Fitzgerald enterprise., 1907-01-10

call the attention of the people to statement OF
the Mayor in his address to the Council, regard.
ing the city schools.-namely Our schools are
costing the city about $1,000 per year" This
untintentionally conveys the impression that
the tax payers of the city are paying that mucn
for the support of the schools, which is far from
the facts. AS will be seen by careful reading
of my report, the entire cost of schools TOR 19Oo'
including the extra expense of $3.50 TOR new
buildings seats, etc. was $1057866 or $0ol.5o
per month. Of this amount, the city paio
$6046.42 or $502.86 per month instead OF $lOoo'
The remainder was paid by the State funds ana
the School tuition. Taking the $4,000 that the
city paid out for all purposes. and the amount
paid for schools and you have proportion OF a
little over one seventh of the total expenses
due to the schools. Only two t b / d
of this amount is paid by the city, making por-
portion of only about one twelfth of the entire
income of the city that is paid out for city
schools. 1t has often been said that the schools
cost the city so much that other departments
had to be neglected. hope this statement Will
show the people the utter falacy of any such
statement.
L. S. Osborne.
The above from DR.. Osborne, who has
been the most active and effective member OF
the school board for several years past is very
proper correction of an error, that might lead
to an unfair sentiment.
Evidently Mayor Knapp intended to say,
that the schools ought to cost the city about
$1,000 per month, 10000 or 10000 is paltry
sum to devote annually to the education OF al-
most thousand children.
The $74,O 900 referred to as paid out by the
city during the year 1906, includes $4,000 or
$4,000 borrowed money. Borrowed and paid
back to the banks and computed in the footlngs.
Our true revenue and expenditures for the year
1906 amounted to about $50,000.
MM
Mayor Knapp fell into an error when he
recommended tax rate of 1H%. A tax rate
greater than / % is wrong not because we say
so. But we say so because it is wrong. The
tax rate in Fitzgerald is limited by our charter
to 90 and we trust that it will not be changed.
With 1% rate we can raise $4,000 to $4,000
without an occupation tax, and we can sell bonds
for whatever money we must have above that
amount. If the water and light plant is self
sustaining as Mayor Knapp suggests. that it
@ust be, we will have money to meet all leglti
mate expenses after giving legitimate amount
to the school and apply SIS, 600 or $4,000 to
present outstanding indebtedness. Let's be
content with the 196 taxrate, Mayor Knapp.
We expect a splen did administration of
you, and it is our purpose to hold up your hands
in the many good things you are sure to under.
take but lets keep the tax rate at 10.
MM
One of the evidences of our nr0preSs as a
section of the Sunny South was handed us this
week by Mr.. R. V. Bowen.
The Atlanta Constitution of Sept. II, 1877,
contains more than one full page of tax sales.
Not in great long paragraphs describing one
small tract of land but one of the lines contains
more. For instance in the Irwin County list
lot IS, S8, 80, 81 110, III, 49, ia, lis, 49, 49,
12O are all on one line nearly six thousand acres
therefore the reader can understand the
magnitude of the sale of wild land in those days.
But the reader must bear in mind that the
cheapest thing in Georgia then, was land. Land
negros, widows and orphans, was about all that
was left by Sherman nearly ten years before.
Mr.. r. V. Bowen tells us that he was in
Irwinville, the day of the sale referred to- not to
buy land but as a casual bidder. He bid in
eleven lots. Mr.. D. A. McInnis, father of the
present sheriff of Irwin and we'll known to many
of our own readers, was sheriff at that time and
after the sale be notified Mr.. Bowen that he had
bid on II lots considerably over 5000 Acres.
He asked Mr.. McInnis how much his bids
amounted to for the eleven lots. Mr.. McInnis
. told him that it footed up $91,5O, He handed