County Finances in Shambles
A scathing report reveals Chehalis County is $105,000 in debt while local officials draw high salaries.
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.
The annual report of Auditor Boyington is a clear statement of all the receipts and expenditures of the county for the year ending June 30, 1894. It serves as an indictment of the Republican party, who are responsible for an extravagance that has involved the county in a debt of $105,000 and an annual tax levy of a quarter of a million dollars. Of that massive annual levy, the county has only $5,785 available for debt reduction; the rest is tied up in special funds. Meanwhile, officials in this sparsely settled county continue to draw salaries and enjoy office expenses totaling $35,000 a year. Taxpayers and voters, what do you think of it? Are you going to allow these officeholders to continue fattening at the public crib while the county's credit becomes a by-word and reproach?
“What are you going to do about it? The Republicans evidently think they can fool the majority of you continually.”
Budget transparency and the critique of administrative overhead in local government remain perennial issues in Grays Harbor County politics. This 1894 report reflects a long-standing tension between rural taxation and the perceived luxury of municipal office-holding.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.