Payette enterprise. (Payette, Canyon Co., Idaho) 1909-1935, 1913-09-25
Why Taxes
Are Higher
Legislature Made Larger Appropria-
lions for Things Demanded by the
People.

to charge his administration with
extravaganza; with being false to its
professions of economy and retrench-
ment. From the beginning the gov
ernor has prided himself on bringing
the business of the state to bet
ter business standard; to the estab-
lishment of system and better man.
agement in every department of the
state government.
In an open Statement to the Peo-
pie of Idaho on the State Tax Levy,
issued on Friday, Governor Haines
submits facts and figures that will
be of interest to every taxpayer In
the state. In this signed statement
he says:
Why Statement Is Made.
"The announcement by the board
of equalization of the state levy and
the amount which will have to be
raised this year by direct taxation
from the various counties, has been
made the occasion by the opposition
newspapers for a declaration that
the present administration has failed
to redeem its promises in the mat
ter Of giving the people an economi-
cal, business administration of state
affairs.
1T is pointed out that the board
of equalization is raising through d.
rect taxation S24,23S.73 more this
year than was similarly raised in
1912, and an attempt is being made
to use this fact as proof of extray a.
gance and breach of faith on the part
of the state officers
People Should Have the Facts.
1T is my belief that the people
should be fully informed on this MAJ
ter so that they may know the exact
status of the question and be able to
decide for themselves whether or not
the state government has been eco
ncmical and buslnesslike in its op ra-
tions. 1t is true that direct taxes have
been increased by the amount named,
/ but it is also true that those who
have attempted to make capital out
of this fact have not been fair enough
to give the reasons for this in
crease or the facts from which the
reasons might be deduced.
1T is a well known fact that the
last legislature considerably extend
ed the operations of the state gov
ernment and that the board of equal
1 ization was forced to provide for
meeting many expenses which here |
tofore have not been charge against
the state.
j What Legislators Did.
For instance, the legislature, at
the peoples wish it must be presum-
ed, created a public utilities and tax
commission for whose expenses dur
ling the current year we were forced
to provide $4,000 not previously re-
CURED. 1t also created state board
of education, for which we have had
to provide $4,000 for current expens-
es. 1t appropriated $500 to pay for
a silver service for the battleship
Idaho, an obligation coming from
the previous administration, and
100000 for the expenses of a state
exhibit at the Panama-Pacific expo
sition, all of which under the terms
of the law must be available within
the next year.
Big Additional Burden.
Taking these items together, it :!
will be seen that we were forced to
provide s157, 500 to meet expenses
which were new and unusual, but
which were either demanded by the I
people or incurred in such manner |
as to relieve the present state ad /
ministration of responsibility therefor. !
If we had not been compelled to
raise this large amount of new rev.
enue, instead of calling for s24,23S.
70 more than last year we should
have been able to call for $133, 261.2S
less.
Only Part of the Story.
But even this does not tell all
the story The legislature, owing to
the growth of our institutions, and
the increased cost of maintenance,
found it necessary to considerably in
crease the appropriations therefor. 1t
is presumed that these increased APP
preparations were all approved by the
critics of the legislature, because at
the time they severely criticized that
body, or more particularly the SEN
ate, for defeating bond issues involy-
ing many thousands of dollars for
engagements at these institutions.
For the capitol building and
grounds and for the penal and chart
table institutions, the legislature ap-
$4,000 more for the bien-
NAL period than was appropriated in
1911. Similarly it appropriated for