entire period and the court
house was entirely paid for without
increasing the per cent of taxes. We
believe this would be true in Decatur
county's case.
There would be considerable saving
in rent which is now paid for office
rooms for the county attorney, county
superintendent, for grand jury and trial
jury rooms whenever court is in session
and unless new court house is soon
provided it will be necessary for the
board of supervisors to rent rooms for
holding court and for the county officers,
as the present old building is not safe.
has been slowly bulging out for several
years. and few years ago heavy iron
rods were run through the building to
hold it together. These rods have only
delayed the work Of destruction and on
the west side of the building the
anchors of the rods have been pulled in
to the brick at least two inches, which
is an indication of the great strain on
the rods and if they should snap the
whole building would collapse. The
judges of the district court have serious
ly considered refusing to hold court in
the building as they regard it as being
unsafe. If this should be done the eN-
pense of renting rooms sufficient to ac-
commodate the court and county offices
would amount each year to great deal
more than the interest on the court
house bonds.
AS has been stated the levy of a two
mill tax for ten years would more than
pay off the entire bond issue as we'll as
the interest, and two mills makes a
mighty small difference in the amount
of a persons taxes. The average farmer
of the county does not give in $4,000
worth of property for taxation, and if
he did he would be assessed on only
$1,000, and the two mill tax would cost
him but two dollars year. One we'll
known farmer of this county was shown
how small the court house tax would be,
and when he examined his tax receipt
and found how little it would cost him
he promptly announced that although
he had been voting against new court
house heretofore that he would vote for
it this year.
Leon has been asked by many of the
farmers to make donation toward the
new court house, and this they have
done, having deposited with the
Farmers and Traders State Bank notes
payable to Decatur county in the total
sum of $1,000, to be paid when the court
house is erected. This is one-tenth of
the proposed cost in addition to Icons
full share of the court house tax, and
should be sufficient to satisfy any
reasonable person. 1t is not mere
promise to pay, but the promise is Sc
cured by notes which the bank will
guarantee as bankable notes.
Let every voter in Decatur county
think this matter over carefully. There
is no question but what new court
house is needed, and why not settle
this matter this year and then stop al
this nonsense about building a eourI
house by voting for the proposition and
building a court house which will be {
credit and pride to the people of all the
county.
Everybody Clean Up.