The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1919-10-24
The MeddIer
II" the coat fits yon, put it on


way, published in yesterdays Reforml
n, asking Brattleboro people to pay
heir taxes before Nov. l so that he
nay have enough money to pay this
town s state tax on that date, calls at
ention to decidedly shiftless situation
into which this town has allowed its
finances to get. Town and village taxes
are always voted as payable July l,
while those of the school district, whose
meeting comes after that date, are
made payable forthwith, but very few
payments of any size are made to the
tax collector before October ! and the
bulk of them do not reach the town
treasury before January l of the fol-
lowing year, approximately ten months
sitter the town tax is voted.
This practice necessitates the bor-
! rowing of considerable money by the
town to meet its current expenses, and
| the town, like any other borrower, has
% pay for that privilege. This year,
nless taxpayers meet their assessments
mich more promptly than they have
been in the habit of doing, the amount
he town will have to borrow will be
much larger than usual on account of
he 40cent war tax. Brattleboro g
| hare of that assessment-which, by
he way is not only due on Nov.1 but
las to be paid on that date-is just
| title less than $32,S0O, and it doesn t
take an expert mathematician to fig
re out that the cost of borrowing that
amount runs pretty close to $40 a
month.
No private business would be con-
sidered well managed if it continually
borrowed money to meet its debts in
stead of trying to raise the necessary
funds from its accounts receivable, es-
/ oecially if said accounts were past due
md 90 per cent collectible. That, how
,ver, is about the situation in which
he town finds itself each year, to the
! considerable expense of the town treas
ury OF course, it may be argued that
he taxpayers are the ones who have
20 pay the interest on whatever the
{ Gown borrows and if they are willing to
pay that interest in the form of higher
taxes next year for the privilege of de-
: aging payment of this year s tax, no
{ body ought to complain; but the flaw in
his line of reasoning is that it doesn I
take into consideration the few folks
who do pay their taxes when, or very
;oon after, they are due. These are the
folks who suffer particularly and who
have right to complain that through
: heir own promptness they are being
! Disseminated against.
l. Far be it from The, Meddler to blam,
" any particular official least of all tn
AK collector himself, for the aforesaid
condition of affairs. 1t is the out
,rowTh of long years of custom an,
r probably will never be changed unit
, he taxpayers themselves take concert
: ID action toward changing it. But wit
, he steadily increasing cost of stat
government and the consequent in
y crease in what the town has to pay eac
:. year for the privilege of persisting in
BAD habit, the time seems ripe for turn
SIS ing over a new leaf. Possibly a solu
u ton of the difficulty could be found i
system of discount for taxes paid o
rr before a certain date and interes
charges added to those allowed to run
re The Meddler is the last person to bt
grudge the boys of the town chanc
9 to celebrate Halloween because hi
memory still retains a vivid impres
d sion of the satisfaction accompanyin
le such festivities as are considered az
propriate to this October holida,
There is limit, however, beyond whic
25 be allowed to go, and that limit come
ahead of such lawlessness as the de.
OF truetion of property, obscene writing o
Id walls and windows, etc. As a matte
of fact the village ought to put o
4 special policemen for Halloween, nc
with the idea of suppressing harmle.
" fun but as a reminder where the flu
in must stop.