| Show I 1 WK 45 I 1 I 1 COUNTY IT ns OFFICER OFFICERS I 1 FINANCIAL AND sa a F ja J r 4 i i I 1 i FOR HE 1 I 1 i 5 transactions 1 ayi wr 5 S I 1 I 1 I 1 i YEAR 1902 1 sig i i i w S was wa s 9 ahmu av Mu w 0 through the courtesy and ats 0 0 stance of the very efficient and 0 0 able county clerk chas R ciol 0 0 longsworth lings worth alio standard is ablo 0 0 to present herewith an exhava 0 0 live review of the financial stand 0 0 ing and the business transactions 0 0 of weber county for the past 0 0 year including the taxable pro 0 0 perty tax rate debt etc etc 0 0 during the years 1001 and 1002 the affairs of weber county have been in the hands of the following officers county commissioners joseph stanford leinan akcen and william G wll gon county clerk C R II worth county treasurer alma D chambers county recorder daniel E ellis county assessor john W gib con county sheriff charles E layno county attorney george halvarson the year 1902 has marked a prosperous year in weber county affairs and one ahat will give renewed strength and ability to its and industries financial commercial and agricultural the board of county commis has given its undivided attention to the best interest of the taxpayers and in a very marked degree all their efforts have been attended with success the county has been divided into three general districts to each of which lias been assigned one of alie commissioners sio ners who has general supervision over all matters connected with the roads rivers and bridges therein lie brict no 1 known as skeena district comprises the settlements of warren plain city farr west aar brisville ris ville ogden pleasant view and harriott district xo 2 known as nil sona district comprises the settlements of lindah Lin tah eden liberty burch creek and randall district no 3 known aa Stan fords district comprises the settlements of wilson garland hooper west we roy and taylor the county has also been divid edby ordinance into seven health districts as follows I 1 comprises harrisville slater vine garriott lar farr west and perry xo 2 comprises plain city warren and poplar no 3 comprise north ogden Ianda JI and pleasant view 4 comprises eden liberty and comprises uintah burch creek and comprises and and no 1 I comprises west weber garland wilson and taylor the officers of these districts act in concert with the board of county commit sio ners and II 11 B forbes physician constitute the county bofird of health and a t all times most aggressive in their action endeavoring always to promote and preserve sanitary regulations throughout alio county the main county roads arc in a credit able condition and repairs and improve incata to tho same and the bridges etc so far as the countes coun tys finances would permit lias been the pol aldaya advocated by the board during this year two good substantial steel bridges been erected one over the rh cr between plain city and west this connects state road nimrah almost directly north and bouth through hc western part of ahe county it further permits the hauling of accas to the sugar factory from the settlements of plain city and warren by a more direct route than was formerly the case it likewise facilitates the marketing of other products coming from those settlement the bridge was constructed by A SL blodgett of kansas city and was opened to public travel during last au when it waa formally accepted by the commissioners and the county surveyor it ii a modern etehl structure one of the very best every standpoint in weber county the matter of erecting this bridge liaa been before tho board at divers during the past ten years and alic its erection because of the great cost of procuring taft necessary right of way for the road leading to the bridge and tha ot the bridge it acif has greatly tended to cripple the county in spending more money upon alic loads generally than otherwise would have been the case detill the great demand for the bridge and road justified the notion taken the other bridge erected was at the mouth of ogden canyon and its erection was made of alie destruction st of iho former which lal awn m place many a by a break in the pipe line of t hc utah light A power company near the point above a bridge where the pipe runs through a funnel in the mountain it was replaced by modern filec turc and one of greater length which makes the road at that point a more direct one A few email roads have ben opened up in the western part of the county glicr occasion seemed to demand and one of tho matters claiming the attention of alie board early in alic coming year will be the laying out of several new roads in the now rapidly growing precinct of boy this ha been an open country and roads traveled in utter dis regard of the township and section lines kow because the country is being rapidly settled it will be necessary to lay out and establish roads upon the proper line A of road building upon a proper basis lull shortly have to be undertaken in tho western por tion of our county which lias been neglected for some time A good well road leading down into tho very heart of hoopper is nn urgent nw sIty and one will lahut lie curly attention af alic in january Jn nuary to tho baut fand boxt practicable way 0 o carry n hii work it ia hard to state it la a w r which will require very mature consideration