Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-11-28
AMORTIZATION.

bonds at a net interest cost of As
per cent per annum. Many land own
ers who have feared TO use the public
credit in the cheap money markets OF
the world FOR public Improvements
have insisted that road and bridge
bonds would cost US al least per
cent interest For some reason they
have been unwilling to accept the
judgment of men who know what pub
lie bonds Will cost but now they ought
20 be convinced.
Some $4,000 Of this cheap money
has been invested by Marshall county
in permanent concrete bridges which
will las, 100 years or more at little or
nc repair expense. Our people VIII
have the bridges to use at an interest
charge OF ~ per cent. They could
have waited and have built the bridges
our Of taxes on the pay-as-you-go
rian. The taxes would have come out
ct the pockets OF individuals whose
money is worth 6 per cent II not
per cent in their business. At s per
cent the individual saves e per cent
o., his money so long as his bridges
can be carried at AS per cent on
public credit. This margin Of Is per
cent saved and compounded will pay
off the entire debt in less than twenty
five years. If Marshall county uses
its superior public credit to carry
$50. 600 worth Of concrete bridges for
twenty-five years it will save to It's
individual tax payers in interest on
what the money would cost them II
they had to dig il up now an amount
equal to the entire debt. AT the enc
of that period we will have had our
bridges to use and we will have saved
in interest all they cost us in the first
place. ..' .s..-
What is true Of concrete bridges Is
also true OF permanent hill cutting ana
surfacing on our roads except tha3
surfacing requires constant main
tenance varying from 800 per mile
per annum for gravel down to $50 per
annum per mile for pavement
However, Marshall county plans to
pay of these bonds out OF regular
taxes. a few thousand each year. so
as to distribute the cost OF these
bridges eauitably among the tax pay
ers of future years. In this way the
people who use the bridges and get
the benefits will pay for them. At the
same time that these bridges were
built to be paid out Of bond money
another $4,000 worth OF concrete
bridges were built in Marshall county
and paid for out Of taxes collected
this year. The taxpayers Of this one
wear paid for those bridges for future
TOW ,avers TO use. II one Of us dies
or moves away before a concrete
bridge wears cat he will leave his
share Of the bridge for other tax
PAYERS to use free of charge. II any
man acquires property during the ne1'
twenty-five years not subject to taxes
this wear or II he moves here from
Illinois he viii use our bridge free OF
charge, We have paid for 1o0-yeaT
publ;c Improvement out Of one year
taxes. whereas all future tax payers
will have their fair share to pay
tc ward the bonds which built TINS
other set of bridges and no present
tax payer will be assessed for them
except from year to year as he uses
them.
Practically every state in the union
EXCEPT Iowa is now building per-
manent roads and paying for them on
the installment plan as they use them
while we people in Iowa try to ouile
our roads on the installment plan
and nav for them cash down. The
result is that we raise more tax money
for roads and bridges every year thar
any other state excepting two. and al
the states excepting four. have q
larger per cent Of their roads sur
faced than we have. The average FOL
al. the states is ia per cent surfaces
lwhile I'VE have only / per cent sur
| faced