The Price of Early Seattle: A Tax Deadline
A crisp warning from the City Treasurer reminds 19th-century residents that the clock is ticking on the 1878 tax bill.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
OFFICE OF CITY TREASURER. Seattle, July 1st, 1878. The Tax List for the City of Seattle, for the year 1878, is now in my hands and due. All taxes not paid on or before December 1st, 1878, will be returned delinquent and a percentage added. J. M. BLANCHARD, City Treasurer.
“All taxes not paid on or before December 1st, 1878, will be returned delinquent and a percentage added.”
While the 1878 tax deadline feels like a relic of a smaller, simpler town, the anxiety surrounding property tax levies remains a central, often contentious, pillar of civic life in modern Seattle. The threat of a penalty for delinquency persists today, illustrating the enduring nature of municipal revenue struggles.
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