The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-03-31
Statement About Financial Condition
Of Fargo Made by Mayor W. D. Sweet

The following statement hof the
by. Mayor w. D. Sweet to deliver as
an address. 1t was made public Sun
day. 1t contains some facts that Far
go voters should ponder before they
go into the booth to cast their ballots
for or against the commission form of
government next Monday. Do the
taxpayers of Fargo want to continue
the ward system of government that
has brought about this condition Of
affairs: ...,.......
/ am requested to address this body
in relation to the financial conditions
of the city Il am glad to respond to-
such requests frem any of the civic
bodies and Organization OF our city,
of the taxpayers is In complete and
continued publicity of the acts and
policies of the city government. I be-
lieve also that the too habitual mat
tention of our civic bodies is the prin-
cipal deterrent to economical and eff
cient administration of city affairs;
particularly because, Individual tax
payers acting alone ara not always
likely to awaken sufficient respons-
i've attention on the part of their pub
lie servants, and because also no gov
ernment of any kind or anywhere is
likely to maintain long a higher level
of financial efficiency than Is required
by its constituency.
In all probability the present form
Of municipal government is about to
enter. upon the experimental stage of
changes and it Is the moment when
ethe present financial status of the
city should be fully represented.
Assets and Liabilities.
I am glad to say that from the
standpoint of financial credit there Is
probably no bank. corporati or firm
in the state of North Dakota that ex-
cells. If indeed they equal the favor
able relation of assets to liabilities Of
the city of Fargo today.
On the credit side of the balance
sheet we state our assets at 0,000,-
600. There is no inventory from which
these figures can be taken, but our
assessed valuation this year is nomin-
ally 40 per cent, but as valuations are
mainly determined by those assessed,
We can materially shade that percent
age, on the other hand there Is
quantity of personal property as well
as of reality, that the utmost security
of the assessors cannot locate, to
which must be added the municipal
property consisting Of schools, other
public buildings and parks. none of
rolls, but which are nevertheless final
guarantees of the city Indebtedness.
We may therefore rest assured that
the sum stated In very conservative.
on the debit side of the balance sheet
we have the total of $1,243,35S.81.
Thus for every dollar of liability there
Is $1,000 of security and every dollar
of liability Is a perferred claim not
disturbed by any other claims, judg-
ments or transfers. Therefore, provid-
ing only, that the tax levies and spe-
cial assessments have been made in
conformity with legal process the
warrants and bonds of the city of
Fargo are comparable in value only
with gold.
The sum total of municipal 1iabii-
ties above mentioned, viz: $1,243,-
45S81 in the combined liabilities Of the
city which have been incurred by the
following divisions Of authority, viz:
City government .........$ 189,026.29
Special assessments i'm
provementS ..~-...ss.... S40o91.34
School board .s1.s.s.s.. 10S,000.00
Park board ....v.~.s-..,.s 27,944.78
Miscellaneous s........I... 7S.O96.40
$1,243,45S.S1
The great brAk of the above item