The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1889-07-26
TO BUILD NEW SCHOOLS.
Mayor Cleveland Has a Plan
to Meet the City'S Need.
A LOAN BASED ON LICENSE TAXES.
His Honor Explains In a Letter to
President Voorhees,.

Mayor Cleveland has sent the following
letter to President John j. Voorhees, of the
Board of Education, in which His Honor
states plan for meeting the city's evil
dent need of new school buildings. The
Board will consider the subject next
Tuesday.
President John j. Voorhees,
1t is so well known that the public
school buildings in this city are entirely
inadequate, that the proposition needs no
discussion. The difficulty has been to
raise the money needed to put up new
buildings.
Under the Act known as the Martin Act,
the collection of taxes cannot be enforced
in any city where the rate of taxation, Tor
all purposes, is over three per cent. on the
amount of property assessed, and with
the rateables returned by the former as
SCISSORS it was impossible to raise the
amount of money absolutely necessary for
the daily needs of the different depart
ments of the city government. and stiu
keep the ratio below the legal limit.
Some of the departments have not had
the appropriations necessary to make
them as sufficient as they ought to have
been during the past three years, and L
give them due credit for doing the very
best they could with what was given 10
them.
1t will be seen from this how impossible
it has been to appropriate money LOT
school buildings. There has not been
money enough in that department to fur
nish the children with books, and they
have had to buy them for themselves.
Seeing this, the new charter was made to
provide, in Section 20, for the setting aside
of one-quarter of all moneys received Tor
licenses for the sale of liquors, to be used
exclusively for the CONSTRUCTION and fur-
Il. I f,, y, I1J1k1I
Department" +" which will amount TO S5O,-
600 year, or thereabouts, or enough to
build and furnish one frst-class school
building each year.
But we need the money now, not two,
three, or four years from now. 10 make
available more than enough to build one
each wear so that three or four of the old
buildings can be rebuilt, and new build
ings be put up at once where they may oe
most needed, | respectfully recommend
that YOU call together the Board of Edu-
cation and suggest for their approval the
preparation of bill to be presented
to the next session OF the Legis,
lature, which shall authorize the Board
of Finance to issue S30O,OOO of pubhc
school bonds having not more than ten
wears to run, and at rate of interest not
to exceed four and half per cent, to be
disposed of at not less than par, the pro-
ceeds to be devoted to the repairs, con
SIrucI1Ol anu VI Aot
the Public School Department, with such
other provisions as may be deemed wise
and proper To pay the principal and in
terest of these bonds the one-quarter part
of all moneys SO received for licenses
granted by the city would be pledged.
This, at the present volume of licenses,
will pay the interest and principal of the
bonds before maturity, and would pro-
vide for their payment, even if the num-
ber of licenses should be considerably
less than at present, which Is hardly
likely to be the case. By this plan you
will, at the earliest moment, give to our
people the most ample accommodations
for the public schools without burdening
the tax levy for single dollar.
Ineed not mention the advantage IN the
growth of the city, of ample and first
class accommodations for the public
schools; how the present accommodations
have driven away even many who had al
ready settled here, and prevented many
thousands from coming, because. you
know well all about that. Every large
property owner knows it, and the people
who have children to send to school know
it with great regret. All this may be
changed rapidly with the plan / suggest,
and Jersey City become known as the
city above all others with first-class build
ings and ample accommodations for the
public school children. Very respect
fully. OREsTEs CLEVELAND.