Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-09-16
AMENDMENTS
70 CONSTITUTION
Three To Be Voted Upon at The
Next Election in
November.
LEGISLATIVE PROBLEMS.
Making Of New Counties and Chang
M ing The Tax Rate Are Among
Those Coming Up.

When the votes are cast next NO
yember for presidential and state
tickets, the voting machines in salt
Lake county, and the ballots in other
counties, will carry opportunities TO
vote on three: constitutional amend
ments.
These amendments were called for
by the vote of the last state legisla
ture, and are submitted at this cleo
ton as it is the state election next
following the legislative session
Each one recalls a problem in
which the Legislators in trying TO ef,
feet a solution, met with failure ow-8
ing to distractions in the state con-
gstitution. To remove these obstruc-s
lions resolutions were passed calling
for amendments One, has to d With
the assessment of mining property;
another deals with the rate Of taxa
ton. and a third deals With the
dividing OF counties where a new
county is created.
MAKING NEW. COUNTIES.
the notice calling for the amend '1,1:
ment OF the provisions for crea ton,
of new counties came about through u
a movement to make two counties OF
Salt Lake county. and another propoT.
sition TO create new county oul oil
the Uintah reservation. When u s.
bills came before the legislature, y
was found that while the constifu-
zion provided for changing county
lines and adding to or taking away.
from the territory of one partlcu ~
county, 1t made absolutely no proNl--7
sion for creating q new county.
Hence the resolution was passed
amending section Of article n laof the 3
state Constitution, making It read:
.rrhe legislature shall have power to
enact laws creating new counties out,
of territory taken from one on more OF
the existing counties i85
! What the nature of the problem out.
| In Wasatch s, is indicated by an opii,7
| ion given today by Representa- tiye Wi y
son. who Was q linelnpef 81 sils = l9o i,.
session Of the iegis1a turc. II =
| When interviewed on this matter. Mr..
| Wilson said: ..Uintah reservation
| country is rapidly filing up, but the
! people there. do not pay the taxes yet
that the old settlers of Wasatch do.
| They pay in fact one-twentietf OF the
!, taxes. but they are demanding the
privilege of spending all the taxes this
year. We have conceded them the leg
islature and one commissioner already.
But they declare that unless we give
them two commissioners and the legis-
lature and another county officer. they
will form an independent ticket and
take the whole county organization
away from us. Maybe they can do it,
too, for the reservation is getting many
new people. We need to be separated
from them. allowing them to run their
own county affairs while we run ours.
WANT MORE TAXES.
The problem Of getting more taxes.
for Utah from the available resources
led to an extensive investigation of
tax dodgers. 1t was found that for
some mysterious reason county asses
tsors got Very little from mining men,.
lit was decided that the state board of
equalization could much more3equit-.
ably measure the value of Utah mines
and assess them than the county as
SCISSORS who for some reason had failed
to get results. Therefore the resolu-,
ton was passed which will give the
people a chance to vote as to whether
the old system shall continue or mines
be taxed by "the state board of equal
ization'' The resolution WAS intro
gduced by Miller of Washington, who
Is a. follower member of the next Ie-
gslative session.
CHANGING TAX RATE.
A peculiar fact in Utah is that the
state would suffer calamity in resources
II it got little bit richer in the total
assessed valuation of its property. The
reason for this is that the constitution
( provides a total tax of eight mills
while the assessed valuation is $780,
coo. 900 or under, and five mills when it
passes that point. The amendment
on which the people are to vote shoots
at two birds With one stone, for it
raises the sum at which point the rate
Z is to drop from eight mills to five
mills from s2O0OOOO00 to s400. $50. 600. and
also provides that the legislature may
provide half mill tax for high school
purposes, taking for this purpose money
from the general school funds. Here
tofore high schools have been over
looked in the distribution OF state tax
4eS.
All three of the amendments were
passed with little or no opposition in
the legislature, and. 1t is expected that
they will be ratified, without serious
opposition.