Items of Interest June 5, 1915 Issue

Items of Interest

The proposal to establish an approximation of the single tax in Denver, Col., was defeated in the recent election by more than two to one. According to unofficial returns, the vote was 27,125 to 7,988. The election was held under a provision of the state constitution, which permits charter cities to exempt personal property and improvements on land from taxation (excepting one mill) for city purposes. The city tax rate in Denver is now 5,744 mills. To make up the revenue that would have been lost by reducing this tax to 1 mill on personal property and land improvements, it was proposed to raise the tax on land and public utility franchises, and the rate on land, it was estimated, would have been about 11.5 mills.

The latest annual tax on land and franchises was given as $1,048,769, and on personal property and improvements as $1,270,196. If the amendment had passed, these figures would have been changed, it is estimated, to $2,097,831 on land and franchises, and $221,834 on personal property and land improvements.

Pittsburgh, Pa., long known as "the smoky city," is gradually eliminating its smoke nuisance. Experts at Mellon Institute have studied causes and conditions and proposed ways and means of meeting the difficulty. Careless firing was found to be the chief contributing cause of the nuisance, and experts proceeded to teach the city how to fire properly. In consequence, there is said to be little indifferent firing now. A year ago it was estimated that Pittsburgh was spending at least ten million dollars annually in trying to keep clean. The annual soot fall in the city was as high as 1.95 tons to the square mile. Visibility in the city was reduced to one tenth of that of the open country, and active sunlight was reduced by one half. Practically all this has been changed, and the city now has a sky-line that stands out clear and distinct. There is much natural beauty about Pittsburgh, because of its rugged topography. It is built upon hills that are surrounded by other and higher hills. These have been obscured, but now they can be seen.

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