Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: [v. 94, no. 2433: Articles]: October 31, 1914

Text version:

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