Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1915-09-30
MISLEADING
ARTICLES IN
STATE PAPERS
State Has Taken Care of All Oh
legations Regardless of
Reports
FEW STATES IN UNION
IN AS GOOD CONDITION
General Fund is Not Depleted
and Will Soon Have
Large Surplus


press and in the press of other states
relative to the financial condition Of
the State of North Dakota, are so
misleading that it seems true state
ment of the facts should be presented,
not only to the people of North Dako.
ia, but to the people of the Northwest
generally, that the good name of
North Dakota may not be brought in.
to i'll repute.
Appropriated Money.
The legislature of last winter, like
all previous legislatures, appropriated
money for the biennial period. The
monies which they appropriated are
raised by taxation largely, although
some comes to the state general fund
from fees from insurance companies,
corporation fees and other avenues O.!
a somewhat similar character. The
assessment and the levy to meet tho
appropriations made by the legisla-
ture are made after the adjournment
of the legislature. The last legisla-
ture as is usual made appropriations.
In April and May the assessors of tie
state assessed: the property of the
state. This was equalized by the
commissioners of the various cities
and by the county commissioners of
the counties and finally the property
Of the state was equalized by the
state board Of equalization in August
and they at the same time placed an
assessment against railroad property
and other property of that character
and kind and which is not assessed
by the local assessors. They then
made the levy to meet the expendi-
lures appropriated for and by the
state legislature and for the regular
standing appropriations. The money
to he derived from: that levy just
made will not he coming in until this
coming winter. Taxes are not due
until December and the great bulk of
the taxes are not paid until just Le-
fore the first of March, at which time
a penalty goes on, so that really the
money to meet and care for the appro-
priations made by the legislature are
not available until about year after
the legislature has adjourned. But,
under the constitution of the State of
NORTH Dakota, bills passed by the
legislature become operative July
first, following. In consequence, as
soon as these laws become operative,
all of the institutions and other parts
of the state government which have
had money appropriated for them by
the legislature, Immediately come in
and demand their money and as has
been done for years under the, law,
the state auditor issues warrants by
and under the direction of the state
auditing board and pays these claims,
although as matter of fact, they
ought not to be paid until some time
in the following winter when the tax
es levied to pay the appropriations
shall have been collected.
Large Sums Paid.
This year, in July, large sums were
paid to the state university, to the
state agricultural college and to the
other schools of the state and to the
farmers for claims known as durine
claims amounting to many thousands
of dollars, although the money to pay
these claims, as has been stated, has
only just been levied and will not be
available and paid in by the people
for months to come. Every claim
against the state up to the 18th of
September has been paid and as a
fact the State of North Dakota today
is in better shape financially than it
has been for years. The bonded
debt of the state is the lowest in it's
history and there are no unpaid
claims against the state except those
that have come in to the state audi.
tor since the 18th of September
This past year the farmers and peo-
pie generally of the state have net !
paid their taxes as we'll as they have |
done for a number Of years and in
consequence there is larger amount |
of taxes remaining unpaid from the
year 1914 than usual Some twenty
five percent of those taxes are still |
outstanding This money will un-
doubtedly be paid within the next |
sixty days. If it had been paid and |
the money were in the treasury today, |
there would be large balance in the |
general fund. There is today in the !
state treasury in other funds a sum
aggregating more than si00,009.0O and |
it is the general fund of the state
alone that is low. There has not |
CONTINUED on pa1e two.)