er
Se Ne
WT
-
BY BEN JAMES
(Editor's Note: This article by Mr. James is used through’ special arrange-
ment with The Country Home, in which mazazine the story appeared recently
The Post secured permission to use Mr. James’ article because of the current
interest in taxes and because of the interest in municipal ownership.
a. Be...
Suppose a turbaned story-teller, wrapped in rags ,strayed from the dusty
road to Bagdad to squat on your lawn this evening and gave you, in return for
a cup of tea and a puff at your pipe, rare tales of fantastic places .
And suppose he said: “Once upon a time there was a bustling thriving
town with ten thousand men and women and boys and girls working and play-
ing within its limits. It looked like the best towns of that size look. There
were miles of pavement beneath tree-canopied streets ,clusters of white lights
along its buiness thoroughfare, rows of well-kept shops and factories blowing
smoke from tall chimneys into the clear, blue sky. {
“But there was something very strange about this little city. No other
city of its size or larger in the whole country was like it. For this town had no
municipal taxes. It was a tax.free town.”
You'd certainly give him his cup of tea and puff of smoke and perhaps a few
coins. And you'd say to yourself, “Such a Utopian tale is worth the pay.”
But you would not be paying him for a fairy tale. There is such a town.
It exists today lke a magic island of sanctuary on a mad sea of taxation.
You can find it in south-eastern Kansas. Its name is Chanute.
In this day when tax assessors hover like black ghosts over farm, bank
account and salary, Chanute has thrown a gauntlét in the face of Benjamine
Franklin's shrewd maxim, “In this world nothing is certain but death~"and
taxes. eo :
In Chanute the revenue derived from city-owned utilities, jwdter, gas, and
electricity, pays all the costs of operating the municipality.ef the town. This
does not include the county and state taxes ‘with whi he schools are sup-
ported. But is covers all aspects of ciey governm
There must be a catch in it, I assured m 1, as I Ilooked from my hotel
window onto the wide, brightly lighted main street with traffic darting between
lines of cars that put parking space at a premum.
I recalled the warning gven me by @ rich man in a Kansas city who
frowned upon the Chanute system. “You can’t. It's subterfuge to say
you do. It takes money to run the government and somebody has to pay it. If
a statement sent to you for payment is listed as gas. water, and electricity, and.
you pay it with money spent to keep up the city,’ it’ taxes, despite its trick
name.”
But Mayor H. W. Loy of Chanute dosen’t let that argument bother him.
A middled-aged man, with a sharp, straight nose, firm chin, and fedora hat,
set challengingly on the side of his long head, Mayor Loy is a characteristic
leader of men. His penetrating ‘eyes and his clean.cut enunciation are the same
as when he was first issuing crisp direcitons to bring order out of the hectic
boom oil fields where he was a successful operator. For Mayor Loy is first a
business man and second a politician. That is part of the explanation of
‘Chanute’s success with public owner-
ship.
He is typical of the commissioners
T met who work with him in handling
the affairs of the city. In the manage-
ment is a keen business sense and a
spirit of co.operation and local pride.
“We commisioners are in our city of-
ficeS every morning before we go on to
our own work, “the mayor assured me.
“People do not need to wait for the re-
gular weekly commissioners’ ' meeting
to see us about current business.” I
knew this was true, for I was meeting
Mayor Loy early in the morning.
We walked with an old man, long
employed by the city of Chanute, up a
gravel road lined with red roses, to.
ward a set - of chalk-white buildings
that were the Chanute waterworks.
The old man is in charge of the
plant and: very proud of his gardens
and aquarium and the reservoir that
is a sheet of silver in the floodlights
black eyes from an impassive wall.
“I fired these boilers for twenty-
two years,” he said. “And they made
Chanute a City the whole state’s proud
of and the whole world knows about.”
“Yes,” said Mayor Loy, “our whole
set-up has its roots right here in the
waterworks. Starting here, we have
built up a system that has made it
possible for Chanute citizens to be ex-
empt from paying any municipal taxes
for- the last three years—-1931, 1932,
and 1933. :
“This set-up wasn’t built in a day.
Nor was it contrived as a depression
measure. We have been able to have
three tax-free years just at a time
when such a relief is most welcome,
because of the normal growth of muni-
cipally owned public utilities, started
soundly many years ago.
“Municipal ownership began in
Chanute in 1894, when the- city, after
at night and clear as crystal in the |much haggling and indecision, erected
sun. a water plant at the cost of $44,000.
We moved over floors of spotlass| Today the water plant and distribut-
cement, glistening in their slate-like !ing system represent an investment of
$558 423, with wa bonded debt out.
standing of $139,861. This is being re-
tired at the rate of $16,000 a year from
the earnings of the plant.
“By 1899 five years of municipal
ownership of the water plat had con-
smoothness. We climbed down steep
lacy stairs of steel to an 'engine-room
that had an immaculate, metallic
cleanliness.
