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Show I ft 2 BOX Brigham City, Utah Sunday, June 12, 1977 ELDER Letters to the Editor,, NEWS, Editorially Speaking The publication in these columns. However, contributions must be signed and also bear the writer s adress and telephone number. It is suggested that letters not exceed 250 words in length. Tax cut should result from new county funds Elder county has long enjoyed a sound financial status, finding it possible to keep the property tax relatively low while experiencing the security of collecting revenues in one budget year to finance expenses in the next. There have been no cash flow problems and no interest to pay for tax anticipation borrowing. And now, as an additional positive development, its a virtual certainty that Uncle Sam will give Box Elder about $700,000 annually as payment in lieu of taxes on federal lands within the county. Officials have been hesitant to earmark the money before its actually received and didnt even include it in the current calendar year budget. Box ... IT NOW APPEARS the funds will be in county hands in September. As a result, commissioners are mulling over with greater confidence ways in which the additional revenue ought to be spent. In the process, a previous commitment to cut the property tax, letting a portion of the new funds fill the resulting income void, is now the target for second thoughts. Commissioners have pointed out that cutting the mill levy may also reduce the amount of federal revenue sharing money received from Washington each year. Theyd rather not see that happen. The county currently is given about $400,000 annually under the revenue sharing program. Its nice to have all that money more than $1 million with revenue ;'f ?: Auntie Litter in Georgia Editor: sharing and now payments in lieu combined but its also scary that we should come to rely so heavily on the federal government. Yet, whos going to turn it back? For our money, wed like to see the county, property tax levy reduced. And not just a token cut but a significant one. Citizens deserve the relief. Brigham City, for example, faces a possible municipal property tax boost of 3.89 mills this year. In addition, the levy in Box Elder County School district is certain to go up. .98 of a mill. And the raise could be as much as 3.64 mills, depending upon prospects for continued financial assistance under the federal governments Public Law 874 for federally impacted areas. We read with interest the article in the Pow Wow column regarding the origin of Auntie Litter. We want you to know that she has made her way to Dublin, Geog. Enclosed find a picture of a billboard that is located on the outskirts of town. Im sorry the picture isnt too clear. I guess the film was damaged by the heat and the humidity. It had been in the camera for quite a period of time. Thanks for the paper. We really appreciate it. Sincerely, Elder and Sister Melvin account how the tax load may increase on Box Elder citizens from these other sources. One more thing, Box Elder county doesnt have a big backlog of unmet needs. The county courthouse needs painting and repair and officials say road department equipment merits updating. But the waters of a proposed new refuse collection in the service county ought to be tested carebefore the county decides to fully in. jump Similarly, any other proposed new spending should be scrutinized. Because Uncle Sam has become increasingly generous doesnt mean we have to match the pattern with Editors note : Auntie Litter did originate right here in Brigham City. She has visited beautification conferences in Washington, however, and undoubtedly impressed folks there to the extent that shes been called on to help cleanup efforts in other parts of the country. Were grateful if shes been able to assist the Georgia Department of Transportation, as indicated on the sign. Worst for mosquitoes expenditures. One thing thats puzzled me for a long time, though, is why there are i&b U- ounces in a pound and 32 ounces in a quart. But dont misunderstand, I can live with it. What this penman finds uncomfortable to ponder is converting to a system which uses so many numbers and decimal points. Its a lot easier, a guy told me. He even produced a converter device, a hand-size- d implement constructed of heavy paper which has all of the terms on it and many, many numbers. The idea is that on one side of the scale you place the indicator on a number for gallons, pounds, etc., and on the other side it shows what the equivalent amount is in liters and grams. Ah hah ! I thought, this is more like it. Now I too can become worldly in the ways of weights and measures. Talk about unwarranted optimism. After mentally wrestling with it for several minutes, beads of perspiration popping out on his brow, PW put down the convert device and went back to his comic book. 16 Mosquitoes a headache for district manager think youve got troubles. Imagine the plight of J. Larry Nielsen, manager of the Box Elder County Mosquito and Fly Abatement district. This past week the infestation of mosquitoes in the countys more densely populated areas has been possibly the worst in history. Nielsen has received calls, a lot of them. People want to know why the pesky insects are out in such numbers and whats being done to control them. Its not been an easy time for the district manager. A front page story today gives more details about the situation and how its being met. But here wed like to make some observations intended to bring additional understanding. Its natural that citizens should complain when mosquitoes rise up in swarms from the grass or bushes. Theyre really a nuisance. Even with the current irritation, however, only two callers have bordered on being abusive. The rest have expressed themselves in a courteous manner. Thats good. It speaks well for the people of our county and their ability to express a gripe, ask whats being done to correct a problem, without being disagreeable. Nielsen is a nice person and dedicated to his job. Hes missed some hours of sleep trying to put a lid on the mosquito invasion. The kindness of his callers has helped to ease a tough burden. Now to another point. Everyone can help to trim the mosquito population, if not those which migrate from the marshes, then the kind that gain life in the yard and neighborhood. Do you have any standing water around, such as that which can be found in cans, rain gutters, car ruts, gutters, catch basins, old tires and the like? Get rid of it. Also, check for leaking sprinklers, taps or wells or for water standing on flat roofs. Remember that mosquito eggs cant hatch without water. If you have a fish pond or other permanent water impoundment, fish are available the district. SI ill have questions? Then Nielsen invites you to contact