The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-06-10

ot tho civ, and a, December a., 1905. thefc
were outstanding current oblieations which
did not arpeaf on the city's hooks estimated
a. 5000. This real estate assets did not
appear on tho Comptfolies's books. and the
bonded Indebtedness Of the city vas shown
only In part.
ny reference 10 Exhibit , II may he seen
that there have been disbursements from the
general funds In excess Of appropriations
amounting 10 600. Ooe. ssi that there have been
payments on account Of local improvements In
eHoess ~ funds provided by local assessment
for meeting them amounting TO 9io7. 400 Is;
there further appear on the books balances
unexpendsd TO the credit Of funds amounting
10 ti7p,o6S.is. That these funds have been
diverted TO other purposes 10 shown conclu-
eively By the fact tina, the amount Of cash on
deposit Ia only sio2 ,ies 90. while the unex-
pended balance OF tho North Avenue School
and Sewer Outlet Bond funds alone should be
Sio6. its.0i In other words, the amount OF
cash on hand Ia %. 500. 80 less than the amount
which the city should have available for the
purposes OF meeting contracts on the North
avenue school and sewer outlet, or. In case
these contracts are met. then for the reduction
Of the principal Of bonds issued.
While the volume and character Of busln ess
undertaken by the city are not such a. to make
necessary q complicated syst em. an ntelligent
vi ib iiall "OuiN itAIhfp N'eS -
method of accounts should be Installed nat
would be uniform throughout the various de-
partments. the footinss or totals Of subsidiary
and departmental records to be carried into
the general books kept In the Office Of the
Comptroller; that the ACCOUNTS on the general
books should constitute an accurate summary
Of all transactions OF the city, whether In the
nature Of revenues and expenses or Of assets
and liabilities: that current reports should be
made by the heads Of the several departments
to the Comptroller and to the general officers
which are In agreement with and controlled by
these general accounts.
Mayor Clarke does not feel greatly dis
turbed over the outcome Of the investiga-
ton. He alto disputes the accuracy Of the
report. 4
Il have reasons to believe that the attack
on my administral lon was instigated by
political consiierations,' he said. Not
that | believe for a moment that Mr.. Iselin
himself was moved 10 take this matter up
by any but the highest motives or that there
was even a shadow Of politics as far as he
was personally concerned, but there are
others in New Rochelle who are trying t o
make political capital out OF the report.
whereas there are no suggestions OF dis
honesty or graft and the whole affair is
purely a matter Of business. New Rochelle
is a growing city and we have had to keep
pace with this growth and spend money for
the improvements which it demancs, For
one thing we have geen greatly h~ampered
by the debt limit which under the present
system of assessments is not sufficiently
elastic to provide for all our permanent
improvements.
Now take the statement in the report
that the certificates Of Indebtedness and
other floating debt exceed the revenues
available to pay them by more than $3.50 900.
The amoun Of the overdraft, as q matter OF
fact, docs not exceed $50, 900, and that can be
aastlxy alan Nopo ~ In the HirInate ~ tia
next few years. The accountants made
the mistake Of not figuring in all the un-
collected taxes and not creditiDg us with
sewer assessments thatt can't be collected
until the work now under way Is com
pleted."
Mr. Clarke enumerated the various public
improvements that have been undertaken
under his rule, and declared that the fact
that he had been elected by the largest
plurality ever given to a mayoralty can
didate, after all these charges had been
publicly made. showed that the people
had confidence in the administration.
The difficulties in administering the
affairs of New Rochelle will never be wholly
obyiated until the present system of making
assessments is changed" said one Of the
root Of the whole trouble. The city is
growing fast, and We now nave an annual
budget of $500 COO. Yet the same old sys-
tenn Of assessing property that originated
in the village days Is still IN force. Some
property is assessed as low as 20 per cent.
and other property as high as 90 per cent.
of its real value. What is the result2 Why.
we nave a total assessment Of only SIS, ooO.-
0C0, and. of courSe, our tax rate is very high.
Not only that, but these low assessments
make our borrowing capacity small, and
we hav to scrape around here and there
to get funds that are needed for abso-
lutely imperative improvements. If the full
value system were adopted assessments
would be more eauita bly, distributed, the
tax rate would be much lower and the city
would have a sufficient borrowing margin
to carry out the needed improvements
without loading the tax budget with any
part Of their Immediate cost.
Another reason why things here are
not as they should be is because so many
OF the property owners refuse to have
anything to do with local politics. They
grumble about high taxes and loose meth
dds, but you cannot get them to vote or to 60
to the primaries"