The old man tapped the iron firebox
doors that stared like two square,
If you live on a farm or outside the city insurance
limits you are eligible for
FARM BUREAU AUTO INSURANCE
I will be glad to show you how you, can save money in dollars
and cents if you are eligible.
GROVER C. STOCK
Wyoming R. BD. 3 'Phone Dallas 112-R-18
THE UNINSURED DRIVER IS BETTING HIS CAR, HIS FARM
AND HIS LIFE SAVINGS THAT HE WONT HAVE AN ACCIDENT,
— mm N,
Beware of Slippery Roads
Prepare for winter driving now by equipping your car with tires
that are built to meet all driving hazards.
Dupont ‘50
“the famous fifty thousand mile tire”
with its 252 shoulders of strength enable it to withstand severest
shocks and its MASSIVE TREAD furnishes traction for all road con-
dition. PRICED LOWER THAN OTHER FIRST LINE TIRES.
Dupont Super “6” -
4B0-20 0. ii nib tai $6.80
450-21 $7.08
115-19... a $7.55
KENYON TIRES
a six ply tire sold at prices unbelievable. A Deluxe
tire in the fullest sense of the word.
i]
ABR. imation $5.54
ABO-AL id $5.97
475-19 $6.15 |
Liberal allowance for your old tires.
SEE THEM - . EXAMINE THEM
AT
Hillside Tire Co,
Huntsville Road & Main Highway
Hillside, Pa.
(
vinced the town that it could handle
its citizens. So, by a vote of 389 to37,
a bond issue of $5,000 was approved
for the purchase of a privately owned
gas plant. The $5,000 was a down
payment on the $62,500 purchase
price. In three and a half years the
profits from the plant had paid the
whole bill and Chanute was on its way
to wholesale public ownership.
“In 1903 the municipal gas plant was
able to contribute $32,000 to buy a site
and install the first electrical generat-
ing equipment. Two locomotive-type
boilers were set up. In 1917 the ‘entire
plant was rebuilt with a bond issue of
$75,000. The last of this was retired
in 1930 by earnings from the plant, and
the building enlarged to accommodate
three 250-horsepower water tube boil.
ers and a b500-killowatt steam-driven
turbine unit. The earnings of the
plant paid for improvements costing
$148,000 from 1924 to 1928. Today it
is debt-free, with a reserve fund for
replacements and repairs amounting
to $40,246.
“So, you see the municipal gas and
electrical plants have paid for them-
selves, are debt.free, and have a work-
ing reserve more than adequate, while
only thirt yper cent of the elaborate
water-distributing system debt is out-
standing and the earnings are ade-
quate to retire this at the prescribed
rate.
“That is why we were able to meet
the depression with relief for taxpay-
ers.”
Many other cities throughout Kansas
PERG Era
Repaired and Re-
modeled at Ex-
tremely Low
Prices.
At
Z. Berlinski
70 Main Street
Luzerne, Pa.
Phone Kina 79228
The Good Old-fashioned
Bakers
want the good loose
Baking Molasses
and Table Syrup
that
GEORGE
HUEY
has sold for many
years
HUEY’S CORNERS
Kingston, Penna,
a
its own utilities to .the advantage of
THE DALLAS POST, DALLAS, PA., FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1933
The Taxless Town
Is Chanute A Model For Us?
have laid the foundation for a set-up
similar to Chanute’s. All but two of
the seventy.seven cities of the second
class in the state own and run their
water utilities. Great Bend and Mary-
ville are the only exceptions. Thirty-
seven of these seventy-seven cities
own and operate their electrical utili-
ties,
Colby, a smaller town of two thou-
sand, west of Chanute, was the pio.
neer of tax-free cities, even beating
Chanute. And other Kansas cities are
swinging in that direction, operating
their utilities, employing some of the
income for tax purposes, and material-
ly lowering their levies. Winfield, Be-
| loit, Osawatomie, Anthony and Min-
join
‘neapolis are almost to
“rg wy
ready
Chanute and Colby.
The average city tax levy for thir-
ty.seven cities in Kansas owning and
operating their electrical utilities & is
9.94 mills, while that of forty cities
with private ownership is 60.02 mills.
I heard it asserted that some of
these cities lose money on their utili-
ties—the eternal indictment that busi-
ness in the hands of politicians is in-
efficient. Whatever may be the case
elsewhere however, that certainly isn’t
true in Chanute.
It is a commission form of govern-
ment. Three commissioners, elected
by popular vote, with the mayor as
chairman of the triumvirate, control
* FOR GOOD OLD-TIME BEER
Stop At
FRANK HARTER’S
CAFE
Fernbrook, Penna.
PAGE SEVEN
’
Left: Mayor H. W. Loy, a business man first and a politician
second. He took Ben James around Chanute and proved that
there IS such a thing as a taxless town.
Below:
{ MUNIGIPAL LIGHT PLANT |
7 A EL CC
Their sal-
the operation of the city.
ary is twelve hundred dollars a year
each. All the present commissioners
have been in office several terms.
