Pocahontas star herald., 1925-09-03
QUORUM COURT FAVORS
RANDOLPH BOND ISSUE

a called meetlng or the Randolph
county quorum court was held in Po-
cahOntas Monday, with County Judge
Million presiding. Thirty-one justices
of the peace were present The mat
ter under consideration was the issu-
ing Of bonds to pay off the county's in
debtedness. After thorough discus
sion of the subject, a vote was taken
and the bond issue carried by a vote
of 10 to u.
In order to explain the matter fully
to the taxpayers, Judge Million issued
the following statement:
''The purpose of calling quorum
court together was to make a levy to
take care of the first payment on the
money borrowed by the county from
the Bankers Trust Co., of Little Rock,
for the purpose of paying off the in
debtedness outstanding against the
County on Oct. T. 1924. as is provided
by amendment No. II and Act No. 210.
THE readers of the Star Herald
will recall that they were called upon
at the last general election held on
Oct. T. to vote for or against Amend
ment No. IL. A majority of the vOt
ers of the state voted favorable to the
adoption of the Amendment. A special
supreme court selected by the present
Governor decided that the Amendment
received a sufficient majority of voters
to adopt it as part of the constitu-
tiOn of the state, and it is now a part
of the constitution. The vote of the
people of Randolph county stood $50
for and 67S against the adoption of the
Amendment. Thus a majority of the
people not only of the state but of Ran
dolph county said, Let us have the
Amendment"
"The purpose of Amendment No. IL
is to place the finances of the county
on a cash basis and force them to re-
main that way. 1t prohibits the Off
GERS of the county from issuing a great
er amount of scrip or warrants than
will be paid in to the treasurer of the
county in taxes and fines, thus forcing
them to stay within the limits of the
funds allowed them, and preventing
any scrip Indebtedness to accrue
against the county.
at also provides that in order to pay
off any Indebtedness which had al
ready been made against the county,
and which had not been paid Oct. Z,
1924. the county court might borrow
money for payment of this indebted
ness. Act No. 210 provides that coun-
ty courts may borrow money to pay Off
this indebtedness and further provides
that where the county court does de-
eide to borrow money, that the quorum
court shall make levy sufficient to
take care of the annual payment of the
money thus borrowed.
'The county court of our county,
acting upon the advice of the officers
of the state, and acting in accordance
with the decision Of a majority Of the
voters of the state and of our county,
decided to borrow money to pay off
this indebtedness of the county, and
starting in as nearly as is possible
with a clear slate to keep the county
out of Indebtedness in the future, so
that people who serve on juries and as
witnesses might receive practically 100
cents on the dollar for their services.
"The county court asked the quorum
take care of the payment due Sept. 1,
1926. This was done, 81 j. P's being
present and 10 voting for II and ~
against.
"SOme of the j. P's said they would
favor the levy if they knew the people
of the county would want it. The
Judge replied that a majority of the
people of the county who were inter
ested in the matter had already voted
for it.
"As the matter stands we are paying
from % per cent to 40 per cent inter
est on our Indebtedness, whereas under
the new plan we will only pay 8 per
cent.
"The tax to take care of this loan
will only cost the taxpayer cents on
$4,000 of his assessed valuation. For
example if you are assessed with S4OO.-
90 in property your tax will be 20
cents.
Each ]. =. receives $500 per day
for his services attending quorum
court. For this he would receive
under the old plan $3.50. Under the
new plan he will receive practically
$500, a saving of practically $l.5O.
And if his assessment is not more than
$4,000 this saving will pay his taxes
for years.
Arrangements have been made for
payment Of 30 cents on all old scrip