The Mena weekly star., 1921-12-29
HOLDING DOWN
 HIGHWAY TAXES
f,r 1etrerson Will Be 6ae of Total ln- stead of g. as Planned-NO other District Taxed in Polk County
 4., nsxor and l1th Hour Change.

FsESi,se the people of the district nariieuIarly the farmers, have peen il za hard hif by the low prices ana iaeh ,a nf markets for products, the uliiloss as effort has beer put forth to hola siie hiehWav taxes to the minimum tnae w5,Id meet the maturing ln9eDteu- ness Ihis figure, at the eleventh hear SIS placed at sc of the totai fnr the improvement, tho levy or s}s,s lad already been extended on the fa< hooks for collection. After nav ',,;s s'' esnanieted the work as at first or l5eTad. County Clerk Anderson took up ffz lask of refision, and will have the banks ready for Collector Thornton III A few days.
 1{ader this last order the tax on the .Insfrrzon Highway will be somewhat bioher than last year, but in in most 0f fhe district this will be offset sey- seraI times by the fact that in no other foaEl i1nnr0Vement district IS any tax beino collected.
 How 1t Came About.
 These statements make necessary a somewhat detailed review of the en- tire hiphWay tax situation as per ta1ns fS the Jefferson, or Polk County Road IInpro1ement District No. l, as it is officially designated.
 Tn the first place the bond buyers, oI accepting the bonds, provided a schedule by which this tax was to be levied and collected This schedule provided for a decreasing scale of lew. beginning at Seo for the first two years, then 7&e for two years, then on down until the last years of the twenty the levy was to be but go annually. the total of these, of course, beng mo per cent.
 This schedule was filed with County Clerk AIexander, according to the records, on August 30, 1920. Later, in December, when it came to extend- .i,a3 the 1ax en the books, this order was overlooked, and the tax extended for 5 ii8tead of 89o, as ordered The error was not discovered until sometime after the tax collection was begun, and when it was ended the lcommissioners found they lacked several thousand dollars of having sufficient funds to meet the bond obli- cations They had but two alterna- tiVes Firs5, sue the clerk and his DU77dsnlen for the deficit, or meet the deficit from the construction funds. They chese the latter.
 Looked Like 119o for Time.
 0n the face of this, it at first ap- peared necessary to correct the error sby adding the 3ao not collected the first year to the 8ae ordered for this, the second year, making 119o. Judge Finger and others felt that such a course was out of the question, and this was urged on the commissioners, and, later, they conceded 29t, and gave orders for d levy of 9fo, and this tax WAS, as before stated, extended on the books.
 As the time for tax collection drew near. and the Financial condition of the people continued far from easy, the question of further reduction was yet more urgently pushed, one step being to bring into conference a prominent attorney who has been close to the bond buyers thruout the various transactions. At the close of this con- ference an official order was placed with County Clerk Anderson to reduce the highway tax from 99o to 6qt, and this is being done