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REAL ESTATE
AND
i^ BUILDERS
NEW YORK, OCTOBER 10, 1914
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RESPONSIBILITY FOR CITY EXTRAVAGANCE
I
Mandatory Legislation From Albany Has Limited the Power of the City
Government — Real Estate Board's Suggestion to Budget Committee.
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THE hearings before the sub-commit¬
tee on Tax Budget of the Board of
Estimate have brought out an unusual
amount of interest on the part of tax¬
payers. Or, to put it a little differently
and at the same time emphasize a very
important point, the interest taken by
taxpayers has reacted in wide public in¬
terest in this matter of apportionmg,
within the limits of reasonable economy,
the ainounts to be spent by the various
city departments in 1915.
The Real Estate Board, which is sub¬
mitting in concrete form sur^'^estions
and criticisms to the sub-committee hav-
ino- this matter in charge has, accortl-
ing to Laurence M. D. McGuire, presi¬
dent of the Board, received durinsr the
week many expressions of encourage¬
ment for its work along these lines.
Mr, McGuire has lost no opportunity to
make it plain that these daily sugafes-
tions submitted on the budget requests
are not criticisms of men, but of meth¬
ods.
"It is rather difficult," Mr. McGuire
says, "to present these concrete sug¬
gestions on the subject of economy, and
at the same time avoid wounding the
sensibilities of some official or group of
officials. But it would be most unfor¬
tunate, and certainly most undeserved on
the part of the Real Estate Board, if any
such construction should be placed on
the recommendations which, after all,
are merely in line with a definite policy
adopted by this Board and communicat¬
ed to the BoL.rd of Estimate some weeks
ago.
Not Common Scolds.
"It is unfortunately true that some
taxpayers have in the past been apt to
criticise in such general terms and so
insistently, that all taxpayers would al¬
most deserve it if the city officials had
come to regard them in the light of
common scolds.
"The Real Estate Board may be im¬
portunate, but it is trying not to be
vague. It is presenting a cause which
assuredly warrants persistence, and in
a manner that cannot but be approved
if a bill of particulars is what is desired.
"The Tax Budget Committee's hear¬
ings have been in progress two weeks.
There remains a great many depart¬
ments to be considered. It would be
almost impossible to cover so wide a
field as represented by the workings of
the various departments without mak¬
ing some recomm mdation or suggest¬
ing some method that would not be at
wide variance with official thought and
practice.
Delayed Estimates.
"It is also most unfortunate that, in
spite of the fact that the Charter in
Section 226 makes it mandatory that
Departmental estimates shall be pre¬
sented by Sept. 10. and that the Mayor
in June urged heads of departments to
have these estimates ready by July 1,
many of these estimates are not yet
ready, or were not ready up to a day or
two ago. This certainly does not give
the public that opoortunity for investi¬
gation that the Charter provision in¬
tended.
LAURENCE M. D. McGTJIRE,
President Real Estate Board.
"In several particulars our recommen¬
dations have been radical. City officials
are jealous of their authority, jealous of
their official menage, so to speak.
Economies do not always appeal to
them. Sometimes the inertia of depart¬
mental habit or custom stands in the
way of changes which if sugested as ap¬
plicable to others than themselves would
be considered highly desirable by de¬
partment heads.
"It is not surprising, therefore, that
the possibility of giving offense where
the sole purpose is to give real, though
not disinterested, assistance suggests it¬
self.
Wherfe Responsibility Rests.
"Upon one point, however, there
should be no misunderstanding. And
on this point taxpayers are apt to go
widely astray. Very few criticisms _ of
city expenditures make any distinction
between the responsibility which prop¬
erly rests upon city officials and that
which should be placed upon the State
Legislature. In other words, any criti¬
cism of the budget allowances which
does not take into account the portion
fairly attributable to mandatory legis¬
lation is manifestly unfair to the Eoard
of Estimate.
"It requires very minute analysis of
the City Budget to make an absolutely
clear division of what is mandatory and
what is not. Even after such an anal¬
ysis there might be some difference of
opinion. And there is also a further
separation of responsibility as between
the Board of Estimate as a whole and
its Chairman, as Mayor of the city.
"Let us see to what extent the Board
of Estimate is responsible and there¬
fore accountable for increases in the
budo-et. Just about a year ago City
Chamberlain Bruere, who was then a di¬
rector in the Bureau of Municipal Re¬
search, in an article in the Record and
Guide stated that after deducting the
items required for debt service. Board
of Education State taxes. County offi¬
ces, the City's contribution to the Police
pension fund and several other items
'there is left approximately $85,000,000
as the part of the budget over which the
Board of Estimate and Apportionment,
individually or collectively, has more or
less complete administrative jurisdic¬
tion.' This was based on the 1913 bud¬
get of $192,711,441.16.
"Let us take the 1914 budget for fur¬
ther analysis. This budget was $192.-
995,551.62. The verv largest item, that
of debt service. $52,611,517.65, is prac¬
tically beyond the control of the Board
of Estimate, as it represents bonds is¬
sued and obligations incurred by pre¬
ceding administrations. The following
is a reasonable statement of the amounts
for which the Board of Estimate is not
responsible, and the total for which it is,
as Mr. Bruere puts it, 'individually or
collectively' responsible:
Total Budget
1014.
$192,095,r>.'jl
Board of Estimate's responsibilitv.
Debt service ........... $52,611,517
Board of Education
(city's share)........ 28.170.400
Police Dep't............ 13,022.005
Fire Dep't............. 7.480.272
State tax.............. 4.57G.80:J
Deficiency in tax lew. . 2.500,00<1
Bellevue & Allied Hos¬
pitals ................ 1.400.0fi;i
Board of Elections...... 1..3o9.715
College City of N. Y. . . 684,9^3
Armory Board......... 309,615
Board of Aldermen and
City Cleric........... 301.218
Board of Coroners..... 159,598
.$113,415,.39S
Only nominally responsible for.
County charges:
New York............ .f'1,006.164
Kings ............... 1.860,5.50
Queens ............. 440,797
The B'ronx........... 273.941
Richmond ........... 139.712 $6,630,165
$120,045,.564
Leaves Board of Estimate re¬
sponsible for................ $72,049,987
"This is a liberal estimate. Probably
a closer analysis figured so as to include
resnonsibility for certain phases of ad¬
min'strative details where economies,
could be insisted on, would bring the
amount up to about $80,000,000. It is
true there are certain mandatory pro¬
visions for minor sums for charities and
special purposes, but these are not large
enough to affect the above estimate.
"This places responsibility on the
Board of Estimate for approximately
41 per cent, of the total budget. The
debt service represents another 27 per
cent. Mandatory legislation claims the
other 32 per cent.
"These facts the Real Estate Board
has tried to take full account of in mak¬
ing its recommendations to the Tax
Budget Committee, whose findings and
recommendations will be reviewed by
the Board of Estimate.
"We have also found it necessary,
however, to call attention to certain
conditions which it is not npw in the
povv^er of the Board of Estimate to
remedy.
"But we have done this with a definite
purpose. It is assumed that where these
recommendations have merit—and we
hope many of them have—the city of¬
ficials, in the interests of economy and
retrenchment, will either initiate or sup¬
port such legislation, or any necessary
constitutional amendments looking to
real Home Rule. Several of them have