The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-12-02

SAT- ,O9634
Mr.. Wagner, chairman Of the subcommittee
to whom the above statement was referred, made
long report in reference to the discrepancies
between the statement submitted by the Con-
troller and the one as amended by the commit
tee. The report states that the estimated re-
ceipts for 1870 of $40 000presented an apparent
discrepancy of over quarter of a million of
dollars, to the explanation of which your COM
mittee devoted special attention, and found that
Ivy some blunder in the records of the Control
ler's Department, brought down for many years,
this item, which should have contained only the
receipts from dividends on stock and interest on
bonds other than those issued or guaranteed by
the city of Philadelphia, and upon which only
the estimated yearly receipts were based, was
increased to more than double the annual esti-
mate by the addition of the interest and sinking
fund paid into the City Treasury by the Board of
Trustees of the City Gas Works, whose pay
ments again annually appeared under the head
of assets in another portion of the Controllers
statement, thereby misleading the Committee
on Finance in their calculations to the sum of
$300,00
The committee have increased the item of
receipts from dividends from S240,OOO to $780,
GOO, and state that we found that the city of
Philadelphia held in the sinking fund G7, 149
shares of the stock of the Pennsylvania Rail-
road Company, representing n par value OF
s., ,357, $50; and knowing that this company had
been paying annually dividends of 10 per cent.
in cash, we were surprised to find that the re-
ceipts from this item, as recorded upon the
which sum we found upon inquiry at the office
of the said company TO be made up rs fol-
lows-
Among the stock held there was of the sub
scrpton of the old city OF Philadelphia,
for which cash had been paid to the rail-
road company, 4O,G9O shares, dividend at
So per share. .s2O3,4
bonds OF said corporation had been given,
the interest of which is paid by the Penn
sylvana Railroad Company, and deducted
share ........................... 10000
thereon 1882 shares; DIVIDEND So per share. 2i,G6O
Subscription OF the District OF Spring Gar
den, $500, ,000-10,000 shares; dividend, 81
per share 10000
dend e5 per share. lO,685
Bonds cancelled, $4,000, at per cent. 6,900
Total dividends, at per cent: .s2S9, ,e45
To which add interest on bonds of the North
Pennsylvania Railroad Company, received
in exchange for the stock OF said Company,
about. SZOVO
Total .$5O4,64)
The column Estimated Receipts" for 1870 in
the Controllers Report has been increased
| $4,000 from dividends and State appropria-
| tions to public Schools and reduced $9300 leav
| ing the estimated receipts at ", ,564 345.
In reference TO taxes levied and remaining
unpaid, the committee say, 1--WE would call your
most serious consideration, feeling satisfied that
| the future solvency or bankruptcy of the city
| depends upon the satisfactory or unsatisfactory
| solution of this question. We find that the tax
| duplicates for any current year issue about Feb
| ruary l5 of that year, and close upon January
l5 of the following year. All bills unpaid at the
latter date are then registered, 1. e., copied into
| new books, from which abstracts of bills,
| amounting to no more than $4,000 tany one time
| are made and placed in the hands OF collectors
| of outstanding taxes, one in eace ward in the
| city, who are required to give $4,000 security
| approved by the Court Of Common Pleas, and
| who are expected to make returns of moneys
| collected once in each week.
| They are paid by certain legal costs and a
| commission upon the amount collected, and
| have power to proceed by distraint against par
| ties in arrears. just previous to the expiration
| of five years from the 3lst day of December of
| the year in which the taxes were levied, the So
licitor of the Receiver of Taxes, appointed by
! himself, and entirely independent of the City
| Solicitor, prepares and files liens against the
| properties upon which taxes are unpaid. For
| example: your committee found the Solicitor of
the present Receiver, on their visit to his Office
| to-day, actively engaged in preparing liens for
taxes levied in 1864, and unpaid at this ii ne. BY
| reason of the long delay six years-from the
date of levy to the date of filing of the lien, and
| because of the careless manner in which many
| properties are assessed, and the unavoidably in
complete condition of the records in the Registry
Bureau it is found in many cases impossible 10
describe with the accuracy required by law the
property to be liened; and the lien filed against
j is void for informality.
We have been unable to find, from the records
of the city, that any property has OF late years
| been sold for unpaid taxes, and from the figures
presented above 1t Is apparent that any man
deerOus of evading the payment OF taxes has
full opportunity TO do so successfully, provided
he can keep the collector of outstanding taxes o.
his ward In q good humor and provided he haG