and one to be well planned out before the actual work is undertaken As an experiment the road in wilson lane in the vicinity of the sugar factory was thoroughly sprinkled during the summer months and as result when alie heavy hauling of beets canio on in the fall tho road was found tobe in far better condition than in any previous year our wind storms do a great deal of damage to the roads more in fact than the actual wear itself h concerned while if the roads are well sprinkled the wind has no detrimental effect upon the roads at all this fact lias been most clearly demonstrated in ogdan canyon when not sprinkled the heavy wind constantly blows away the top coating of the road and in time tho surface h broken while it the road is kept well sprinkled the wind has no bad effect and much less repairing is necessary the question of good roads is one always calling for a great deal of mature consideration and one which in weber county in one sense may be called tho paramount issue alic poor farm of eighty acres was purchased by weber county from samuel fowler in june for the sum of alic object in this purchase being to make a honio forthe ngod and infirm the indigent poor of weber county with ns lit lie expense as possible to the taxpayer tax payer in abo spring of tho buying been with a substantial wire fence shade trees and an orchard of select fruit trees were planted covering about even acres of land also small fruits about one half in alic fa 11 of this year the present building was eroded at a cost contract i price the greater portion of the land was down to alfalfa to supply feed for farm lire stock six cows being included to supply the necessary milk and butter for the inmates of tho infirmary the whole business was conducted in behalf of the county by L W and selectman joseph stantonl principally to alie lack of water supply for several the farm has the bamo condition and lip to january 1901 no improvement had been made cither on alie barmor in the buildings the present board of commissioners under tho joint committee on buildings and farm stanford and have erected a commodious substantial barn static sheds and corral five more acres of orchard have been planted with choice fruit trees also one half of raspberries rasp berries which will be angood bearing condition the coming year chairman will recommend to tho board at an early date the demands for increased rooming facilities being such as to necessitate alic enlargement of tho building eliat a wing or annex be erected the coming spring and that the farm be conducted on more advantageous terms planting some fifteen or more acres in tomatoes civo more acres to bo planted in fruit trees which will bring increased to the county the infirmary and farm present a gratifying condition of affairs mr joseph A taylor superintendent lias exhibited much executive ability in the management of the institution during his incumbency and alie cost of maintenance has been a minimum while at the same time the been no retrenchment other than aliat prudence and necessity would dictate and would also bein accordance with alic policy adopted by the boarde that of the utmost economy in purchasing and expenditure consistent with proper management many re paira and improvements have been made during the past year question of tuxes and inanc cs is one always clai mingo great deal of attention the following will give some idea of alic amount of taxes directly levied in weber county alie figures being for the year property assessed by the county as as board of equalization fr improvements estate horses aird mules 8 cattle ac sheep 1514 dwino 1380 colonies bees 2772 machinery tools f u N i S i 0 i r 1 x s 0 I 1 I 1 I 1 implements money solvent credits personal property not grand total of f property assessed by assessor property assessed by board of equalization a reported to county auditor railroad compan ie a street car companies depot companies telegraph corn telephone coin panics net proceeds of abines car orand total total number of acres amount assessed per acre aggregate value of town and city lots charles layne sheriff TAX LEVY FOR 1902 n state 48 10 state school 3 weber county 5 county interest on county bonds 5 10 ogdan city 10 ogden city school district 7 under alio tax levies na found in the preceding table alio amount of taxes collected in weber county for the 1002 it as follows state taxes state county taxes ogdan city county city school local district school taxes interest on county bahda special road taxes 2013 total amoust 0 taxes 22 in this connection the action of the administration in refunding the balance of alio 2 bond issue must not bo forgotten alie 18 1 8 remember that ili 1892 2 the was bonded for bearing interest inte rost at five per annum and payable in ten and twenty years the law under which the bonds were issued provided for alic levying each year of a tax for the of a sinking fund for alic redemption of the bonds in audition to the annual tax to pay tha interest this sinking in a few year amounted to a larg n ium aum and lias always been a question of considerable discussion attempts made from timo to time tn loan it out to ohp adjoining counties or to the school districts and while some loans made the bulk of it remained in alic counte treasury and from it the bank in it was