Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-03-21

Mr.. King, of the Fourth ward, moved to
strike out the item of S10,0 900 for paving
Duquesne way, and inserting the same sum
10 repave Penn avenue from Fifth street
westwardlv. The amendment was lost. Mr..
King, nothing dismayed, made the same
motion in regard TO Water street. and was
voted down again. No changes were made
in the schedule.
At this point the Chair announced a COM
munication from Controller Morrow. which
he proceeded to read. 1t was as follows:
Controller Morrow's Little Warning.
To the Select and Common Council:
GENTLEMEN-I desire to direct the attention
of your honorable bodies especially to the items
of miscellaneous receipts and city tax of cur
rent year, as reported by the Finance Com
mittee in the pending appropriation ordinance.
The brief time at co:n:nand is insufficient to
enable me to obtain from the committee an ex-
PLANTATION of the sources of revenue which will
bring the niscellaneous items to the amount
they estimate. which is sl36 coo more than was
received last year, and 1 have no information
which will lead me TO expect any increase in
the item whatever.
The amount the committee estimates from
city tax is based upon an allowance of only
slO7,OC0 for discounts. lost taxes and taxes not
colleCtabe before the end of the fiscal year.
This, in my opinion, guided by my own and the
experience OF all lOrner OOnIrOllerS, is not nalI
sufficient especially as the committee estimates
the revenue from uncollected taxes of previous
years at abOlt the full strength of the receipts,
thus depriving themselves of every margin of
safety to maize their aggregate estimates good.
Without the latter item the Sl07, ,00U referred
TO might pass without comment, bur as the
items water rents, engineering and liquor
licenses are in my opinion $4,000 too large,
cannot but form deficit on the face of the
bill as reported by the committee of hardly
less than SSU0.000
Now, as any proposed curative legislation
which the city may obtain in relation to the
street and sewer assessments may itself be set
aside by the Supreme Court, thus finally i'm
posing upon her debt of perhaps 81, 500, ,000 it
seems to me unwise TO permit now certain
deficiency OF so large amount as the ordinance
before you will make. In this situation. you
should sufficiently increase the rate of tax to
meet the appropriations reported from COM
mittee, or else correspondingly cut down the
appropriations to figure which the present
rate of tax will produce. Respectfully
T. s. MORROW, Controller.
Estimated Receipts All Approved.
The letter was received and filed and esti-
mated receipts were taken I'D. They were
all approved The only point raised was by
Mr.. Ferguson, who ridiculed the estimate
of 81, 900 for all the street railways, when
vehicles, which have to pay S45, 600 in
licenses, have to get out of the street car
way.
The ordinance was then taken up in proper
form. The millage as published in yester-
days DISPATCH was approved except the
o:d city special tax of 40 mills. This was
stricken out, as the debt has been paid.
The ordinance was passed finally by
vote of 3S ayes TO no noes and Council ad-
journed.