Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-04-10
GOING THE LIMIT.

tnOtNo LIE
why must MiddleseI county always
! live up to the extreme limit of her
borrowing capacity? The county is al
ready notorious for its bonded debt.
II a the largest debt of any county
In the state.
When the law was passed several
years ago limiting municipal debt to 2
per cent. of the assessed valuation,
Middlesex had a debt that was already
in access OF tina amount so, for the
benefit of Middlesex and three other
counties tina were also over . per
cent, but not as badly as Middlesex. a
clause was put In the law granting an
additional one per cent. limit to u
ties that already had a debt of 2 per
cent. or more.
This gave Middlesex the right
to issue bonds up to 8 per cent, of tho
assessed valuation. 1t did not take
the county long to use up what little
lleeway was thus allowed so that to-
; day Middlesex debt Is slightly over 3
per cent, of the assessed va uation.
Instead of acting as a danger signal
and a warning to go slow, 1t mercy
set the officials scheming as to how
they could evade the law and go on
piling up the debt regardless of the
legal limit. The biI which has jus.
been made a law by the signature
os Governor Edwards, increasing the
debt limit for counties to A per cent,
of the assessed valuation vas the re-
suit.
Fol most of the counties this law
means little as they are already we'll
under the 2 per cent, limit of the old
law. But Middlesex debt. according
to a statement issued by the Depart
ment of Municipal Accounts, is 3.29
lner cent. of the assessed valuation in
this county already. 1t Is matt
that this new law permitting a debt
limit of 4 per cent, will give the free
holders about $500, 900 more to spend.
The interesting feature is that while
other counties in the state, although
they have always been permitted to
issue bonds up to 2 per cent. of their
assessed valuation. have been content
to get along with a debt considerable
that amount. Middlesex. how
ever, always up to the limit and a
little over, Is already planning to COB
BILE UP while little surplus there Is
given her under h new Jaw. BY the
time the next legislature meets prob
ably this county viii rave cached
land even passed the 4 per cent, now
fixed as the limit w~hereupon 1t would
not be surprising to find a freeholders'
lobby working at Trenton again en-
ldeavoring to get the debt limit still
further extended to six or eight per
cent.
Naturally. the taxpayers cannot
help but wonder where they come IN.
/ Are the freeholders going to continue
until property is confiscated through
excessive taxation?
It is already claimed by some fnan-
cial authorities that a tax of 81 or over
on 500 valuation is little short OF
ACTUAL c~onhscation. Yet several towns
and cities. including Perth Amboy
and New Brunswick, have a tax rate
his year of over 81 on the 800 valua-
ton.
If Monmouth county, Union county
lsomerset county, Camden county. Els
sex county and all the other coun-
ties excepting Bergen, Cape May, MID
dlesex and Morris, al keep well I'M
der Q per cent, of their assessed
valuations, surely Middlesex ought to
he able TO keep considerably under 4
per cent, of the assessed valuation
here. II that is impossible then there
must be something radically wrong
somewhere. That there is something
wrong is apparent from the evident
intention of the Board of Freeholders
to proceed forthwith to issue more
bonds to pay for additional improve
ments that the board mas in contem-
Iplation. Surely the taxpayers ought
to have some consideration sometime