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DECATUR CITIZENS ARE PAYING SOHE TAXES. -g. ** ■*' rl *#ptHigher Rate thsvn Either Denton or Bcwie a.nd Five Times the Rate of BridgeportOUR CITY AIRS COMING HIGHDecatur citizens are paying a tax rate of $1.25.Bowie, in Montague county, assess her citizens $115.Denton, the county seat of Denton county, tax her people $1.21 on the one hundred dollars’ investment.Bridgeport, the thriving coal mining town to the west of us, is prospering under a tax of 25c.Question? Is Decatur a better town than Bowie or Denton? How many times bigger and better is Decatur than Bridgeport4?But read what the city secretaries of these towns say, then see if you don’t run up against the conclusion that the good people !of this town are paying more and receiving less in return than the tax payers of any town in this section.Bridgeport Prosperous with 25c Tax.Orion Procter, of Bridgeport says, the tax rate in his town is 25c; streets are being improved; no fire department; no vacant business house; no vacant residences; population has increased 175 per cent since last census; the board of equalizationasks about two-third valuation of property in rendition.Bowie Prosperous With $1.15.The following from Bowie: Wise County Messenger, Decatur. Dear sirs: Answering yours of the 14tli; our tax rate is $1.15, this covers school tax of 50c, and the other 65c covers entire tax of the city’s general funds, street and bridge, and bonds. We have first-class water system, paid fire department; our streets are all paved with vitrified brick, that is the business part; and we have quite a number of cement walks in residence part. W. A. Ayers, Cashier City National Bank.Big Town Like Denton, $1.21.This from Denton: “R. E. Collins, Decatur.—Friend Dick—Yours of the 14th to hand; replying to same I beg to advise our tax levy for the year 1909 will be $1.21 on the one hundred valuation. This is 10c in excess of what is was for the year 1908 on account of a bond and scrip issue which was made for the construction of a sanitary sewer, and is, I thinkone of the best moves that our city has made for some years,from the fact that no charge will be made to our citizens for service, which is as you well know quite an item. Our board of equalization make their assessment on a basis of 80 per cent of the fair valuation of all property. Our streets are at this time in a better condition than they have been for years. Last year North Locust street was macadamized from the square tothe city limits, and the street force is now closing in a gap in West Oak street, which when completed will give us another mile of macadum street, and we hope to have Hickory street from the depot west to the city limits in the same condition before the close of the year. Our fire department is in the very best condition; we have a chemical engine and hook and ladder company and two hose companies at central station, and one hose company at the North Texas Normal College, and for usein cases of emergency we have 500 feet of hose at the College of Industrial Arts. Our water works department is also in the very best condition. We have very few vacant residences here at this time; sometime ago we had quite a good many, but since work on the sewer system began, and we are at this time rebuilding our central school building; together they employ about one hundred and twenty men a day; so on that account quite a number of our vacant houses have been rented. Our increase in population since our last census in 1909 is about 70 per cent, and the city is today on a cash basis. With my best regards, I beg to remain, Your friend, W. I,. Foreman, CitySecretary, | Den ton.$1.25, for What?So, it goes down that Decrtur is paying a big healthy tax of $1.25 against Bowie’s $1.15 and Denton’s $1.21 Both of these towns have paved streets, well equipped fire departments, good water systems, healthy increase in population, prosperous conditions generally. And Decatur, bless her, a few years ago a far better town than either Denton or Bowie, is today stug-gling ’neath a burden that is drawing her down. There would never be a murmur heard about the tax rate in this town if the man who pays the freight was receiving anything in return. But when our rate is high, with no streets, no organized fire department, no fire apparatus; with a fire station abandoned to bats and owls and our city hall rented out to a negro lodge order; with property valuation, some of it assessed by theboard of equalization 110 per cent—yes, it is time a kick was registered and the common herd brought to a realization of the conditions under which they are living.We have some more matter along this line, and from time to time we will print something to interest the taxpayer.
Newspaper Details
Decatur Wise County Messenger
Decatur, Texas, US
Fri, Apr 30, 1909
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Max B.
USA 31 Mar 2020
Other Publications Near Decatur, Texas
Decatur Daily Messenger
Decatur Wise County Messenger