the district office between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. any Theres a letter to the editor in todays News which concerns the metric system. And after reading it, this traditional scribe doesnt feel all alone. Thrust of the epistle is to question the need for conversion to grams and liters from our ounces, pounds and gallons. Pow Wows heard from various sources that the country ought to get with it, join the rest of the world and metricize ourselves. The state board of education has told schools they must convert by 1980, falling in line with the seeming inevitable. old-fashion- ed mosquito-eatin- g from weekday, 723-370- 0. have a mosquito problem but tended to. And remember, those who have an itch to scratch out the current infestation, you can help by checking your own yard. We its being Now PWs never been a whiz at arithmetic. But a I least hes been able to master the concept s that two equal one ten that pint, patties wont make very big hamburgers from a pound of meat and that is not eight what Jimmy Carter had in mind with his energy program. half-pint- miles-per-gallo- n What's top school project priority? It was obvious Wednesday night that some minds will have to change around the Box Elder Board of Education table to get unanimity on what building projects should rate priority in the district. Board President L. Burke Larsen kicked off a discussion of the subject by stating flatly that he views an auditorium at Box Elder Junior High school as the top need. This came in the face of construction of a swimming long-consider- Bott ITS NOT that the county should cut back to accommodate other taxing entities but it should take into ' So you editor invites and welcomes letters for at Box Elder High school. This project has been waiting in the wings for longer than any on a five-yea- r list recently compiled from principals requests. pool the district has money to spend right away on any major building jobs. But its current bond debt will be retired with a final payment in December 1978 and this will leave about $1 million available annually thereafter to finance delayed projects. Its not that While theres no rush, considering the planning time involved in designing an auditorium, swimming pool or whatever else, its really not too early to begin sifting the projects to determine where they belong on the priority schedule. Citizens can lend a hand by expressing themselves on the subject. Of course, the final decisions will be up to the board. And judging from the conversation of Wednesday night, they wont be easy decisions. Lets face it, he told himself, are just ignorant. The rest of the country is waiting, straining for the opportunity to turn metric. It will come in the minds of others as if by osmosis and you will be standing on the sidelines with a dunce cap on your head. Oh, woe is you, poor unintelligent creature. you my lack of to cranial capacity forge the stream of metric conversion, in the privacy of home I told the Missus: I can do metrics easy. But Im not going to. Theres a principal involved here. The old Now realizing standard is as American as ap- ple pie, baseball, hotdogs and chow mein. And Im going to stick by it, no matter how the rest of the world is twisted and corrupted by that hew way. then I grabbed a small flag, stood up and marched around the room, humming Sousa marches. But I could perceive the Missus in her thoughts which like this : Whos he trying to kid. Hes just dumb. Then yesterday this letter came. It too expressed reservation about the need for change. At last, an ally. And hes not even dumb. In fact hes a doctor. Oh great And day! Editor: Help!! The mosquitoes are carrying us away up here in Tremonton! Something has to be done about this before we all have to move out of the area. Last year we were unable to go out in our yards in the evening because of the mosquitoes. This year it is almost impossible to go out in the yard anytime of the day without being attacked by swarms of mosquitoes. We have lived in many different areas throughout the US and the mosquitoe situation here is by far the worst of any place we have lived. It is unbelievable that any place in this day and age has to put up with this type of situation in view of the high taxes were paying. We would greatly appreciate some immediate attention to this matter. Thanks very much. Sincerely, E. Carl Huish, Tremonton Why go metric? Editor: Why should we go metric? Although it is true that many of the sciences are do metric use the as part of their work, it system professions should not be adopted by the US community at large. Those who promote its adoption at all levels simply fail to realize the complexities involved and the cost of its implementation. Consider those who deal in real estate trying to wrestle with the following conversion: One hectare equals 1000 square meters which equals 2.471044 acres. One acre equal 0.4047 hectare. One acre also equals 100 square meters which is divided into 1076.44 square feet. Consider converting an average legal description into metric terms. There would be few exercises more futile. Even among scientists a need exists for conversion tables and calculators. Since we are faced with the 55 mile per hour speed limit, it is perhaps comforting to know that when one is traveling 50 mph, he is in reality breezing along at 80 kph. At the same time, when he traverses one mile he has gone 1.6093347219 kilometers. One meter equals 3.280833333 feet, 60 mph is equivalent to 96.558 kph. Who needs the mental gymnastics involved9 Most of us understand pints, quarts, and gallons quite well. Did you know that 3.7854 liters is to be found in one gallon? At the same time, one US bushel is equal to 36.367048 liters. If that fails to boggle the mind of die housewife, consider working with grams. One kilogram equals 1000 grams, equals 2.204622341 pounds. One pound equals 453.5924277 grams. Temperature conversions can be even more exasperating. Since one degree Celsius equals 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit, two degrees F. is equal to 1.1 degree C. Because of this it isnt easy to see that 20 degrees C. is equal to 68 degrees F., or that 22 degrees C. would be the same as 71.6 degrees F. Since degrees F. is equal to 17.7 degrees C., it naturally follows that 32 degrees F. is the same as 0 degrees C. Or does it? That we should use the metric system because the rest of the world is using it is not a valid argument. (It is also untrue). Much of the world is communistic, but that is no reason we should be too. Yes, the metric system does have a place in our society. It belongs to the science laboratory and a few other restricted areas. May I respectfully suggest that we keep it that way. -- Dr. Ralph G. Willie, Federal Way, Washington Give a hoot! Dont pollute! |