deposited received handsome returns the commissioners however took the sinking 1 fund and bought county bonds to such an extent that on july 1 1902 2 the bal anac 0 the 1 bonds outstanding was only on alie latter date the ten year optional period having arrived the board took the necos jphn gibson assessor sary steps to refund alic outstanding balanco by tho issuance of a new saries of bonds for U like running for tho ton and with alb lour pel ifft per nn those bonds for enio and acre sold at part nd accrued st aid at ft premium of per bond ulso paying all the refunding this fles to the splendid standing weber county ha in the nn ancial world what by refunding tho interest on tho ewt from per cent to four per cent per annum a saving ot cent per acar or during the lie of A oh splendid policy ono which justly entla ent lt tho county corn dia played ill ability and Ihl crity bv the tik artt I 1 he county then ali new liw which ni 1 ife bod require eliy lugii fund tax each year W w i it requires the levying of euch a tax commencing with the tenth year a tho bonds being optional for payment at the end of ton years at that time bo refunded and alius the future generation bo required to pay the principal of these bonds they being the ones ahoi in a great degree reap the benefit what further resulted from this aci tho hanking fund tax does not require to be levied each year 90 it permitted the commissioners to reduce the tax levy so that this year the county tax rate is one mill loase than in previous year this alone saves to tho lax payers in discs collected about a year or in the ten acari tho bonds will run before the optional period of redemption arrives many complaint hava acen made in past years about the large sum of in the sinking fund and upon which tho bank where the fund was deposited received a handsome revenue the taking up of this matter by refunding the county bonds obviates the creation of a sinking fund and eliminates that troublesome question from any consideration at all during alic year just closing county lias been upon what is called a cash basis that is to say the warrants issued from the beginning of the year in anticipation of the taxes of this year which arc not collected until about november have been paid upon presentation at the bank where the county funds are deposited by the treasurer the holders of the warrant suffering no discount at all under the arrangements range ments made alic warrants are first registered by alie treasurer and as they draw five per cent interest until paid they are readily accepted by tho bank which holds them until the treasurer makes a call for their payment alio expenditures for county purposes have been about alio same during this year as during 1001 and when jail iho taxes have been collected alie count ya ledger will about balance then the bonded indebtedness at the end of this year will bo less than it has been at any time during th past ten years in addition to the small floating indebtedness will exist there will lie the bonds of dated april 1 1901 duo in ten and twenty years bearing interest at five per cent then tho bond issue of july ast 1st of this year SO due in ten and twenty years bearing interest at four per cent the fixed interest charges will therefore be less in tho future than in the past which will work a reduction in tho tax levy and if the valuation of the property in the county subject to taxation shows the same increase during the coming year that avas shown this year over 1001 there will be sufficient funds to permit more liberal allowance for the improvement pro of roads thus it will be apparent that alic finances of weber county arc at present in afar a far better condition thau they have been at any time during the past fifteen years speaking of the increased valuation recalls alie fact eliat next year tho pacific companas comp anys new line commonly called the ogden lun cut 01 will be subject to taxation this increases the railroad mileage in weber 1447 miles and will be agrest county district a directly benefit to those school the road which through west of ogdan in the a reduction it will permit runs at the while district tax levies local these lower levies will raise same time funds for school purposes than more was formerly the case with the higher rate several matters in the way of legislation which it is hoped the legislature to bonveno will take up and con j soon the attention sijer have been occupying ot the board during the recent months there arc many matters upon which we need more direct legislation anil which in effect would better tho county in many ways it must bo con ceded there should bo at ft very early anto a change in tho present civil jury system As it is alie county each thousands of dollars in expends year order that litigants in civil mattery may have their causes tried by jury in other words they pay a jury fee and arc entitled to a trial of their alma chambers county treasurer cause by a jury of ciau pc rion for two ditico or four daya n aaion a alit ant alic h between the o 0 1 jurors at per day each and the jury fee then in each ciril action tho litigants pay as a stano grapheme gra phere eo and anre each day to the eer ricca of a whilo the cabo is on trial no matter how many daye are consumed cone umed then alie county paya tho |
