1923: Commissioners debate use of inheritance tax funds for Laurel road

Nov. 29, 1923

HARTINGTON — Residents of the southern part of the county, particularly near Laurel, Belden and Randolph, are demanding improvement of the Antelope Road, which is planned to extend from Sioux City to O’Neill, passing through the above mentioned three towns.

The Cedar County Board is being criticized in the southern end of the county for refusing to adopt a resolution, appropriating the $9,000 in inheritance tax received from the John Burns estate, to be matched with a like sum by the federal government. The $18,000 would be expended on the construction of a federal aid road for three miles east of Laurel, which is said to be the worst road in Northeast Nebraska.

The resolution asking that the money be appropriated was made by Commissioner A.B. Shively, but the motion to adopt was not seconded, so no action was taken.

Other members of the Board point to the fact that the law provides that inheritance tax money be paid into the county road fund, which is to be used for the benefit of the whole county. They hesitate to appropriate such a large sum to the benefit of just one district, they say, without further investigation.