Los Angeles herald., 1905-12-31
LEAGUE CLAIMS
CITY'S POVERTY.
'1NEVITABLE DEFICIT" SAYS
THE REPORT
Municipal Affairs" Published by the
Civic Body, Declares Finances Of
Los Angeles Are in Peeu-
liar Condition

In spite OF the assertions OF Council-
) man Smith, chairman of the finance
committee, that there must be no mu-
nicipal deficit, even if the city hall
has to close its doors and every de-
partment of the city government abb
ruptly stops its work to prevent it.
the Municipal league has published u
statement showing n possible deficit
of 100000, probable deficit Of 100000
and a seemingly inevitable deficit of
$150,00O'
This assertion is made in Munich
pal Affairs" q periodical published by
the league every month and Is basel
On the results of the investigation OF
the auditors books, made by Expert
Fountain, who was employed by the
league for the purpose
The statement is as follows:
''The Municipal league recently had
figures prepared showing the citys
present financial conditions and its out
look up to the end of the fiscal year
The results led to the conclusion that
the citys finances are not in the best
of order, that it's bookkeeping, while
accurate as to detail, is not fitted to
the city's present needs, and that there
is imminent prospect of d very seri-
Gus deficit at the, end of the fiscal
year.
THE recognized responsible author
ity in the citys finances is the coun-
Gil, and of that body the one individual
to whom the public looks for the
largest knowledge and the wisest judg-
= lnent on such affairs, naturally is the
chairman of the finance committee,
Mr.. Smith of the Fifth ward. At the
council meeting held December Ii Mr..
Smith announced that he lad made
an investigation into the condition of
the various funds and that there was
no deficit and was not going to be
any deficit. He greatly deplored the
discussion of the subject as tending
to injure the city's credit, and as be-
ing based on insufficient knowledge of
the ffG.e.
Finances Fundamentally Correct
''The league which represents sew
eral hundred of the largest taxpayers
and hundreds of citizens who own their
homes, is quite as Jealous of the city's
financial standing as any councilman,
but we do not consider that the city"
credit is particularly involved in this
case. Fundamentally, the finances of
Los Angeles are in excellent order, but
superficially they are in a shape which
the league contends makes an annoy
ing and perhaps a humiliating deficit
inevitable at the end of the year.
Next spring this city will be full of
visitors and a great fiesta will be III
sprogress. That will be sorry time for
the council to announce they have mis-
figured the city's income and expendi-
lures, that the treasury is depleted, thai
street cleaning must stop, police force
be cut down, parks go unkept, etc. AS
q point of fact, it was perfectly well
understood when the budget was
shaped up last August that the audit
or. was Understanding the receipts
by about 100000, but there were three
items of known expense that never
got into the budget at all and which
entirely offset this sum. There was
no allowance for garbage collection
ESTIMATED now at $50000). nothing for
fire equipment CONTRACTED for at $40-
0G0), and nothing for the water cleo
ton (about 100000, making total OF
100000, and eating up at one gulD
all that was held out. But those were
not the only omissions in this extra
ordinary budget. Nothing went in for
the general fund" which is the eX-
penditures (mostly necessary, some
eXtravagant) of the council direct and
not included in any department Ex-
penditures of that fund have amounted
tc $4,000 in four months, which means
100000 for the year-or more, if some
special emergency should arise. Then
the overdrafts of the various depart
ments, which now amount to about
$4,000, must be met, and if they con-
tinue through the year proportionately,
will run to more than another $780,
\ O0.
TN short, allowing for all the good
l Icll we can have on our receipts and
counting in the surplus held out for
contingencies by the auditor. the fig
ures up to November 1 show possible
deficit of 100000, a probable deficit of
more than 100000. and a seemingly
inevitable deficit of more than $780,
00O."