Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1914-10-30
WARAES TAX LAW
New Burdens - Taxing Officials
Should be Selected By The Tax
payer not the Tax Spenders-Fig-
ures From Report of Fulton Coun-
ty Auditor.

No more graphic demonstration of
the fact that the people are more ca
pable of electing their officials than
the Governor is of appointing them,
can be found, than in the comparison
of the assessment of personal proper
ty in the years 1911, 1929 1913, un-
der the County Auditor aided by cleo
tive assessors, with the cost under
Warnes Law appointive officials in
1914.
In 1911, the duplicate for Fulton
County was $35 5,540,630, the cost of
getting it under auditor being $1,539.
In 1912 the duplicate was $36, 1886, ,770,
the cost of getting it being $1,698.
The Auditor increased the duplicate
$185,14O at an increased cost of $3.50.
The duplicate Of 1918 was $37, ,207,-
$50 and cost $1,698 to get it. The
duplicate therefore, was increased
1921, $50 but the cost of getting it
was DECREASED $500.
In 1914, the appointive tax board
with aid Of the State Tax Commission
secured a duplicate of $38, 8,949,O70.
The appointive officials had the i'm
mense advantage of taking property
as possessed the first Monday in
February instead of the first Monday
in April. This caught the farmers
with live stock on hand, often with
notes outstanding for same. With
all these advantages the appointive
tax board only increased the dupli-
cate $685. above the average in
crease under the auditor and elected
assessors, while the cost of assessing
and other expenses created by the
Warnes Law is $4053, an increase over
cost of 1913 og $2,349.
Fulton County pays handsome
sum for the privilege of having her
taxing officials appointed by his Ma
jesty, King James the first.
Governor Cox called a special ses-
sion of the Legislature to reduce the
state tax for support of schools and
roads. After much buster it was
heralded over Ohio that he had cut
the state levy in two and saved the
people thousands of dollars. Here are
the facts. In 1912 the state levy was
451 of a mill. The Cox controlled
Legislature increased it to 1861 of a
mill. The same Cox bossed Legisla-
ture, in special session called for
this purpose, cut the state tax levy to
.450, saving over the levy of 1912
of .001 of mill or one cent on $1,000.
Great business for King!
The insulting part of the miserable
story is, that Governor Cox in his eff
fort to discredit the judgment of the
people in electing their officials sang
his own praises over cutting the State
tax levy in two and ordered the peo-
pie to demand the same from their
local taxing officials, meaning, of
course, the auditors. He was quite
willing to cast suspicion on the So
democratic auditors to make capital:
for himself, but he purposely failed
to say that his controlled Legislature
added new expenses for the local tax
payers to bear.
Fulton County must pay 100000
for mothers pensions; $1600.00 for
pensions for the blind; $5044 to State
insurance fund for laborers; $1500.0 90
County share of salaries of 2 district
superintendents; $1500.00 for salary
and expenses of County superintend-
ent; $813.13 from the scant school
funds to the plethoric state insurance
fund; $1168.47 state levy for roads;
$2,349 increased cost of getting dupli-
cate under Warnes law; total of
$10,981.34 new expenses the County
never had before. Teachers made a
vigorous fight against the school local
funds being robbed to pay into state
fund but were treated with contempt
by Governor Cox. One may favor
all or part of these expenses but the