The age-herald., 1899-12-30
SHORT SESSION OF
 THE CITY COUNCIL Alderman Camps Ordinance Was
 Up for Discussion. TWO REPORTS SUBMITTED Finance Committee Badly Divided on the Question of Budget-Quorum
 Was Broken and Meeting
 Brought to an End
TWO REPORTS SUBMITTED

The adjourned meeting of the city coun- oil last night was short and sweet, but con- siderable discussion was indulged fin during the three-quarters of an hour that the board was in session.
 There were no vacant offices to fill nor any candidates to appease. but department tai expenses for 1900 were under consider ation There were not exceeding dozen spectators present
 Alderman Camp introduced an ordinance at the first meeting of the board held fin December, which sought to limit depart mental expenses for the next year. This was a new move in Birmingham, nothing of the kind having hitherto been under taken by the board of mayor and alder men. It has been the custom since Bfrm. inghams corporate existence to make ap- propriations for the running expenses of the various city departments from time to time through the year, passing the said ap- prepriations on the needs of the depart ments as they aWse and the condition of the city treasury. All receipts, not specif- cally designated for special purposes, were put into one general fund, from which ap- propriations were made as occasion re- quired
 The Camp ordinance seeks to set aside a certain sum at the beginning of the year for each department.
 Three members of the financial commit tee, namely, Chairman Kerr and Aldermen Heidt and Graham, opposed the adoption of the Camp ordinance, and sublSetted a majority report adverse to it.
 Alderman Camp made minority report Alderman Jones, the fifth member, was ab- sent and did not sign either report.
 A bare quorum was present when Mayor Drennen called the board to order, the fol- lowing members answering to their names: Mayor Drennen, Aldermen Lynaugh, Ram bow, Camp, Mcknight, Kerr. Moore Alt man, Heldt and Gray Alderman Daily came in few minutes later.
 The Majority Report
 Alderman Kerr read the majority report of the finance committee, to which had been referred the Camp ordinance: The report is as follows:
 "The committee begs to report the ordin- ance to fix budget limiting the depart mental expenses of the city for the year 1900, and recommend that the ordinance be not adopted. for the following reasons:
 First. While the committee is unanim- ously agreed that all the expenses and out lays of the city should be made as con servative as possible, and that economy in every branch of the city government should be the rule, and strictly adhered to in all cases, yet if such is to be the policy of the board, as it should be, it can be better en- forced throughout the year by applying that rule tesall expenditures as required,- than by now adopting an ordinance which to be effective must be strictly enforcd and adhered to and in which both the income to be expended and the requirements of the different departments are necessarily only approximations.
 "Second-The primary object of a budget, in most cities that adopt that plan, is to determine the amount of tax that shall be levied for the needs of the city during the year. A budget is made providing for all proposed expenditures in each department and then tax rate is adopted and levied that will produce that amount of income. The tax rate of Birmingham is limited by the constitution to one per cent, of which one-half of one per cent. can be applied only to interest on bonded indebtedness and the creation or SinklnS 1unu TOT pay ment of the bonded indebtedness. The full tax rate is levied and the only effect of the ordinance is to limit the expenditures in each department to the amounts ap- propriated in the ordinance to that depart ment Prudence would require that in prepaing such budget the income should be estimated on a conservative basis and that the appropriation f1- each department should be as liberal as such estimated in- come would permit. The amount required by each department as fixed by the budget must necessarily be based on an approxi- nation of the expenditures of that depart ment for 1898 or 1899. The correctness of such approximation would depend largely upon the proper distribution of accounts, and some of the departments are closely allied that many accounts might be charg- ed to either department and this object not having been in view in distributing the The same facts. he said, had been set out year after year, with the result that every year there was a deficit. He urgeS the adoption of his ordinance, x only for an experiment.
 the majority report and urged that it would be impra ctcable to fix the expenses of any department at the beginning of the year.