11-22-1932 VCM SPECIAL - Laserfiche WebLink

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e rhe 1-'o'Ner Company nlso calls ati~enticn to .he bavy pe~ capita d~bt that.this bond issue would bring. All . people who vall consl.der the matter will realize that they ~ow.have a.2er capita debt for a light plant even though l.t l.8 not, l.n the form of municipal bonds and it is probabl'( rn?stl~T water, As ~early as we can gather frow. the figures gl.v~n in Mood~'s Utility Report, the Power Company figures ~rhel.r prop:rt~es at a value o~ approximately ~130,OCO~ !Ve are stt l.SflecL from the Englnecr' s rerort tha. t the actual value of the properties is $25 COO..CC, The citizens should also remember that municipalities do retire their debts and that the interest item is annually decreasing, whereas the Power Companies have never made it a practice to retire a single bond or share of stock, but instead to heavily overcapitalize their properties and to ask the courts to permit them to charge rates sufficient to pay 7% on such over_valuation, l'40st of us have written clown: the value of our homes business establishments and farms by 50% or more in the iast few years amd the power compau- ies have bcen one of thc fcw in(tustries which have not ' done this, Once the plant is paid for by a municipality, rates can be further reduced and still the earnings of the plant will be sufficient to aid in reducing taxes, Another fact that the Powcr Company has not men_ tioned is that a town with a mmnicipal plant has a val_ uable asset and I am certain that not onc of the towns listed in this article would sell their plants for less than $1000,000 and from that up to $250,OOO~ Private utilities arc only too glad to purchase municipal plants an~ my past experience which extends over a period of sevcnteen years inmmunicipal work makes me feel certain that should Elk Kiver at any time decide it was wise to sell its municipal plant, should one be bliilt, that it can be readily sold at more than enough to pay all in~ dcbtedness against it, Bach ~Tear a town haG a municipal plant, it is crsatin for itself a valuable asset, whereas I'd th the service furnished b:y a pri vat e compan~r they are always building for the compan~ and not themsclves. This article ha~ been taken up with the advantages of a municipal plant as it is the municipal plant idea 0li which the Power Company has been attacking most strongly in their statements, It should be remembcred by the citizens of Ji.lk River when voting that they are cooperat- ing with their Councilf elected to repr~sent thcm, in protectin~ their own interests by securlng lowcr rates and that the bonds when voted will not be a bur-den on any tax paycr. Nhen the election has carried, the _ ~o';illcil 6--. can accept lower rates in line with modern COnC1l.tlons, FailinB to secure such proper rates, the Village can then either build a distribution system only and purchase current or can build a mO~Lcrn plant adE'iqnate to the neecls of Elk River which will furnish this service at reasonable rates. . t i' 1 The Villagc of Elk River constl.tu ea a mun c~pa corporation with certain definite powers, and th: V111agc Council consti~utes the Board of Directors of t~l.S cor_ poration. As such Board of Directors, the Councl.l has freely spent of its time and effort to ~a!e money for the citizens by reducing the cost of electrl.cl.ty and are go_ ing before the people December Eth for the necebsary a~thority to proceed with their program, From the tabu~ lation of the ten towns betwcen 1000 and 2000 before gl.VBN) t'h e y,;.-L- -4_, "-Yl,ers can r~cc that e e