The Punta Gorda herald. [volume] (Punta Gorda, Fla.) 1893-1958, 1920-12-16
IN SPLENDID CONDITION

On the front page of this issue of
the Herald is published statement
of the financial condition of the Pun
to- Gorda special road and bridge dis
trict and the Charlotte Harbor spec
ial road and bridge district. No
doubt many of our readers will be
surprised when they read this state
ment, which shows the two districts
are in the best financial condition as
regards their bonded Indebtedness.
In this connection, and in justice to
w. M. Written, commissioner from
district three, in which Punta Gorda
is situated, it may be stated that dis
trict three is in better condition finan-
cially than any other district in De-
Soto county and is the only district
that has at all times been able to pay
cash for all work done and all ma
terials purchased
1t will be observed in the statement
referred to above that the indebted
ness of the two special districts has
been reduced to a point that will
make possible the issueance of at
least another hundred thousand dol
lars in bonds WITHOUT INCREAS-
ING THE PRESENT TAX RATE if
it is thought wise and desirable to
issue bonds for the construction of
roads-and it seems that this will
have to de done in the very near
future.
In this issue of the Herald is pub
lished "a news item from Fort Myers
to the effect that the county commits
sioners of Lee county have called
special election to authorize the is
sueance of $4,000 in bonds to be
used for the construction of Lee
county's portion of the short road
between Punta Gorda and the former
place. According to advice from Fl. |
Myers there is little chance of the
election not carrying. If the bonds
are issued, 1t is understood that a
'fourteen-foot hard surfaced road will |
be constructed from the river to the !
county line. This means that this |
district must issue bonds to hard sur
face its portion of the short road, for |
not only our commissioners but the |
people of the town have made a |
pledge to meet Lee county with a
road of type equal to any they will
build. This pledge must be kept, but
as we already have in the bank suff-
Gent funds to open and grade our
portion of the road and we will not
have to build as much as Lee county,
it is likely that the amount of bonds
we will have to float will be consider
ably less than the proposed Lee
county issue.
Within the course of the next three
months, Charlotte harbor will be
SPAWNED by the bridge. and if we
(and when we say 1--WE" the people
on both sides of the bay are referred
to) are to get the full benefit of this
great and costly improvement a good
road must be built from Charlotte
Harbor to connect with the Manatee
county road at the line. While it is
expected that there will be between
| $4,000 and $4,000 left after COM
pletion of the bridge this amount will
be insufficient to permanently i'm
prove the stretch of road between the
bridges end and the county line and
bonds will have to be issued if a
permanent road is to be constructed.
When faced with the necessity for
making these improvements it is graf
flying to know that they can be made
without increasing the present tax
rate, and under these conditions, if
the matter of bonding for them is
brought to vote of the progressive
people of this section, it would seem
that an affirmative vote may be
counted as a practical certainty.