The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-08-20
Technical Litigation Cause of Present Situation, Says Member of the Board
 of Revenue
RECEIPTS EXCEED
 THE EXPENDITURES
Injunction Proceedings in Federal Court Are Passed Until Next Wednesday-Other Petitions
 to Be Filed
By CLARENCE G. THOMSON

By CLARENCE c. THOMPSON l Shelby county is not on the verge
 of bankruptcy and there is now in the
 county treasury more than $35,0o0, ac-
 cording to statement made by W. G.
 Nichols of Calera, member of the Shel- ! by county board of revenue, who was
 in Birmingham yesterday. Shelby coun-
 ty is in good condition, and with the
 proper handling of her affairs would be able to take care of all her indebted
 ness and have a surplus of $15,000 or more each year to spend on road inn
 provements and other things" said MT. Nichols.
 l Shelby county taxable values ap-
 proximate s10,00O,00o and the revenues
 from taxes amount to about s75,000
 yearly. The total expenses of the county
 yearly would come under the $30,000
 mark, while $25.000 would cover the
 interest and principals of the county
 warrants for a period of 20 years. This
 would leave the county $20,0Oo for oth-
 CT expenses and improvements. T would like to correct the impress
 sion that some persons might have
 drawn that Shelby county is in a bad l financial condition. This is not true.
 Aside from Jefferson and other large
 counties our taxable property amounts
 to more than any county in the state,
 while our actual expenditures are
 smaller. than most of them. At present $300,000 would cover the indebtedness Iof of rants and the amount we lack in having
 our courthouse paid for. I think that there are not more than $220, 900 in out
 standing road warrants, and I am sure
 that $300,000 will cover the entire
 amount
 TAXING VALUES
 I Considering these figures as com
 pared with the taxing values of the
 county as cited above, the county S credit is unquestionable. It is only by certain technical litigations that the
 county has been put in its present con-
 dition, and with the proper management everything could have been cleared up without any trouble"
 | Taking the facts appearing in an article published in yesterday morn ling's Age-Herald, MT. Nichols stated that
 the impression might be drawn that
 the county was in bad, and as it was
 not, he wished to make the correction 1 The present confusion in Shelby county was started when petition TOT Injunction against the county, it's treasurer and the board of revenue was filed in the federal court to restrain them from paying out any of the tax
 money in the treasury until interest | in the sum of $6000 on warrants issued 1 for road building be paid. Following the filing of the petition Judge Grupp issued an order restraining them rom
 paying out any funds and to appear be- | fore him and show cause why the ln- l junction should not be granted perma-
 nently The hearing was set for yes
 terday afternoon, but was put off until Wednesday of this week.
 FEDERAL TAX COLLECTOR The petition was filed by Leo Kyser.
 and according to John S. Stone, attorney
 for the petitioner, the county treasurer,
 acting under instructions from mem-
 bers of the board of revenue, refused l to nav the interest when due on the
 warrants, hence the injunction proceed ling. The petition asks for the appoint
 ment of federal tax collector for the
 county and for the deposit of the money
 collected from taxes in the federal court
 instead of the county treasury.
 The whole situation in Shelby county developed from the reduction of taxes from s1.5o to s1.3O by the board of | revenue. after having been appraised by the board of equalization, and the | forbidding of the county treasurer l from paving the interest on the war | rants.
 Up to a number of years ago Shelby
 county was under the commission | form of government, with the propate l judge acting as president of the board | of commi ssioners. A special act was | passed in the legislature abolishing, the | commission form and giving the gov | ernor power to appoint board or rev | enue This was done, when the gov
 ernor appointed a board, with R. E.. | Bowdon as president
 | With the exception of one man the entire board stood for good roads building. and in order to secure the | special state appropriation, the county | attempted to raise an equal amount each year to build good roads. As a 1 result of this more than so miles or
 modern highway was built in the coun- ty, including the state-aid highway | through the county.
 OPPOSED PAYMENT
 l With the exception of two men the | old board went out at the expiration | of their terms and new members were | appointed It Is stated authoritatively | that the new members, tncluing one l of the old members, opposed the pay
 ment of the warrants and the interest l incurred on them, claiming to have 1 found sufficient grounds through some ] technical loophole to prevent the 1 trea surer from paying the claims, l When the treasurer made known his intentions of paying the claims, he ! was ordered not to do so. and that in | the event he did, he would be prose- cuted.
 l When these conditions were made l known to the holders of the county warrants, the injunction for the pres ! ent due interest was sought. It was