The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-02-24

Afterwards Leaves the IIeeting--Mr. Fredericks Says it is About Time
 That Board Acts One Way or Another
 -s2,oO0 Transfer Authorized. s The meeting of the board of finance
 last evening was q lengthy one owing to the fact that nearly three hours were
 taken up in discussing the Lewis plan
 of taxation and also other plans. Be-
 fore this discussion started it was voted
 to authorize the fire department to
 draw on the contingent fund for sum
 not to exceed $2;Ooo for the purchase of
 site for the new engine house in the
 Ninth ward.
 As soon as the discussion of the Lewis
 plan commenced Mir. Lewis presented to the board the following as an amend
 ment and modification to his original propositions:
 To meet the objections raised against
 the plan proposed by the resolution, the following substitute is suggested:
 First-Taxe shall become due April | first.
 Second Fifty per cent payable April first, and fifty per cent. payable July | first.
 Third-Anlount payable April first re- I maining unpaid May first subject to in- l terest from April first: amount payable July first remaining unpaid August first subject to interest from July first. Fourth-Appropriate not less than 1 s25, 900 each year until reserve fund of not less than sS00.0n0 is acquired. The objections raised against the pre- vious measure were as follows: First-Assessors could not complete the tax lists by January first. nor could the rate book be completed by that I time.
 Second The plan involved too many l changes in the charter. Third January is an inconvenient l time in which to pay taxes. Fourth Advancing date of payment from July to January would be bur-
 den to the taxpayer.
 l Under this plan all of these objections are removed.
 First-Tax lists and rate book could
 be completed before April first without l inconvenience to anyone. Second-No change would be neces- sary concerning the time that the board
 of assessors, the board of finance, the
 board of aldermen and the board of re l lief consider the various questions of | taxation
 ! Third Removing the date three
 months from January first. Fourth flowing taxes to be paid in l two instaIlments would recompense the l taxpayer in large measure for the
 necessity of paying 50 per cent of taxes ] three months earlier than under exist 1 ing conditions.
 | The adoption of this plan would not only meet the objections raised against 1 the measure provided by the resolution but would accomplish the same result, although a longer time would be re- quired in effecting the change. The reserve fund would take care of expenses to April first. The 30 per cent.
 payable during April would meet ex- penses until July payments were due, which would carry the city through the | fiscal year without the necessity of bor- rowing in anticipation of taxes. As soon as the modification had been
 read by the clerk a general discussion | was started, and it was asked if anyone else had anything else to suggest, and l Controller Rowe said that he had a
 brief which he had drawn up and which he would submit in the form of a sug-
 gestion. It was as follows: Amendment to Section A of the char. ter of the city of New Haven for the purpose of saving interest to the city on money borrowed in anticipation of taxes: Amend said section by adding to the same the following: The board of finance, in making it's estimates in the month of November, 1906, for the year 1907. and every year thereafter, shall
 appropriate sum not less than orle- quarter of one mill, nor more than olle- half of one mill, and the proceeds from said appropriation shall be paid by the controller during said year, and every year thereafter, to. the sinking fund commission of said city of New Haven, said sum or sums to accumulate in the hands of said sinking fund commission until the amount received is or shall be sufficient to pay the running expenses of the city for the period of six months commencing January i, when said sum or sums shall be turned over to the treasurer to be regularly disbursed as city funds at which time no further appropriation shall be made unless the sums turned over to the treasurer shall
 be less than the running expenses afore- said.
 Resolved. That the mayor and three other members Of the board appointed by the mayor appear before the proper committee of the legislature to advocate the passage of this resolution. The members then took up a general consideration of the two communica- tions, and from that time until the close of the meeting various amendments and suggestions kept coming in until the discussion took on an animated form. The members all agreed as to one point, however, and that was that the burden on the taxpayer should be as light as possible, but they also agreed that some change to remedy the present condition, which necessitated so much borrowing in anticipation of taxes, should be de- vfsed. The Lewis. amendment changes
 the time of paying taxes from July to April 1, and some of the members ----- T[fscr ts,,,yal7 ,,y1 GixtI, Iso oa N