The copper era and Morenci leader., 1912-03-22

commission which shall act as board of equaliZa aion- Article or the Con- stitution outlines the powers of the legislature to fix rates of valuation and taxation and the rules upon the pres ent session to define and vitalize these provisions.
 Other and progressive states thru tax commissions of from one to live members, composed of the best fitted men to be secured by appointment are finding satisfactory solution of the revenue problem Should such a sys- tenn, which I recommend to your care full consideration be found advisable for Arizona, it should properly take the place of the board of equalization provided by the constitution, and which was made amendable by statu- tory law.
 Present Status of State Funds.
 The present status of the state treasury presents situation for which an immediate remedy will have to be provided. When the state off. cers took charge on the 14th day Of February, with four and one-half months of the present fiscal year re- maining, and little prospects of an ap- preciable accession of funds before next December the general fund show ed balance of about S1O7,O sum entirely inadequate to meet the de- mands which will of necessity be made upon it. On the first day of the current month the general fund show ed a balance on hand of $101, ,539.37. If it were not necessary to take into ac- count at all the unusual and unavold- able expenses incident to the transl- tion from a territorial to state form of government, the readJustment ana remodelling of rooms in the capitol to accommodate officials heretofore non-eX' istent or housed elsewhere, the extra clerk hire occasioned by the large vol ume of new business, the expense Of this legislative session and the salar-
 ieS and expenses heretofore paid Dy
 the federal government, the balance
 in the general fund, based on former
 averages, would be eaten up by the
 end of the fiscal year, June 30, and there would be nothing whatever on
 hand with which to pay the expense of maintaining the state government between that time and December when taxes will begin to come in. On February 2S, 1911, the general fund showed balance on hand o1 S195, 560,64. Leave out of consldera tion, then, the unusual and extraordln ary expenses mentioned above, com pare this balance with the balance o1 S1O1, 9.37 shown by the books or February 29th, just past, and the dis crepancy amounts to $94,021.27. Limitation of Debt.
 conflict of constructor exists ir the case of Section 5, Article TX, o1 the constitution, limiting the states indebtedness to three hundred and fiji ty thousand dollars. While 1n my op
 inion this was meant to refer only tc
 unsecured indebtedness, caused by Tn sufficiency of revenue to maintain the running expenses of the government and was not intended to iclude or linn ii the states bonded indebtedness, il will be prudent to submit const1tu tional amendment clearing this amb1g uity, and I so recommend.
 Fund Bonded Indebtedness From the report of the state auditor I gather the information that Arlzo mas bonded indebtedness, exclusive O. : the funded debt of counties and towns at this time amounts in round figures to one million dollars. These bonds . owned in eastern centers of capital ] are bearing in practically every Ill
 stance, five per cent interest Not on . ly is this interest rate to my mind un necessarily high, but Arizona is loslns
 considerable sum of money, Wh1ci . might just as well be kept at home My plan is this: that you enact lav
 authorizing the refunding of the stat 2 bonded indebtedness by means of al issue of bonds bearing four per cen interest, the bonds to be in small de
 nomination-say of $500 or even les . and to be offered to the people c Arizona I believe they will be reae } fly bought up by the general publl { as a highly desirable security, as saf
 
 ment, and bearing a higher rate ( , interest Certain it is that the banl , CTS of Arizona would be glad to Sul scribe for them under provision } law permitting their deposit with tn ! state treasurer as security for l1k { deposit of state funds.
 : Business on Business Basis. ! would recommend the abolishmer { of the board of control and central : zation of the business managemeI
 of the state institutions and depar ments in the governor. Instead Of tn 7 board of control I would establish ! purchasing department directly unde \ the governors supervision, wher
 through a skilled purchasing office
 or agent all supplies, for whatever il | stitution- or office desired, should [
 secured. TheS tate, aggregat1ng LII s needs of it's various institutions an s departments, is a very large buye ! and there is no sound reason why tn 1 fact should not be taken advantage ] for the benefit of the taxpayers. 1 hay ! no hesitation in estimating that by tf E plan proposed a saving of from STE I 900 to $1OO,O00 per year can be effec
 ed and I should not be surprised ! see it run higher.
 In addition to this great saving, e |. pressed in dollars, an opportunlt
 would be afforded to favor the pu . chase, wherever possible, of home pr
 ducts, a policy to which I very stron