Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1922-03-10
SCHOOL DEBT GROWS
SAYS STATE EXAMINER

of arrests made during the year 1921
as compared with the previous year.
In the year 1921 the arrests were
practically as many as were made by
the office during the two preceding
years as shown by the records, the
arrests for 1919 and 1920 combined
being 4S6. and for 1921 412 arrests
were made"
Poll Tax Causes Grief
The poll tax law, which went into
effect last year, after half the reg
ular time allotted for the collection
of the poll tax had expired. caused
grief for the treasurer, as 1t did for
many others. The report says: I'm
the matter of checking up the poll
tax receipts, much trouble was ex-
perienced for various reasons. One
cause of the grief was the fact that
receipts were not dated in many in
stances and collections were made
by banks throughout the county.
at is due to the present treas
urer's force to say that they are
conscientious and that at the pres
emf time the work is going on in
very satisfactory manner. They
seem to have their duties we'll in
hand at this time
In another place the report says:
cit should not be forgotten that
through the operation of the poll tax
law the expenses of the three offices,
assessor. treasurer and sheriff, were
increased, which also accounts IN
the main for their over expenditures.
In fact, if these three offices were
given credit for say so per cent of
the receipts of the poll tax they
would all be well within their esti-
mate for the year.
The listing of the delinquent taxes
in the first years taxes listed, 1918
roll shows an actual delinquency of
more than $4,000, while the tax roll
account for this year showed less
than $4,000. While it has not been
thought best to actually balance the
rolls back of 1920 on account of the
expense, yet after the arbitrary tax
roll account is prepared for the ac-
tual delinquencies we are to investi-
gate the districts in which the over
collections are carried with a view
to placing this tax where it should
have originally gone.
"The condition of the tax roll ac-
count is not entirely the fault of the
present treasurer, as errors were
found on rolls back of his time. 1t
is not so much who is to blame for
these discrepancies at the present
time, but the point is to correct these
errors and eliminate all future errors
as nearly as possible"
School Superintendent Commended
II A. Ellis, superintendent of
schools, is commended upon the
splendid condition prevailing in his
office at this time. A comparison of |
the estimates and expenditures for
the year 1921 reveals the desirable |
fact that the expenditures were kept |
well within the annual estimate. |
which estimate was very conserva-
tive in the first place.
mot only is the office being con-
Quoted along lines of economy and |
efficiency, but the superintendent is
also very watchful as to school dis |
trict expenditures with a view to
limiting such expenses to the actual
needs of the district. All unneces-
sary expenses are to be eliminated
and general plan of retrenchment
has been inaugurated
Failure to List Dogs
The summary of the report con-
tains the following reference to the
assessor: The findings in the as
SCISSORS office consisted of his fail
ing to list the dogs for assessment
purposes. The amount is only an
approximation and based upon the
dog tax collections for the previous
year, when some effort was made to
list the dogs in compliance with the
state law. The assessors failure to
list the dogs is very unfortunate to
say the least. The fact that the law
happens to be unpopular is no excuse
for this dereliction of duty. The