Please note: this text may be incomplete. For more information about this OCR, view
About OCR text.
REAL ESTATE
AND
NEW YORK, OCTOBER 31, 1914
THE CITY BUDGET IS LESS THAN EXPECTED
Recommendations of Taxpayer Organizations Received With Serious Atten¬
tion at Public Hearings — A Tax Rate of $1.92 For Manhattan Indicated
WHILE a city budget, estimated now
at $204,000,000, is not a pleasant
prospect, it is such an improvement over
the original departmental estimates of
$210,000,000 that taxpayers feel consider¬
ably relieved.
Both the sub-committee on tax bud¬
get, to whom specific, written, recom¬
mendations were made by the Real Es¬
tate Board, and the Board of Estimate
itself have given the closest scrutiny to
the budget. The public hearings be¬
fore the Board of Estimate on Monday
and Tuesday last provided further op¬
portunities for suggestions and recom¬
mendations.
In the main these recommendations
made by the Real Estate Board and
other taxpayer organizations received
the serious attention of the Mayor and
his colleagues; and while serious dif¬
ferences of opinion developed on some
points, the Mayor more than once took
occasion to commend the representa¬
tives of taxpayer organizations for the
work done by them on the budget. But
even with the reductions already in
sight, a $204,000,000 budget means a tax
rate of 1.92 in Manhattan, 1.91 in the
Bronx, 1.98 in Brooklyn, 1.94 in Queens
and 2.04 in Richmond; and in the latter
borough assessments will add 30 points
to this.
A Plan for Further Reduction.
In view of these facts the Real Estate
Board has suggested to the Board of
Estimate the following plan for fur¬
ther reducing the tentative budget to
an amount not greatly in excess of the
$193,000,000 appropriated for 1914.
"Fi'-st: Inasmuch as the Comptroller
is about to fund $13,000,000 of deficien¬
cies in taxes by the issuance of Cor¬
porate Stock, would it not be advisable
to place in the budget the average
amount placed annually therein for defi¬
ciencies—about $2,500,000—and in this
way reduce the budget by $5,700,000?
"Second: In regard to the borough
assessments, amounting to nearly $1,000,-
000, would it not be advisable to divide
them into five installments under the
Gerhardt bill, thereby efTecting a reduc¬
tion ill the budget of $7,000,000?
''Third: There would be no impro¬
priety in withholding the appropriation
of $26,000 from the Board of Inebriety;
$6,225 from the Municipal Art Commis¬
sion; and $19,000 from the Ptiblic Recrea¬
tion Commission. The work of the lat¬
ter commission can be done by the rec¬
reation bureau of the Park Department
and the recreation bureau of the Board
of Education.
"Fourth: The elimination of labora¬
tory service would effect a large sav¬
ing. This work is being done by the
Rockefeller Laboratory and there could
be a very large saving in the special
I work of the Department of Health.
"Fifth: It is highly probable that all
supervision of buildings will very soon
Ibe placed under a proposed Department
of Buildings, with enlarged powers. This
V plan has public and official support. No
appropriation, therefore, need be made
for more than six months for the Tene¬
ment House Department. Bureau of Fire
HON. WM. A. PRENDERGAST
Comptroller of the City of New York
Prevention and the inspection force in
the Department of Water Supply, Gas
and Electricity and the Board of Health.
The additional expense of the new build¬
ing department when ascertained can be
made by an issue of Special Revenue
Bonds, and the same procedure for the
second six months could be followed
if the plan for a new Building Depart¬
ment were not carried through."
If these changes are made, the budget
will not greatly exceed that of last year
and the difference could be partially made
up by the taxes on the increased valua¬
tions.
The Real Estate Board, looking fur¬
ther into the future, and recognizing that
in many important matters the hands of
the Board of Estimate are tied by man¬
datory legislation and charter provisions
which encourage waste and inelTiciency,
has also made the following specific rec¬
ommendations for the consideration of
the Board of Estimate:
Home Rule Very Necessary.
First: That absolute home rule for
the City of New York be secured from
the coming Legislature and Constitu¬
tional Convention.
Second: That an investigation be had
to determine whether it would not be
possible and practicable to make the fol¬
lowing changes in the city government:
1: To transfer the duties of the Com¬
missioners of Accounts to the newly-cre¬
ated Bureaus of the Board of Estimate
and the Comptroller's office.
2: To make the Comptroller city treas¬
urer and abolish the office of the City
Chamberlain.
3: To have one central purchasing
plant, preferably by enlarging the powers
of the Commissioners of the City Record
and a Central Auditing Bureau under the
control of the Board of Estimate, pos¬
sibly as part of the Bureau of Contract
Supervision.
4: To create a Bureau in the Comp¬
troller's office, - or directly under the
Sinking Fund Commissioners, to be
known as the Bureau of City Income.
This bureau to have jurisdiction over
licenses, weights and measures and
other related sources of city income.
5: To transfer the collection of water
rates to the Comptroller's office, so that
the property owner can pay his water
taxes where he pays his other taxes. The
reason for this suggestion is that the
Comptroller's office, as far as the col¬
lection of taxes is concerned, has com¬
paratively little to do except around the
period when taxes fall due.
6: That one commissioner be substi¬
tuted for the present number in the Park
Department and that there be one Ad¬
ministration Department for all the
parks.
7: That one commissioner be substi-
tiited for the present number in the Mu¬
nicipal Civil Service Commission.
8: That the Department of Health be
charged only with the making of and
enforcement of sanitary regulations.
9: That all social activities of the
city be transferred to the Department of
Charities and that most of the social
work be done through the local district
settlement and church organizations.
10: That there be but one adminis¬
trative department for all the public
libraries.
11: That the auditing bureau and sup¬
ply department of the Board of Educa¬
tion be transferred to the City Record
and the new Auditing Bureau.
12: That the head of the Correction
Department be made merely Superin¬
tendent of City Prisons.
The Figures in Detail.
The Board of Estimate has until
twelve o'clock to-night, Oct. 31, to de¬
cide upon the final figures, so far as
lies within the board's power, and then
the Board of Aldermen will have twenty
days to consider the appropriations, btit
with no power to enlarge them. At the
hearings held at City Hall on Monday
and Tuesday, the Mayor, the Borough
Presidents and all the other members of
the Board of Estimate were present, and
standing behind their chairs' in a great
semi-circle, ready with advice and in¬
formation, were the heads of the vari¬
ous administrative departments.
The accompanying table shows the
tentative increases and decreases:
Final
appropriations
for 1914
$125,437,549.82
52.611.517.65
2,500,000.00
5.296,303.43
520,015.06
3.ni>6.1B4.34
273.941.68
1,860,550.31
449,797.00
139,712.33
City gov'ment.
Debt service. ..
Deficiency.......
Rent and State
taxes .........
Borough assess¬
ments.........
New York
County .......
Bronx County. ...
Kings County.. .
Queens County...
Richmond County
Tentative
budget
for 1915.
$124,919,972.62
62.162.381.04
8,200,000.00
858,471.00
954..549.96
3.S13.666.41
701,904.46
1,907,122.52
465,046.74
146,326.69
If the total assessed valuation of the
city remains in the neighborhood of
$8,400,000,000 the tax rates for 1915 will