And the employees are not blown
hither and yon with the winds of poli.
tical fortune. I met many directors of
the city business who had held office
over a decade. The superintendent of
the gas works has been twenty-two
years on the job.
The man shook his head evenly.
“You're wrong.” he said. “Our rates
here are quite a bit below the average
of the state of Kansas.
“Here they are,” he said. “Compare
them with your own home rates,” And
Left: The office
building.
city
Below: Chanute’s muni-
cipal swimming pool.
Chanute’s city-owned electric and gas plants are
debt free and make profits for the ¢ity.
scale, from 25 cents down to 8 cents a
hundred cubic feet with a minimum
monthly charge of 50 cents.
“And if you're interested,” fhe added
“look in some of those magazines on
the table and you'll find rates in other
cities.” 3
I looked there and ran across the .
lowest gas rate. quoted in Kansas, at
McPherson. There the first two thou-
sand cubic feet was 50 cents, the next
fifty thousand 30 cents, the following
fifty thousand 25 cents, with a drop to
12 cents in excess of one million cubic
feet. AR
® * *
I pointed these out to my acquain-
tance. “I suppose it’s true that if we
weren't paying taxes out of our gas _
rates, they could be a trifle lower,” he
admitted. “But so long as we till
have a lower rate than a lot of cities
in the neighborhood and don’t” have
to pay taxes, we aren't kicking.”
I went next to the police station, un-
der the command of Chief Lindquist,
two hundred and twenty pounds of
muscle hung taut on a towering frame
a
A LS rs 4 ;
he pointed out the schedule on the! His strong jaws, hawk nose, and re.
back of his statement. “You see,” he
said, “our gas rates are among the
lowest in the Middle West. They are
on a ‘sliding scale.
“The, gas rate begins at 45 cents a
thousand cubic feet for the first ter
thousand cubic ‘feet. The next ten
thousand cubic feet is sold for 40 cents
a thousand, the following eighty thou-
sand cubic feet for 35 cents wa thou-
sand, while all over one hundred thou-
sand cubic feet is sold for 30 cents a
thousand. Of course industries using
large quantities of gas can make spe-
cial arrangements with nates even
lower than these,
“And here's our electric rates. For
domestic use they begin at 6 cents a
kilowatt hour for the first 50 kilowatts
and range downward to 5 cents a kil.
owatt for the next 50 kilowatts, and 4
cents for all in excess of 100 kilowatts
with a minimum monthly charge of
50 cents. And our power rates begin
at 3% cents a. Kilowatt and range
down as low as nine-tenths cent a kil-
owatt.
“Water rates too, are on a sliding
For Appointment 'Phone
Dallas 109-R-10
MARGARET’S
BEAUTY SHOPPE
Finger Waving, Especially,
and all other lines of
Beauty Work.
Carverton Rd. Trucksville, Pa.
ATLANTIC GAS & OIL
Candy - Milk
Cigarettes
Soda and Ice Cream
Jone’s, Service Station
HILLSIDE, PA.
termined eyes mark him as a man of
courage. And his city’s pride and ab-
ility to pay have equipped him with
ul the implements modern police need.
On top of his desk was a short-wave
adio transmitting ‘and receiving sta-
Lion. “We don’t have any automobile
stealing here” he told me. “Insurance
rates are low. Few automobile thieves
have gotten away from us in the past
five years.”
A terrifying arsenal was on display
in a glass case. “We can go them one
ed. ‘Besides our rifles and service
pistols, we have got this.” He opened
the case and laid before me a sub-ma.
chine gun, well oiled and glistening,
that would receive the polite respect of
any New York mobster.
“And see ‘these,” he said with par-
donable pride, displaying a box of
tear-gas bombs: i
Thaa was not all. I could try on
the bullet-proof vest, for that armor,
along with the steel shield. is a part
of the chief's equipment. And there
was a finger-print outfit and a sys.
tem of bank alarms . i
The fire station in the rear of the
great building was a flashing mass of
red and white enamel motor trucks
loaded with ladder and hose. In an
adjoining room was ‘a pool table for
the department’s. recreation. The
brass poles and metallic features of
the equipmentiglistened with the po-
lish that testified to diligent work.
The fire chief was preparing his men
(Continued on Page 8.)
Phone Dallas 90-R-7
For Reservations
FERNBROOK INN
HALLOWE'EN PARTY"
Schlitz Beer on Draught
Dancing—Everybody Welcome
McKEEVER’S
LENDING LIBRARY
And
HANDI SHOPPE
Everything for Hallowe'en
MAGAZINES
Trucksville, Pa,
Main Road
REE. W. 6. PAY. OFF.
Represented By
Mrs. F. P. Kunkle
R. F. D. No. 1, Dallas, Pa.,
'Phone 121-R-12
Write or phone for an appointment.
y
Eh | :
7/4
For Quick Service
and
Fine Workmanship
Have Your Shoes Repaired
SICURELLA’S
SHOE HOSPITAL
76 MAIN ST., LUZERNE. PA.,