The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1919-08-14
The Improvement Bonds.

People who play politics and VINO
Ion y care O. cent about tax levies are
aot much in favor of the Improvement
bonds proposed to the council. These
people feel that if they were looking
Tor way to clean out the city hall and
ret an entirely new force of city Off
cials one of the best possible ways
would be to have the council provide a
tax levy reaching some where between
twenty eight and forty mills. The PEG
pie would hurry to rebuke a council
which would so increase the taxes or
the city but there is grave doubt
if there would be any reason for SUCH
a rebuke. The people want street I'M
provements, they want sewers ana
breakwaters and sewer outlets and
parks and comfort stations and play
grounds and schools and more of every
variety Of the city improvement class
than they have ever had before. These
things cost money. They would cost
money no matter who was providing
them and the administration In power
Is not exactly to be blamed for such
expenditure. If the men now handling
the finances of the city can show at
The end Of the year that every cent
which has been spent has been spent
with reasonable discretion and that the
ritv has received a dollars worth OF
service or of improvements for every
dollar spent there should be little OBJ
lection to the way things have been car
fied on. We feel reasonably certain
that no administration Of the affairs OF
the city will ever show dollar for dol
lar service in the way Of service rem
dered on improvements made.
People have no special desire to pay
taxes but lot of people are just sen
sitive enough to be willing to pay nee
essary taxes without making much of
an cutlery. While it might be that only
small number of the people of the
CITY are interested in the street i'm
provements now being made we are in
clined to agree with Alderman Wyss
OF the Fourth Ward that before the
program of the Mayor to issue improve
ment bonds to pay the cost of improve
ments now going forward that the mat
ter should be submitted for refer
endum vote.
When one looks about the city and
sees the amount Of sewer and paving
work under way and takes into con
sideration that contracts totailing hun
dreds of thousands Of dollars have just
been let il is not hard to. see that the
bill that the city must pay for all this
work is going to mount up pretty close
to a half million dollars. To borrow
this amount on bonds would mean that
in interest and principal this improve
ment is going to cost the peorle Of
the city close to $650,000. If issuing
bonds once to meet particularly un
usual condition in the city would be
the end Of it one might not hurry to
raise the red flag of danger but it is
pernicious habit for city to get
into whom it jumps into the bond habit
and it is not improbable that future
councils will insist that the way to ray
FOR street improvements is to issue
bonds There is some justice TO the
theory that every street improvement
should be paid for in bonds. If this
plan were followed, however, there
should be decided reduction III gen
eral taxation in order to provide for
The continued retirement of these bond
issues
The city has a big bill of principal
and interest to pay annually now. We
admit that the bonded Indebtedness is
decidedly small as compared with the
wealth of the city, that the city could
stand million dollars worth of bonds
without going into bankruptcy, but
sverv one of these bonds must be pail
ind it is only reasonable to expect
hat increased bond payments from
rear to year are going to bring attend
int increased ta&es.
There are lot of arguments in favor
If the issue of these bonds and lot