The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1910-08-01


and general transfers. The total
municipal receipts, therefore, amount
ed to s1,2SS, ,635, 1876, and were made
! up of the following items: 372 per
cent from taxes and other general
revenues; / per cent from special as
sessments, 5.4 per cent from services
performed by city departments; 3S.9
per cent from loans and 14.5 per cent
from refunds, general transfers, and
miscellaneous sources.
Revenues Of the Big Cities.
Taxes and other general revenues.
/ including licenses and permits, fines
and forieits, and subyentions, grants,
and gifts, we're the chief source of
revenue for nearly every city. Re
ceipts from the general property tax
| formed the chief item of general
/ revenue, and for the cities of Massa-
| chusetts, New York, Pennsylvania,
Ohio, Iowa, Louisiana Virginia and
Georgia, comprised more than 70 per
/ cent OF the total.
Liquor licenses and taxes formed
/ 1874 per cent of the general revenues
in the cities Of Ohio and 1872 per cent
in the cities OF California. New York
City received $79273OO; Chicago, ST..
2J2 GS7 and Philadelphia, 81 1868, ,459
from this source. The only other cit
les deriving more than $1,000, 900 from
liquor licenses We're ST. Louis, Boa-
ton, Cleveland, san Francisco and
Cincinnati.
Business licenses formed 299 per
cent of the general revenues in the
cities of Alabama, while general prop
erty taxes formed only j3.1 per cent,
an unusual condition among the cit
les of the United States. business liz
censes also formed large percent
age, 145, of the general revenues OF
the cities of Georgia.
In most cities sewers. pavements.
and similar public improvements are
paid for in the main from the gen
eral property tax, but there is a
marked variation from this practice
in several cities, especially in the
west. Oklahoma City received more
money from special assessments than
from taxes and other general reve
nues and New York City received
$lO,029l l53 and Chicago s4.765,392
from the same source.
The proportion of receipts from
special assessments to receipts from
takes ands other general revenue
for specified cities was as fol-
lows Oklahoma City, 1641 per cent;
Seattle. Takoma. and Spokane, Wash.
1885, 6S.5, and 3S, respectively; Oak
land, i3.9 per cent; Superior, Wis,
| Alb per cent; Joplin, 36,2 per cent,
and Kansas City, No. 26.7 per cent
Comparatively low tax rates for most
OF these cities are accounted for by
large receipts from special assess
ments.
Public Service Enterprises.
From revenues of public service
enterprises, such as water supply
systems, Toll bridges, etc, New York
City realized $lS6O4,O56 Chicago,
$5,127 740l; and Philadelphia, $4.36S,-
2l3. The only cities of less than 3OO,-
OOO inhabitants which received more
than $l,0OO,O00 from this source were
Jersey City, Los Angeles and Sc.
attic. Chicago derived $2.3S6.275 from
privileges or taxes for the use of the
public highways; New York City de
rived a trifle over one-half as much
money from the same source. \ ma.
jority of the cities receive compare.
lively small amounts of revenue from
public service corporations for the |
privilege of using the public high
ways.
From 4 careful analysis of pay. .
ments and receipts it is found that
all of the 15S cities. except Jersey
City Houkers, and Montgomery. re-
ceiyed enough money from taxes and
all other revenues during 1908 to
meet their payments for expenses and
interest but that only 80 cities
raised enough money from revenues
TO pay for all of their OUTLAWS in
addition. over a series OF years it IS
undoubtedly the policy of every city.
the report states, to finance a con
siderable portion OF its OUTLAWS. or
new works, from bond issues. and IL
is also clear that the proportion of
the outlays met from bond issues
shows tendency TO increase. All
outlays must eventually be met from
recenuesl and it is undoubtedly good
financial policy for cities to pay
Tor a considerable prnDOrtion of tho