The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1912-08-16
Continued from arst page.

afraid the commissioners will receive
large salaries and that a small
amount of the money appropriated
will go into actual road construction.
The supervisors have the authority to
fix the compensation of the commits
sioners, and judging from other coun-
ties under the system, would say
that the supervisors, are not apt to
Civ eaway any salaries not canned.
No county is paying the county, road
commissioner large salary. The
salaries range from nothing to $500
q day for actual time employed. A few
counties have commissioners who
work without pay; in these instances
an expert engineer Is usually employ
ed who does the actual supervising,
the commissioners mapping out the
work in a general way, much as the
directors of corporation work.
think this plan gets the best results.
Often man seeks the office OF
township highway commissioner for
the small per diem, II his time Is nor
worth more than that, 1t is not worth
any more to the township. About
fifty per cent of the commissioners
elected in the townships each year
are new men and they have to be ed
ucated.
The argument is frequently heard
that If the county road system is
adopted all roads built will be around
some large sized city in the county.
This argument was used in Kalama-
zoo county. After the system was
adopted there, the first thing the
commissioners did was to map out
system of roads which would in
clude the leading roads into every
market town in the county. This en-
tire system was not adopted at once
but was merely tentative plan. They
then went to the various townships
and gave them an opportunity to pick
out the first two miles of road they
wished built in that township. This
was done, and for three years they
have been building around these va
rious towns. One village has mile
Of award road in each direction there
from. l cannot guarantee what your
commissioners would do, but first
commissioners are appointed by the
supervisors and they block out the
system that must be submitted to the
supervisors, who have the power to
reject any part Of the SYSTEM they
wish. Nothing can be done In any
undetermined way. When money is
voted it must be used on the road vot-
ed for.
The tax levy for counties the size
of Shiawassee must not exceed $500
on a thousand dollars valuation.
When the commissioners ask for a
levy it must not exceed that amount
and the supervisors have it in their
power then to levy from nothing to
$500.
The system is satisfactory to
majority of the people in the coun-
ties where it has been adopted; If it
were not, 1t would have been reject
ed before now, as the people have it
in their power to withdraw the sys-
tenn any year they wish. The only
the system is Luce county, where the
system was in use but three years
and but three miles of road were
built. Saginaw county has 100 miles
of macadam or crushed stone roads,
built by the county system. In that
county last year the supervisors
unanimously voted to levy within F!
cents of the maximum tax. Some
townships in that county have raised
money in addition to the levy and
turned the funds over to the county
commissioners to build roads in that
township with.
The system is equitable, inasmuch
as it distributes the tax for roads ov-
er all the taxable property in the
county. If Shiawassee county adopt
ed the system, the cities and villages
in the county which pay about one
third of the entire county taxes would
pay 33 cents on the dollar of money
expended by the county in roads,
while now the cities are paying moth
ing.
A gravel road costs about 500
and $500 of that comes from the state
The cities and villages would pay
$3.50 of the balance and farm proper
ty would get mile of country road
for about 1867 or less than half the
the average cost.
Would we not have to pay the state
tax just the same? Yes, but we are
paying it now. Five townships In
this county have drawn s5,376 for
state award roads, but during that
time the county has paid to the state
for this fund $11.07S.36, or has paid
in almost two dollars for every dollar
received by the five townships that
have built state award roads. So long
as the law remains in force Shiawas-
see county will have to pay its pro-
portionate share into the state road
fund.
The system gives chance to build
continuous roads; it also makes IL
possible to cut down hills and under
take Other such work that township
could not undertake on account Of
the excessive cost.
When machinery is bought for
county roads system the entire coun-
ty has the use of the machinery, while
by the township system each town
ship in order to undertake the work
has TO be equipped with EXPENSIVE