The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1917-10-18
.LAMBERTVILLE'S
TAXING RATE


increase IN your tax rate this year.
The rate last year was 50. Is and the
rate for 1915 was So. That means
that our rate this year is 81 cents more
than last year and 10 cents more than
the year before. We want to explain
to you just why this is.
At the outset we want to assure you
that it is not in any wise due to the
salaries paid to the commissioners.
The fact is that we are spending less in
the way of salaries and fees this year
than either last year or the year before.
In 1915 we spent about So, 00000 Last
year for the ten months ending October
81 we spent 81, 1862. SO or the equivalent
of over 50, 10000 a year. This year we
are appropriating g, $4,000 for the same
purpose and we are being liberal. There
is not the slightest doubt that this fig
ure will cover everything. So far as
the matter of salaries goes then we
could look for a reduction in the tax
rate.
One reason for the increase is the
new State Road Tax. By law passed
last winter every taxing district is COM
PEELED to lay tax of one mill on every
dollars worth of assessble property
within its borders. In other words the
state has arbitrarily added ten cents to
our rate. To put it another way, we
are compelled to raise this year the
sum of 81, 10000 and hand it over to
the state to help build system of
roads not a single yard of which will
even Craze our county, not to speak Of
our city. And the law requires this
tax to be imposed for period of five
years. We can expect this additional
levy therefore down to and including
the year 1921. This is matter over
which, of course, we have absolutely
no control.
Deducting this ten cents from our
rate we have a rate of 81 This is
still 81 cents in excess of last year and
9 cents above the 1915 rate.
Now then how do we account fol
this increase? there are two ways.
In the first place we are giving the
people an honest rate, and in the next
place we are shoudering burdens this
year that have been handed down from
former years.
The value of all the taxable property
in LambertVille is $2,4l7, 1855. 00-at
least that is the assessed valuation. A
tax of one cent on 10000 should pro-
duce therefore S244.77 in revenue. II
never does however for during the
past few years it has seemed impOssi-
BILE to collect all the outstanding tax.
Let us put the figure al $4,000. This
means that every time we increase our
expenditures S2I0.0 90 we should boost
our rate one cent and likewise for
every $4,000 we save on expenditures
we should cut down our rate by one
cent But we haven't always been
doing this as we intend to show you.
We find today that Lambertvile has
a floating Indebtedness of $50, 10000.
This is simply another way of say
ing that in the past we have spent
$50, 600. 90 more for current debts than
we have raised by taxation. This is a
debt tnat has accumulated with the
years and no attempt seems ever to
have been mad e to pay it off. In our
efforts to keep the tax rate down we
have deliberately refused to raise
enough money to meet our current eX-
penditures. We have been going to
the bank from year to year and Dor
rowing this ever increasing deficit at
5 per cent. Thisy year we are compelled
to raise the sum of 81, 500. 90 to pay the
interest alone on this floating indebt-
edness. This item, Mr.. Taxpayer, is
adding 81 cents to your tate. You will
have to concede, of course, that this is
another matter over which we have
absolutely no control.
The experts who were employed to
audit our books last year discovered
that in the seven years previous we
spent $14, 900 90 more than we raised
And last year we find that approXi-
mately 100000 more was spent than
was raised.
And this, despite the fact that a
special effort was made last year to
collect back taxes. We don't think it
is altogether fair to say anything about
the 1915 taxes collected last year for
we are practically compelled to do bus
mess on the taxes of the year before,
but we do think it is fair to mention
the fact that something over 81, 500. 90
was collected last year for taxes due
previous to 1915. This amount of
course was applied to last years debts
and eased the situation somewhat.
In discussing last years rate We wish
to speak of another matter. The city
has issued $50,00000 worth of school
bonds at A! per cent. The plan is to
retire three bonds, 81, 100000 worth,
every year. Last year was the first
year these bonds were outstanding and
of course three of them had to be paid
off. But simply because these bonds
could not be paid till January of this
year council last year refused to in
clude this 81, 500. 90 in its budget and
threw the debt onto this year. We
naturally had to 90 right to the bank