The Arvada enterprise., 1918-01-24

Taxpayer Roars As
Notice is Received
A general roar is going up ali
over the county as the taxpayer:
receive their statements, and il
has been charged that the Demo.
cratic administration is rcspon
siblc for it. That is human ma.
ture. 1t is natural to blame the
party in power for any increas.
in our taxes, and it is not alto.
gether unreasonable, and. in fac,
it does no harm to criticise il
that criticism is based on fac,
and business principles. ] Many
however, are saying that they dc
not see how the war could be re.
sponsible for the very great in
crease in taxes that is indicated
on the notices that are now be-
ing received by the property own
ers from the county treasurcr's Of
flee. Well, the Enterprise is no,
in position to say in detail just
what has brought the sum total
of the taxes up to at least ono.
third more, but it a fact ncycrthc
less, that the County Commission
ers, the majority of which beard
is Democratic, has raised the levy
only about sevcn-tcnths of 4 mill
amounting to about scventy-five
cents at the most, on every thous-
and dollars worth of property
taxed. 1t might also be pointed
out that the valuations have been
raised only about 100000 in the
county. Owing to the war condi-
tons it can easily be seen that
valuations would be raised be-
cause of the great increase III ma
terials and labor of all kinds. Ow-
ing to war conditions and the in
crease in the, cost of living ap-
proximatcly so per cent, the sal
aries of the county officials Zap
pointivc) and all labor on public
improvements, roads, cts, had to
be raised in order to get the nee
essary work done, and also in or
Ter that the material used in-pub-
lie improvements could be pur-
chased.
We are told that some schools
of the county came under the war
pressure to such an extent that il
became necessary to increase their
levies to meet increased expenses.
Again incorporated towns, like
Arvada and Mountain View, for
instance. the lcvics were increas-
ed mill or two, and every mill
means an extra dollar on every
thousand dollars worth Of prop.
crty you own.
Add to the items Just mention
ID the almost two mill increase
put upon our county by the state.
The state found this necessary be-
cause we arc at war, and our state
IS patriotic. When Uncle Sam
made the call for National Guard
units from the states, Colorado
lead all the states in the Union
in meeting the emergency by be-
ing the first to mobilize 5000
troops and equip them with uni.
forms and drill them so that when
they were turned over to Uncle
Sam they were month in ad.
vance of the others. That is why
so many Of our boys are gaining
recognition in the service, and j,
is why Colorado troops are placed
at the head of the column on par.
adc at Camp kcarny. California
They are accredited with l%ine
the flower of the entire camp com
prising 10000 troops.
The heavy taxes will pinch I
good many, il is true. but like al
other countries, we will have tt
learn to pay the price Of war ane
to meet the arising condition.
with the same patriotism that ha!
characterized all our actions ant
thoughts since the inception %
this conflict almost a year ago
The war We must win, and I,
win it We will be compelled I,
make sacrifices that AS yet W,
have not dreamed.
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