Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1912-01-02
THE COMMISSION FORM.
A Letter From Hon. John Ringle and
the Pilots Reply.

commission form OF city government, |
makes some assertions which in my |
opinion merit criticism. You repeat |
the statement which has heretofore
been made, that the commission gov
eminent of Eau Claire has in two |
years paid deficit of s45, 900 retired |
$50, 900 in bonds, and this year reduced |
the tax rate of S29.38 to S23. rs per |
$1,000 assessed valuation.
Statements like these, without the |
accompanying facts, always look to !
me like gold brick advertisement |
intended to fool some people all the |
time. The authors fail to state that
the assessment of property was III
proportion of public Improvements.
/ know of only two methods of re-
ducing the tax rate, either to increase
the assessed valuation or to reduce
the expenses of public Improvements
and of government
Our city government pays all de-
ficiencies in former tax levies each
year. and also pays such portion of
the bonded indebtedness which be-
comes due each year. Now let us
suppose the present administration
had increased the assessment of
property TO the amount on which we
are taxed by the state tax commission,
about $10,000,000 and would then
make the statement. We hage built
$50, 900 school house, made 5000
improvement on our water works
plant, made an extraordinary GXpendi-
ture of $4,000 on sewers aad street
pavements, only increased car indebt-
edness $4,000 and reduced the tax
rate from three TO two per cent.
What would you say TO that? OF
course if the building Of school houses,
improving the water works plant,
building sewers, etc, is money wasted,
then there is no excuse for an increase
of the debt and taxes. We now have
a bonded debt of approximately
$780, S2l5,000 of which is for
school and water works purposes. BY
its terms, the whole debt will be paid
in Is years. Ii anything we are pay
ing our debts too fast. You say furth-
er, the voters who see who is opposing
this business plan cannot help but
vote for the commission plan. Such
a ring would fit as well on the other
finger. Since when, however, has it
become crime TO uphold the Ameri-
can system of representative govern
ment by and for the people, which
has been in practice during the past
century and more? Or have all the
men vino have participated in our
| city government in the past decades,
mostly without compensation, been
dishonest or incompetent in that they
engaged in the building of water
works plant and school houses beyond
the then present means, under what
you are pleased to call 1.-THE old form
which has run the city into debt
nearly half million" So that you
think it necessary to hire three men
who have no business and pay them
$500, for being honest and conduct
things properly. Can the people be
blamed for looking for the niger in
the wood pile in this commission bust
ness, in view of the misleading state
ments being promulgated by parties
interested to secure its adoption.
Let us admit, there may be honest
differences of opinion as to the rela-
tive merits of various systems of
government. The commission system
of county government was tried in
our state number of years ago, it
did not satisfy the people, because it
was not representative of the people,
and was repealed. Experience with
the commission plan produced per-
feet cure, forever after. And there
are now some people who believe it
better to avoid the disease as we'll as
the cure by retaining representative
government by the people.
JOHN .RINGLE.
PILOTS REPLY.
Mr.. Ringle's letter published above,
should be carefully read as it is prob
ably as strong a statement as can be
made against commission form of
government. The writer, like other
opponents, finds that where the COM
mission form is being tried, good re-
suits are following, but he tries to
explain them away.
In the case of the figures cited last
week in the PILOT, showing how Eau
Claire is getting its city affairs into
better financial shape and reducing its
tax rate under commission govern
ment, Mr.. Ringle states that the.
latter could only have been done by
increasing the assessment or by reduc-
ing the expenses of public improve
ment and of government. For the
sake Of the argument let us assume
this to be true, although it is not nee
eSSarily true when applied to any one
year. Every well informed citizen of
Wausau knows that tax rates have
repeatedly been reduced by using
sinking funds, the city hall fund and
the water fund, borrowing amounts
at the banks temporarily that should
have been put into the tax roll. Occa-
sionally mayor has tried to make a
good showing for himself by loading
up his successor with big floating
debt.
But let us see what method the
Eau Claire commissioners followed
Did they increase the assessment by
an unusual amount? The figures for
the last ten years are as follows, the
last Two years being under commits
sion government: