The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-05-11

insane waste OF water III Will
ter--Steps to Get Rid of the
BelIeville Sinecures.
Mayor Hoos this afternoon sent the FOL
lowing interesting communication to the
Street and Water Board
Honorable Board of Street and Water
Commissioners.
order to determine the
exact condition of the water account al
the close of the fiscal year of the water
department., April 80, 1888, the ComptroiIei
has complied and presented to me a COM
piete statement of said account, Inc
Statement enables me to divorce the liza
bilities and resources previous TO MAY 1
1897, from those of the past hscai yeaI;
previous to May ], 1897. and paid du r +
the past year amounted to....---$2l2,U 5b "a
Old claims in the hands of the .,
Board of Finance-...--..-- zo4 o
s212,s 80 G.
The cash on hand May l.
The receipts collected
during fiscal year 1887
IS on account of old
water rents, etc., were. l42,56s W :, oo
Payments made from 1898. re-
fba old "A aceounts .a.a..... 5s,szs "a
AS an offset to the above there
PREVIOUS to May l. Iss7....... 5000 90
Measured water delivered pre- :,
vious to May ], 1Se7.-.....--.. ILoW W
Total... $4,000 o.
sceonnts to Nav / iSsf........ s,s4s %
The expenditures and liabilities
on account of the year, May /,
1897, to May l, 1898, for salaries,
interest, claims, .S6l0,lVl 81
Warrants drawn, not charged.-.- 1854 o.
is isss.s.a 1884, 600 90
finance. vs.. 1o.22 os
Street and Water Commission
Salaries for February. 1S9S........ 1854 1e
Salaries for March. 1895. 1850 w
Salaries for April. 18SS......... $3.50 V
Total liabilities and expenditures
of current year, -$Sll,S $50 81
current year were............... 6S6, o63 Is
Liabilities, etc.. in excess of re-
eeipts.-.... =. ...-.- ...-.---...-Sloo,ozo Il
AS an offset to this amount we
ave unpaid water rents for -
Unpaid measured water sold May
l, 1897, to May /, 1S9S...--.. $1,000 Oc
Total. .s159, 600 &C
Leaving net deficiency on water
account from May !, 1897, to . ~ .,
May : IRsiESccAPiTULATIoN A0'0-0 :
Net deficiency to May J. 1Ss7..... $S,S4s q
Net deficiency May l, 1897, to May
], lS9S...-.. zo,ozo q
Total deficiency ................ s30.175 A
The result of this Investigation shows
the net deficiency to be far below the
statements made by the daily press. The
in changing the deficiency, which amount
ed to S212. 310.62 less the cash on hand
May ], 1897, amounting to &c., 80 .4s, thai
existed when this administrator came
into office, to one amounting to a little
over 5000, providing the old assets are
good, shows what energy in collecting
may accomplish. This is commendable.
On the other hand, the fact that of the
water rents due during the fiscal yeaI
1898, $4,000 remain unpaid on account
of water rents for unmeasured water, and
tina $780, 900 remains unpaid for measured
water, is a condition of things that de-
tracts from the work done in collecting
outstandings/of the previous years, in
asmuch assthere is no reason, now that
all ~dead~assets have been thrown out,
why Collections, especially on measured
WATER should not be promptly made.
I~fully appreciate the existing condition
of the water department and would re-
mind you thai the present deficiency OF
$SJ. UU Will De increased unless une Oul-
standing assets-s50,0 600 for water rents
prior to May l, 1897, and $159,000 for the
year 1897 9S-ar collected. l have beer
assured that all these assets are good
and therefore heroic meas
AreS to enforce their collection.
While it is pleasant to know that the
assaults made upon the solvency of the
water department are without foundation
experience has undoubtedly suggested tc
your Board that there is great necessity
for retrenchment in the expenses of this
" ranah 0f n11r rol1n1RinqI crnuaPnrnanf
The water rents having been assessed
prompt collection becomes a duty, in or
der that those who pay may not be i'm
posed upon by those who shirk. but the
first duty is to see that the burden i'm
posed is made as light as possible. Wher
it was determined to abandon the Pas
sale River as a source of supply, it fol-
lowed that the water rents must be in
creased, for the amounts paid under the
contract with the East Jersey Water
Company are really additions to the fixed
charges of the water department.. What
ever part of the bonded water debt rep
resents expenditure to obtain a supply
from the Passaic River must be carried
as representing an abandoned plant. We
therefore start, in estimating the amount
of revenue to be obtained from the sale
of water, with two items beyond our con
troll, viz: the annual interest charge and
the fixed price per million gallons fol
water delivered to the city AS We can
not avoid these items, it is apparent thai
points for the exercise of economy mus
be found in the cost Of distribution and
collection OF rents, taKlnB every possible
step to prevent waste of water. In these
matters | offer the following suggestions
First-Effective steps must be taken tt
prevent waste of water. Wherever there
is good ground to expect that the owners
or occupants of property are in the habit
of wasting water, meters should be in
troduced. During the past winter thu
city was charged with the consumption
of as high as thirty-five million gallons
of water in a single day, and the average
daily consumption and waste in the
months of January and February was
alanmingly near the thirty-fve millior
gallons fixed in the proposals for a new
supply, as the quantity to be delivered
through a single pipe Assuming thu
citv's population to be two hundred thou,
sand. a supply of twenty-seven millior
gallons per day would furnish each In
habitant with one hundred and thirty,
FIVE gallons per day. 1t Is unnecessary
to say that at least one-half of thi,
water must have been wasted, and tina
the percentage of waste will increase with
the laxfty of supervision. When 1t /!
considered that there will flow from Z
single faucet, il the water is let run con,
tinuously throughout the year, a guam.
tity for which we AVE TO pay more thar
ten times the amount assessed against I
two-story dwelling house, the Illustration
may impress upon property owners tina
they owe the city the duty of preventing
waste.
SecondE submit for your consideration
whether the cost of collecting water rent!
could not be decreased many Thousand: