Show GOVERNOR CALLS ATTEN tim TO 10 Ni ANCIAL CON the following article was received from governor gov einor charles R alibey tor publication the honolulu loud of commiss boners toners millard Couf comaty tty fillmore ut gentlemen when a business begins to experience trouble in meeting expenses the natural and necessary aning tor for tho the management to do is 3 to make a thorough analysis ot of receipts and dis burso ments with a view to making the business live within its means in no other manner can a reduction in expenditure pend iture bo be made intelligently and no enterprise can be expected to survive that does not observe this sound business bu policy the state is a mammoth business institution its business is government go the political subdivisions sub divisions of the I 1 state slate likewise are aie bul business nesa institutions I 1 of lesser magnitude the officers I 1 compare with the officers ot of corporations except that the powers of the officers ot of government are more limited and divided than the tha powers of of officers of 0 most corporations the people aro are the stockholders in the business ot of government and by their i expression at the polls usually they designate certain desires tor for the cork con duct ot of government tor for the next two or tour four years the laws enacted by the legislature prescribe the regulations for the conduct of 0 government and the executive departments function r is the administration of 0 tho the law because the legislature meets roe only once in two years the adminis tra live five branch ot of government frequently Is seriously handicapped in putting into effect certain amendments which appear to bo be to the best interest ot of the stockholders I 1 in recent months a general cry has been voiced in tho the various political sub divisions ot of the state against the taxi A e v i e d the principal revenue conduct of government comes tit throng augi taxation under favorable conditions thero there are other sources of revenue but in the last analysis tax tai aaion Is the of revenue it other sou sources recto fall fail then all the money tor for the conduct of government must be raised through taxation pursuant to the dictates of sound busil business lebs policy the officers of tho the state government have made and are making analyses of receipts and ill disbursements bur in order that they may I 1 tako such steps as may be within lawr power to reduce expenditures aud and relieve the tha tax burden but in the end because of the division and limitation of the authority of 0 the executives and administrative off officers leers ot of government the stockholders or the people may be called upon to ex their desires and to do without certain conveniences which they have planned or which they now enjoy llie ibe only way adjo to taxes in the aggregate aggie gate is to spend less money 1 in the limitation of expenditures there ro always is ono one item which can not nia lo be but ut aside or lowered except by payment it the credit of the state is to le be maintained that is the public debt in tue tile vast majority ot of instances it represents presenta re public improvements voted on by the people and financed taj through rough tho the issuance ot of boada ex apt in a a tow few instances the money has boon abben expended and the interest charges and maturities must be met even though the public treasury be ba declet tj cid to the extent that current governmental operations are embarrassed while it la Is entirely in conformity with our ideals of government that tho the taxpayer of each political subal gibion should determine the extent of improvements and expenditures with lit in that subdivision the division ot of authority embraced in such an arrangement ran gement may tend toward a lack of 0 realization ot of the aggregate ot of the work undertaken and of 0 the expenditures entailed wo we now have four Avlo divisions tons ot of government which aro are empowered to levy taxes and under atalo 7 talo improvements each cacti 1 j t ot f the others they are arc cities i ivl V avns school districts counties 1 ns ia state estate inasmuch as each can arid and does act independently tha taxpayer unless he be a closer 1 student of government than the river avor aga be person loses sight bight of 0 tho the aggregate 0 of the expenses his proportion of which he ultimately will be called upon to bead bear I 1 lit view ot of such a situation it IR a not surprising that most ot of us arc shocked to learn that the aggregate public debt of the various taxing units of the state is 11 in excess of 0 of 0 this amount represents prest nta temporary loans carrying charges ranging from 6 to 10 per cont and ami probably will be paid after taxes aro are collected this winter tile iho remainder ot of tile public debt la is in tire the nature of bonds practically all ot of au 20 years maturity with occasionally in an optional io 10 year Assula ing the lite population of 0 utah to bo be the per capita public acut is 93 or lot tu lle lite average family figuring the average interest rate as 51 p per cent and allowing 5 per cent a year for or striking sin king funds then per cent of lite tucal act or in excess of 00 must be provided annually by the people to meet standing obligations it if this charge were distributed equally it would mean luean that each man woman weman and aliki child in ia the state would pay 9 GO 60 and the average lacily about 48 a year on the public iest hut in ill reality the situation is worse the I 1 he temporary loans tor for the part pait should be retired about the end ol of the year and that will mean lican tile the setting aside from taxes chiefly of 0 about then thero there will be the interest charges which including the short time pa per will amount to about and the sinking funds which will amount to about the total contribution toward the public debt this year therefore will be about or an all amount equal to about 40 per cent ot of the total taxes to bo be collected in the state I 1 of 0 course the tha interest charges must bo be met when due or the credit tit ULU state or community default ait 1 Js is seriously impaired it is to be ped that the temporary loans also WL ti to 0 caled tor for when the notes tall fail dut but it is ot of the utmost ampol t alike lliel there luere be no failure allure to set banking funds at the proper periods lit in that thai it may not be dec to overcome dins ot of neglect in a one bear ear arid and gnat the bonds will ue be retired property at maturity lue llie data compiled on oil the public ho cities aties and towns schools state coun these figures do not include about fifteen towns in various parts pails of tire the state which have not yet bet reported ported le ibe die indebtedness of tile the aties and towns represents for tho the oust part electric lights water work buildings and paving tile the choul chool indebtedness is algots entirely by building activities rite county bonded delit debt Is almost due to road building as is of the state debt j fuw let us review briefly the tax situation tor for 1921 1021 from the standpoint i tile tiiu slate aidie as a and il with conditions in 1920 f assessed valuation 1920 3 4 czi difference iab jl if taxes dist iligir schools 1920 1 dl iu in ccase biln las s arid towns 12 3 93 G 1 15 1 1 de d cou y general fund 1920 1920 ib 1 1921 ulic luci basy age roads 1920 1921 ase purposes pui posea 1920 1921 increase state stata cheral lelal fund 1921 decrease total 1921 decrease state ganral und fund tor for 1921 1 less leas 28 per percent ceist to U of V ind arid A C 42 net to state gen fund for or all government purposes es I 1 Ver percentage ot of taxes tares for oper aaion ot of state go during 1921 9 per cell cent t I 1 nott noli tue the increase in total roven no tor for other purposes la Is due to a lovy ot of 04 mills by salt lake county I 1 i dinald be borno in mind that the tha ieving oie Loing ie distribution is 13 intended to allett taxes to be collected and that ip portioned to district and high includes s both the state and ilie district levies with the general geneal condition of tile the state as a background let us conditions in millard county assessed AsBoe sed valuation 1920 19 1921 decrease 1 di ot of taxes dist high schools 1920 1921 increase cities and towns 1920 19 1921 1 l decrease county gener acner 11 ll 11 fund 1920 1921 1316 decrease 1920 BG 1921 decrease continued on page eight continued from page one GOVERNOR CALLS ATTEN TION TO MILLARDS FINANCIAL CONDITION uther other Pui purposes poses 1320 1920 1921 1 3 decrease state gen oral fund 1920 4 1921 1 decrease dec tease total iiii 1921 ltv 6 iner increase case alaio taie ue go lund fund tor for 1921 40 less 28 per cont to U of 0 U U A and ami 11 A C 1146 net to fund for or all other purposes percentage of 0 taxes collected in county contributed toward opera operations dons A 1 acate in 1921 75 er cent in this connection some figures re abing to the distribution of taxes tor for chool purposes have bee keen prepared by the state stab commissioner ot of finance wd d purchase aud and are ot of interest the a statement shows that the millard county school district will pay to the elie state stale and receive in beurn only this Is brought about by the law enacted by the 1920 legislature which provides that tho the tato ato will distribute 25 per school apita aaita each year as aa its proportion ot of the public school maintenance an examination of of the aggregate public debt of millard county and its subdivisions will indicate where a considerable share ot of the tax money goes the public debt ot of the ehg taxingly nits aits aggregates or nearly wice the amount of taxes to be collected in the county this year the debt is distributed as follows millard lillard county bond tor for court houses houm bond tor for state load bond tor for county road otal atal delta city ond tor for sewer system fillmore city bond for 01 water works 1200 bond tor for electric electra c light ond lond tor for sidewalk paving total 29 COO hinckley hinchley city 2500 temporary loan kanosh ciar city bond tor for water system meadow city 4 bonds oak citti none scipio tone one millard school dist bonds and 83 temporary loan total there brems to be a general impression pr ossion that high vacations ns are responsible for high taxes for the most part tills this is arony in the first drat place the law recognizes but one valuation the cash value in tho the eyes I 1 of the law thora la Is no such a 4 thing as high valuations in the matter of taxation every piece 0 of property pro pirtY Is to be assessed at its full cash value no 0 moro more and no loss in the second 11 I 1 place lace the various taxing units determine ali tho amount of moncy needed for tho the year and fix their levies accordingly it it were possible accord lie to law to amess as sesa at prices below values then tho the tabing units would immediately advance their levies to a level necessary to ralso raised the unda funds needed and there would bo be no i in ill taxes though that avenue tho the proper thing thine to do 10 lg Is to assess all property at its tair fair value and avold and then the lading bodies must keep their levies I 1 at the lowest possible figure to raise money to care for actual necessities an examination ot of the levies in I 1 millard county fhoos reductions in som some ins instances Lances a few increases and some ome that were held it at th thu 1920 lovel I 1 lie only Iner increase gase in the state ay lcy was tor for district schools and was made necessary by the law requiring the state to raise 25 per school capita for or district school purposes the levy or lor the state slate general fund was reduced d two tenths of a mill or about S 8 percent cent as compared with 1920 to nalle you to visualize conditions in our own county I 1 am going to give se ie various levies and from them bod you ill observe that the great bulk ot of taxes paid go directly to local govern wat units it must be dornes in mind oo 00 that the state district and high school levies go back to borr ical cal districts in proportion to the hool population slate dist diet schools 1920 24 mills 4 1 mills 21 mills increase late alight schools 1920 2 mill 2 mill state general fund iby 2 4 mills 1921 22 mills 2 mill decrease deci easo millard county IT 19 ia 0 53 mills 1921 5 2 mills 1 decrease millard county school il 1920 72 mills 1921 79 mills 7 mill increase fillmore city 1920 mills 1921 mills 25 2 5 mills decrease dg crease meadow town 1920 1920 10 mills 1921 9 mills I 1 mill lc Ic creaso kanosh town 1920 10 mill 1921 1921 10 mill delta town 1920 86 mills 1921 8 mills 6 mill decrease binckley town 1920 76 75 mills 1921 76 75 mius mills scipio town 1920 4 mills 1921 36 35 mills 6 5 mill decrease oak city 1920 6 5 mills 1921 7 mills 2 mills increase I 1 appreciate that that foregoing information may already be available to you from other and it mayi may be that you are already familiar familiar with it the questions involve daro 0 ot of such importance tance to every citizen and taxpayer however that I 1 feel justified I in again directing your attention to the situation as 1 I have found it let me emphasize the fact that we must all make a careful study of the finances of our respert resper lve tive units and it is only with the idea of being helpful in solving our problems that 1 I transmit these data to you sincerely yours charles R mabey governor |