Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1913-01-01

sassr?, erts Of corner lots, that had a.
ready bean assessed Tor paving along
one side, and pay the sum deducted
with money from It's Improvement
tun6. rather than GO into court and
attempt 10 fight the cases, with two ad-
verse decisions in similar cases as a
precedent OF What might be expected
=. any othe~ such cases.
Lower Assessments 80 10 Per Cent.
So, guided by a court decision n one
Of the old asphalt paving cases, the
council, in 1911, adopted the general
rule Q. assessing against such proper
ties orIv two-th:rds OF the whole as
ssssnenr for the new paving. This rule
has been adhered TO during the TWO
Years IN practically al OF the ninety
two corner lot assessments tina. have
been so reduced.
TIE result has been thar. while the
share Of the cost that the city has had
70 pay from It's Improvement fund has
been greatly increased. the lawsuits
ard court costs. that would probably
have resulted from n plan OF assessing
corner lots for he full cost OF the pay
ing. have been brought almost 10 q
minimum.
Only Five Cases Begun.
out Of several hundred properties
that have been assessed for paving
during the -wo years. appeals have oee--
taken from the councils assessment IN
Or.v five instances The five involve
assessments Of a total Of Sl,e3432 out
of sGoe6q one Of these cases was
settled while on trial by the city max
sns a scnal, concession 20 the prop erty
owner.
Members Of the commission think
his IS the one best argument that the
taxpayers. as a whole. and especially
those whose properties have been lev
led against for concrete paving, are
satisfied with the city's method Of
making what the councilmen believe
= an equitable adjustment Of the cost
Il can scarcely be denied successfully
thai the cor? u7iss.on's method Of as
sesz:rg corner lots is the most import
ant single reason that has made four
miles Of paving possible IL -wo years
Deductions Made Bonds Necessary.
The commission opened the cam
pa.gn .or paving in 1911 without hav-
ing had any provision made by the pre-
cc9ing administration for the unUsua.
expenditure. It was not able to antici-
pate in time during that year the ex-
pense that # was going TO be called or
for paving this year.
with contractors bills Of so4,I for
intersections. extra grading and de-
Guctions from corner LOT assessments
.ho. 9 he'd assumed TO paw, the council
found late this season that 1t must
either create bond Issue, drawing .
per cert. and retire the bonds year by
wear or issue improvement funds war
rants that il I'D not have the money
, to pay, which would draw 6 per cent.
It chose the former and authorized
an Issue Of $4,000 worth Of bonds
80 900 Of which will mature IN 1914 and
So 600 each succeeding year. These
bonds were sold At par. Five or six
thousand dollars Of this money will go
to pay for the Third avenue storm sew
er n the First ward.
There IS not much gainsaying that
the Marsha!I.own property owner, an
der the present plan Of assessments,
gets off cheaper for paving here than
| In many other Iowa cities. In Sioux
! City, for example the cost Of all street
| and alley intersections is prorated
among the properties and levied
against the properties, according to the
front footage, in addition to the paw
| ing the lot abuts.
More Paving in 1913.
! The work Of improving principal
streets with concrete paving Will be
: continued this year. according to the
| councils present plans. How much will
! be laid can not be told at this time. But
MayOr Jones and the cOuncilYn en- think
that a mile or two this year would be
| about enough.
Petitions for fourteen and one-haif
| blocks Of concrete paving were fled
during 1912, but were not granted. The
streets petitioned for were:
| Blocks
J Third, Church to Boone ..........2
. Second, Lincoln to Center ....... a 5
J State, Seventh to Ninth street. 80