OCR Text |
Show EIGHTS OF TAX-FAYKSB. The rights of tax-pay ors in Salt Lake City is, just now, tho subject of some comment and query. As we have been paying taxes, city, county and Territorial, for a number of years, it has occurred to us that wc, too, are interested in the matter, and have a perfect right to express ourselves free-! free-! !y on the points at issue. Report says, Ion what is deemed reliable authority, i that sometime in the latter part of i last week, a deputation of two of the sub-committee of seven, appointed by the sub-committee of eleven, appointed ap-pointed by the committee of forty-five, forty-five, appointed by the minority meeting meet-ing of tax-payers, called upon thecity Assessor, accompanied by a clerk, for the purpose of making mak-ing a copy of the city assess- Colonel Winder, the Assessor, declined to allow a copy of the roll to be made; offered it for examination; and said if they would furnish him the names of parties whoso assessment the subcommittee sub-committee desired to have, he would furnish the names with their assessments. assess-ments. We would like to enquire by what authority Colonel Winder would so furnish names and amounts of assessment, to he taken away from the City Hall? What right or authority has he in law, or in common justice, to make" a copy of the whole, an excerpt, ex-cerpt, or a transcript of any portion of the Assessment rolls for general circulation cir-culation or publication, as those who receive it may see fit to use it? Or by what right or authority could the Mayor, the Recorder or the Treasurer of Salt Lake, furnish such copy or transcript of any of the city tKtoks to be carried away and used by or for non-tax-payers, if thoso receiving it chose to so use it? It is right that tho tax-payers should have an opportunity of knowing know-ing how assessments are made; what measure? are adopted, "and how the i public funds are disbursed. We view this as a matter of right independent of any law on the subject. But no person, not a tax-payer, has any bus iness with the monetary concerns oi this or any other city; and the making mak-ing of these copies and transcripts makes non-tax-payers participants in the city financial affairs equally with tax-payers if irresponsible parties choose. The regularly elected officers offi-cers are custodians of these books for the tax-payers. If they give away copies of them, they betray their trust, and place what was in their care as re-ponsible parties par-ties in the hands of irresponsible parties. par-ties. We deny the right of the Mayor, or the Assessor, or anybody else to give copies, in whole or in part, of any city recorrls; unless they are authorized author-ized to do so by statute, ordinance, or the expressed will of the people; while we equally hold that every taxpayer tax-payer should have ample opportunity to satisfy himself by examination that the city business is properly, justly and economical y conducted. |