Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-01-15

Il have seven clerks. whom ] pay
S,6o5, and the additional expense OF my
office is about Ss5 for POSTAGE
"Thcse clerks do the work for both the
city and the State do they not?'
yes. sir"
could you properly conduct your Of
fee with a smaller forcc?"
mo. sir. We have just as much as
we can do to get up our assessments
| by June 1st. The city and state both
save by our arrangement We have 10
have two men In the Office all the time
to list the work done by the men who
are not assessing"
what are your office hoursy
IL believe under the ordinance as 1t now
| exists they are from A. NJ. until 10 A.
J NJ. Qaughter) That ordinance was
! adopted many years ago. when the Com
missioner was supposed to be on the
streets assessing property, except one
| hour each day"
Colonel Munford went on to say that MS
office did a great deal OF work after the
] fst Of June in the way of looking up new
properties and incoming revenue, and re-
spending TO complaints made about as
sossments made in the previous three
months. lie remarked that these things
required as much time almost as the
regular period for assessing did. and said
I
/ his clerks 20 one half of the year ana
keep them employed the other. When
/ asked how much he paid his clerks. the
! Commissioner replied that he paid one OF
! them 1880 and the others about Sl.OO
each.
THE CITY COLLECTOR.
The next martyr was Captain Frank
| w. Cunningham. the City Tax-Collector
| who reviewed the history OF his connec-
! tion with this Office. He read from a
| prepared statement much about the ope-
rations OF his office. saying that he had
| TO make out $500 real estate bills year,
| each containing from one to fifty items;
! q. .27O personal-tax bills; 1,75O license-tax
bills: 1900 sewer-tax bills. and 5000 split
bills. Captain Cunningham explained
| that these real estate bills had to locate
the property giving the number Of feet.
! culvert-tax etc: had to be backed. and
| each bill had TO be handled about six
different times, and then the proper en-
tries had to be made upon the books.
The Collector said. even after all this
work was done. he had TO pake up the
! delinauent lists. and he did not receive
| n copper for any work he did, save upon
/ bills paid to him.
He was interrogated as TO his depu-
| ties. and stated that he only had one
| regular UtDulNf MtlDiii iN le''Nt f'f'NN ~
wear adding that for about fifteen days
| in each year. from the 1st to the 18th of
June he always employed about ten per-
/ sons TO assist him in getting out his bills
/ in the prescribed time Besides this it
was necessary for him TO have a first
class man in the months of June and
| July. and December and January.
| "What revenue do you derive from
your Officer was the question propound-
| ed by Chairman Allen, at the usual
point.
no perauisites whatever If man pays
me 81 900 in taxes, when l turn that in to
the Auditor he gives me back &.25.
great many people have erroneous ideas
about how much ] receive for collecting
| taxes"
what is your income from the office
a year. approximately
About $500"
How much are your office expenses"
About $1,000 possibly little over
that" replied Captain Frank.
The line of inquiry here turned to de-
linguent taxpayers, and the Collector
| explained that there were even paupers
ON the tax-lists. but this could not be
! avoided as the State laws required IT,
Some one asked If keeping these on the
list did not cost the city something, and
| Captain Cunningham answered by say
| ing that the city was bound to pay the
| Commissioner of Revenue 5-S of l per
| cent upon all the taxes charged against
| them. The Collector added that he was
only allowed commissions upon bills coz
| lected He took occasion to remark
| that the largest proportion Of delinquent
bills were in Jackson Ward, where only
about 10 per cent of the personal taxes
were paid and only a little larger per-
centage of the real estate bills.
REPORT ON BROAD STREET.
After pursuing the matter of the rela-
tive delinquency in the several wards for
some time, the committee excused Cap
| tain Cunningham, and took up the re-
| port of the subcommittee appointed to
| formulate the report on the condition of
Broad street. Here 1t is. in full:
Richmond, Va, January II, 1887.
| To the Committee on Retrenchment and
Reform:
Gentlemen,-Yo subcommittee, ap-
pointed to draft a report of the matters
concerning the condition of Broad street
| respectfully submit the following:
1--WE are of the opinion that the pre-
| sent condition Of Broad street resulted
! primarily from the laying OF four tracks
on said street. and the immediate cause,
which we arrive at from statements
made by the City Engineer, resulted
from the action of the Council in adopt
ing an ordinance providing for four
| tracks. contrary to the Engineers re-
commendation that there should be only
two tracks and therefore, when subse-
auent TO his plans for two tracks in
| the centre Of the street, an ordinance
| was passed for two additional tracks
for the City Railway Company, the con-
| ditions as now existing were produced,
| and could not have been avoided on
| account Of the general warped surfaces
from square TO square of the street. II
the warped conditions had been followed,
similar cuts would have occurred
! wherever such warped surfaces existed.
From the testimony of the former
Committee on Streets, we learn that
they relied on the City Engineer in the
matter Of lines and plans, and that they
| were not advised that the street would
be left in the present condition
THE ENGINEERS POSITION.
In this connection. we respectfully
ouote the following from letter under
date of December 2S 1856, of the City
| Engineer:
"The franchises given to the Traction
! Company August, 1895, did not contem-
plate four tracks on Broad street, anu
| Notwithstanding my recommendation 10
require both companies to use the same
two tracks, the Street Committee recon-
mended. and the Council adopted, Deeem-
her 1895 an ordinance allowing -FOUR
tracks on Broad street, with the CITY
hallway Company's tracks to be placed
on the outside of the Traction Company ;
tracks; also. that in both franchises the
paving or repaving outside OF the tracks
can only be required for feet.
We find that the expense already incur
| IA enr roIa wing of having amounts 10