Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1922-04-07
MUNICIPAL FINANCE.
(Continued From Page one.)
town had jumped to more than $4,000.

! CONTINUED From Page One.)
town had jumped to more than $4,000
Another financial crisis was newt
able. and it came in 1897. In this year
direct mortgage was put on the toWr
hall the loan being for $4,000 at -four
per cent. This brought up the oonoeo
debt of the town to $4,000.
In the quarter of a century that had
passed since 1872, Wallingford had not
l.been able to AFFORD single new public
edifice. It was still staggering under
the accommodating burden of debt In
Cured in the building Of its now anti
o,,ated town hall back in 1853. It's
nopulation had increased in that time
from $500 to 5000. 1t needed schools
and public improvements. smaiiei
communities round about had long
since outstripped it in wealth ano
progress.
The secret of Wallingford's back
wardness and poverty lay in the tact
that in 25 years 1t had paid out $sS'6S4
in interest, without having reduced us
old debts. Still the old policy of bor-
rowing money to pay its way was con-
tinued. The selectmen had awakened
TO the sense Of its dangers, but they
were helpless. The taxpayers fought
as they had fought since 1872, against
t., t,A afex r-qf
In 1900, the assets Of the town were
s46,77 against an Indebtedness OF Ss5,-
2s6. showing balance against the
town of s4s,526. In 1913. the adverse
balance was s49,15O.
In their report for 1909, the selectmen
reproached the taxpayers in the follow
ing words: ,i
"As we told you in last years re-
port, the 10-mil tax would not meet
the expenses for the year 1909, and the
treasurer's report will show the
amount paid out over the cash receipts
for the year" -. a y.
It was necessary once more to fund
the towns floating debt into hxed
interest bearing bond issue, to the
amount of $4,000. And in 1872
another bond issue of $4,000 was put
out, making the bonded Indebtedness
of the town $4,000.
The awakening. came to ,Walltngford
in 1914, with a widespread realization
that something was radically wrong
with the town management. The
smoldering discomfort broke out into
open reproaches at the town meeting
that year. One resident gained the
floor and told the blunt truth! He was
armed with figures. He pointed out
that the town now had population OF
approximately 1900 and that the
grand list (assessed valuation) ap-
proximated ;sS,ooO,OOo to 100000 and
yet no large public improvements had
been made possible because Of the
shape Of the towns. finances, The
school system was deplorable and all
public facilities were inadequate. The
town hall, he said, was, the towns
Frankenstein creation. It had eaten
up the resources Of the community.
And that was because no sinking fund
had been adopted to pay off the old
obligations. And he called attention to
the fact that since the 100000 mortgage
had been placed on the town hall back
in 1897, not one dollar of that debt
had ever been paid off.
These criticisms, made in open meet
ing, shocked the townsfolk. The truth
was unpleasant to hear. Timid and
conservative residents protested that
If such talk were to gain headway, the
credit of Wallingford would be des-
troyed. The story would get into the
newspapers, and the town wouldn't be
able to borrow another dollar in the
state Of Connecticut.
Care was taken that nothing said at
this meeting got into the papers. But
the words had had their effect.
The report of the selectmen for 1915
contained frank warning and an
nounced constructive action They
said: ....
1.-The treasurer's report will show the
towns Indebtedness; it will also show
that we have 100000 outstanding
temporary loans in notes, which is
$4,000 more than last year. Two
bonds have been paid off that came due
last year. One thousand dollars was
paid on the old town hall bond series
of 1897, the first payment ever made on
the town hail."
In fact, the situation Of the towns
finances in 1915, showed Wallingford
to be in a parlous state. The indebted
ness of the town was s20S,OOO, while
the assets figured up to only $120, 453,
leaving q balance of debt indicated as
$S2,547. The interest paid that year
aggregated sS,O64 And there were
100000 in notes outstanding.
During all these years, the loans