The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-07-02
Board to Take Action
 on County Finances
(Continued from Page Five)

NOOnulnued from Page Fiye)
 ing of temporary revenue certificates based on the receipts to be derived from the taxes the following year.
 This system has<resulted in a small annual increase in the deficit until it 1 las reached the present figures. It is stated that this is not alarming, as it can be met by careful handling of the available funds and credit of the coun- 1 ty and by policy of retrenchment Prior to the special bond issue on Feb | ruary 16 the credit of the county is de-. cl&red to have been excellent, and the bonded indebtedness at that time was | $1 9S.000. which, with floating debt of $1,000,000, amounted to s2198, ,000. l The total debt of the county now is
 not in excess of between $2,600, 900 and
 Sa.S00,000, as only $600,000 worth of the l bonds authorized by the special elec- l ton when voters of the county author i ized the issuance of $5,OO0, 900 worth of
 road improvement bonds have been l sold.
 Decision of the supreme court that the county cannot pay commi sion. practically destroyed the hope of the
 county to dispose of any more of the | S2,000,000 worth of road bonds and l thus receive any revenue from this source. This $2,O00.000 is the first is-
 sue of the total of the $5.0o0.00o worth 1 of road improvement bonds authorized I by the people of Jefferson county at special election held in February.
 I Proceeds of the sale of $2.0O0, 900
 worth of bonds was to be devoted to ! the construction of approximately l thirty-nine miles of permanent high ways in the county and the grading of about seventy miles of old roadways.
 Contracts have alread ybeen let for all of this work on the expectation that ! the money would be secured from the sale of the bonds to carry on the work. This decision, it is stated, means that l unless some other way of disposing of the bonds at par is found. the extensive road building programme adopted by
 the board following the>carrying of the
 bond issue will stagnate.
 Following the inability of John B.
 Weakley and Eugene Fies to negotiate
 tine $2.000.000 worth of bonds pur-
 chased by them several months ago from the county at par the making of counter proposition by the brokers that purchaser for $500.000 worth of bonds would be found for d commission of 10 per cent was made. This was accepted by the board of revenue and the advisory committee appointed to aid the board in the expenditure of the money as an emergency measure.
 A warrant Tor the $3u,V0O commission vas issued by the board. ard M. V. l Henry, treasurer. refused to pay it on tine ground that the law required the sale of bonds at par and the payment of this commission would reduce the bonds and make the purchase price be- low par.
 Mandamus proceedings were insti- 1 tuted following the refusal of MT. Henry to pay the warrants and were heard before Judge Dan A. Greene in the circuit court, as well as bill for a summary judgment against Mr. Henry. These proceedings were decided adversely by Judge Greene and the case was appealed to the supreme court wkich handed down it's decision Wednesday afternoon, affirming the de- cision of the lower court.