Message of Governor O. B. Colquitt to the thirty-second legislature of Texas. Page: 8 of 24
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-8ments
of me in this regard to the full extent that the Legislature
may supply to the Governor the means with which to do so. The
Constitution imposes upon the Governor the duty to "cause the laws
to be faithfully executed." This requirement shall be faithfully met
by me in the manner prescribed by the Constitution, in no fainthearted
way, but with vigor and firmness.
REVENUE AND FINANCES.
The State's finances are always of the first importance in the
administration of public affairs. I shall not attempt now to discuss
this important subject at length. When I am in position to
gather some data and information which is difficult for me to obtain
at the time of writing this mesage, I shall probably discuss the
revenues and their disbursement more comprehensively. It is most
difficult to arrive at an accurate conclusion as to what the revenues
will amount to which can be applied to the expenses of the State
for the present fiscal year as already provided for the appropriation
bill passed by the Thirty-first Legislature. Our fiscal year
ends with August 31, while the assessments are made with reference
to calendar years. Hence the difficulty in estimating what
may come into the treasury to meet current appropriations.
The assessed values for 1909 were $2,309,803,626. The ad valorem
tax rate for general revenue purposes for that year was five cents
on the hundred dollars of value. At this rate the total possible
revenue derivable from the assessed values was $1,154,901.81 and the
total collected of this sum, together with what was collected from
delinquents and insolvents amounted to $1,566,837.78. The total
revenues collected from all other sources amounted to $2,479,202.66,
a total from all sources of $4,046,040.44.
For 1910 the values, as shown by the Comptroller's statement,
were $2,388,500,124. The automatic tax board has fixed the rate
at four cents on the hundred dollars. The total possible revenue
from the 1910 assessments will be $955,400.04. If a like per centage is
collected on assessments and from delinquents and insolvents as
was collected for 1909, the total revenue to the general fund from
ad valorem taxes for use in the fiscal year ending August 31, 1911,
will be $1,367,336.61 as against $1,566,837.78 for last fiscal year.
If the collections from occupation taxes and all other sources, for
this fiscal year, equal those for the last fiscal year, the total revenue
available for this year's expenses will be $3,846,539.27. The total
amount carried by the regular appropriation bill passed by the
Thirty-first Legislature, for the present fiscal year, is $3,877,353. The
appropriations made by the third and fourth special called sessions,
payable out of the revenues for this fiscal year, amount to $71,246.66
or a total of $3,948,599.66. To this sum must be added the cost of
the present session of the Legislature and such other special appropriations
as it may make for expenditure during this fiscal year.
The average cost of a regular session of the Legislature for the last
eight sessions is $130,645.64; and this, added to the total sum already
required to meet expenses, is $4,079,245.30, with a total posible
revenue of $3,846,539.27 to pay it with, leaving a prospective
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Colquitt, O. B. Message of Governor O. B. Colquitt to the thirty-second legislature of Texas., book, 1911; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth5834/m1/8/: accessed April 20, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .