The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-04-27
Anoth~ OF comptroIisr Green's Tricks
An Artful Bill.

Comptroller Green has placed before the
Legislature, through the medium OF Senator
Booth, bill purporting on its face to be de-
signed 70 decrease the rate OF taxation for the
current year, 1876. This is fraudulent pre-
tence. Such is not the object of the bill, as
an examination OF its provisions viii immedl-
ately show, and such would not be its effect if
1t should be suffered to become law.
The first section of the bill authorizes the
Comptroller to deduct from the gross amount
Of the tax levy of the present year, as finally
passed by the Board Of ApportionmeDt, such
amount Of estimated revenues of the general
fund, and Of interest to be received on assess
ments during 1875, as he now calculates will
be realized, instead of the amounts of such
estimated revenues as have already been de-
Quoted by the Board Of Apportionment. Mr.
Green gives as his reason for this pro-
vision the alleged fact that the rev.
enues will be larger than he estimated
they would be in December last and he
processes to be anxious to deduct the increased
amount from the final estimate in order that
| the burden of the taxpayer shall be lightened
| The imposition is too transparent to deceive
any person of ordinary intelligence. The
estimated revenues now deducted from the
final estimates are three million dollars. If
| Mr.. Green should have made an error of half
million dollars it would prove him to be
grossly ignorant of the affairs of his depart
ment. But this amount would not save the
taxpayer one-seventeenth of one per cent III
this years tax levy. Besides, it is we'll known
that there is and always will be deficiency
in the tax levy and any surplus of the city
revenues above the amount deducted from
the final estimate by the Board of Apportion-
ment would be used 10 pay the yearly appro-
priations left deficient by the failure to col
lect the whole amount of the tax levy.
| Mr.. Green does not tell MS how much
the city revenues will realize over and
above the amount estimated in December
but, whatever the amount may be. its deduc-
ton from the tax levy would not. benefit the
/ taxpayer or decrease the expenses of the
year by fraction of cent, and the false
representation that it would do SO proves that
the Comptroller has some real object covered
up in the bill introduced by Senator Booth
which he desires to conceal from the public.
! The second section of the bill is of an
! equally deceptive character. In the tax levy
of the present year is included little over
one million and half dollars to pay the
city's liability for the Fourth avenue i'm
provement. The second section proposes to
lay over until next year seven hundred and
fifty thousand dollars of this amount and to
authorize the Comptroller to issue revenue
bonds, in anticipation of the receipt of
taxes, for the balance remaining in this years
tax levy. Even if the ''bridging over"
policy were not Objectionable the amount
thus postponed until next year would
make such an insignificant reduction in the
taxation of the present year-only about one
sixteenth of one per cent on the assessed
valuations-as to afford no manner of relief
to the taxpayer. The power to issue revenue
bonds in advance OF taxation is already pos
sessed by the city, and is only made part of
this section. to aid in the deception attempted
| by Mr.. Green by giving seeming Importance
to the bill.
| These two sections being deceptive and
valueless we look for the real object of the
bill in section three. This section is a mis-
1 chievous one and improper to be passed. 1t
provides that all balances OF appropriations
! made for the year 1873 and for all previous
years, remaining unexpended at the time of
| the passage OF the act, shall be discontinued
and declared to be lapsed into the treas
ury." 1t also provides that all balances
for the year 1873 and subsequent years,
which shall remain unexpended for
two years after the year for which
the appropriations were made, shall in like
manner be discontinued and declared to be
| lapsed into the treasury All the efforts Of
the Board Of Apportionment the Mayor and
| the Common Council have failed to extort
4 from Dir. Green clear statement of the un-
| expended balances Of former years and of the
disposition that has been made of them
1 There has been an evident anxiety on the
part Of the Comptroller TO prevent any inves-
tgation of tins portion of his accounts. The
| bill he now sends to the Legislature would
discontinue all such unexpended balances,
declare them elapsed into the treasury" and
thus cover up the tracks of the Comptroller
and enable him TO prevent any further inves-
tigation in this direction. This is, beyond
doubt, the real, although secret object of the
bill he has now sent to the Senate. Ii the
amount required for the payment of in
terest on the city debt should at any time
have been falsely stated, aud the money appro-
priated for that purpose in any year improp-
erly and illegally used in a manner forbidden
by the charter, the Booth bill would obstruct
discovery or probably prevent the punish
ment OF such dangerous offence against the
law. So If other appropriations should have
been unlawfu.ly used in manner unauthor-
lied by the Board Of Appointment in the
city estimate and apportionment, the perpe-
traitors of the nisdemeanor would intcrpose