Free trader-journal and Ottawa fair dealer. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1920-1927, 1922-04-01
COUNTY TREASURER.
MUST Be ABLE TO.
HANDLE MANY Jobs
MANY DUTIES ARE NOW coM5lN.
Ed IN THIS oFFlcE-KNoWL-
EDGE AND GOOD JUDGMENT
ARE REQUIRED TO HANDLE
COUNTY FINANCES.

Attention has been called repeated
ly IN these columns to the desirable
ity in fact the necessity, OF securing
an experienced man TO mn the office
of county treasurer OF this county,
The day has gone BY when the only
qualifications necessary are that the
holder of the office should be a good
fellow, a shrewd politician or even a
good business man, Experience in the
matter Of taxation In all its branches
is an absolute necessity. II the couu-
ty treasurer has not these Qualilicu-
tons he must be dependent upon his
deputies and their judgment must
be taken in many matters which can
only be learned by long experience.
Large corporations and men engaged
in big business are constantly look
ing for experienced men; they might
be able to educate them along spc.
cal lines, but that process is too eX.
pensive ana fraught with too much
danger When they get a man who
has specialized in any particular line
of work, they hang on TO him and
would not think OF putting an mex
perienced man in his place unless
compelled to do so. Why should the
financial business of La Sale county
be run or any different lines than
those of any other business involving
the collection OF and paying ont OF
over S3000,00O annually?
Few people have any conception of
the multiplicity of duties of the treas.
urer of La Sale county. We enumer.
ate few examples.
In the first place, he is supervisor
of assessments, which means that he
instructs the different township as
SCISSORS as to their duties, and he I'M
diyidualy makes the assessments of
all the banks of the county He has
authority to make new assessments
and to revise and change figures re.
turned by the township assessors.
to pass on the assessment of proper
ty having an approximate sixty mil
lion dollars assessed valuation?
As county collector he is required
to collect over 100000 of tax mon
ey and must gather in that huge sum
in about three months. He is Charg-
ed with every cent Of il and must ac-
fgp 81 L..
If the tax money is not paid by a GER
tain date he is compelled by law to
advertise and sell the property on
which the tax is assessed. But the
collecting of all this money is a small
matter as far as experience and iudg-
ment are essential, as compared with
paying it out. He must divide the
money received and every thirty days
pay it out again among 2S9 school dis
tricts, % cities and villages, 81 town
ships 81 road and bridge districts.
to the state, the county and various
other taxing bodies, seeing that each
division gets its full sha1a and no
more. i is a much more intricate
job TO pay out the money and get it
just where it belongs than it is to
collect it.
But this is not all. There are over
$4,000 taxable items on the tax books
of La Sale county and from six to
eight different kinds of taxes extend
ed against each item. How far can a
man get in properly conducting the Of
flee who has no knowledge Of tax mat
tiers? And furthermore, he must keep
track of the appropriations for and
expenditures by each department Of
the county.
Robert Smith has been by long eX-
perience and hard work been special
~ educated along these lines. If the
voters Of La Sale county see fit to
elect him 10 the Office Of county
treasurer they will not have to pay
for any mans education or for mis-
takes that may be made because OF
ignorance of these details or on ac-
count Of his ineXperience. The Of
fee more than any other to be filled
is strictly business proposition, and
as a business proposition it should be
filled by man who already has the
knowledge and for whose education
the county will not have to paw in
one way or another, no matter what
his ability or general qualifications
may be- Think it over and decide
what YOU would do if you we're select
ing Q man to conduct your own and
not the c0unty's business.-Adv.