Los Angeles herald., 1910-01-04

WALTER WRENN, RICHMOND PLA
MILES GREGORY. DIRECTLY 5EY
of taxable property, and in addition
thereto whatever is necessary for the
payment of interest on and the re-
demption of outstanding bonds. Dur
ing the three years Immediately pre-
ceding your administration hundreds
of thousands of dollars had been di-
verted from interest and sinking funds
and used for expense purposes. In
this way considerable more than 81 on
each $100 worth of taxable property
was levied, collected and used i'm
properly.
"This administration has not been
guilty of any such action; in fact dur
ing your first year in office it was
necessary for you to provide money out
of your expense account to take care
of interest and sinking fund payments,
on account of the depleted condition in
which you found them.
you have always levied within the
dollar limit for expenses, even when
providing money for schools, and now
that school funds are raised by state
and county tax only you have reduced
the rate for expense purposes to So
cents of each 800 assessed valuation,
pense tax of 81 and still have been
within, your legal rights.
1T is to be hoped that the precedent
you have established in this regard
will not be ignored by future councils.
when you took office in January,
1907. the general expense or. contingent
fund had been practically exhausted
by the previous council, whereas you
have a balance of over $780, 900 in cash
in that fund. Indeed, the balance is
even greater, for part of the calls on
the fund provided for by the resolu-
tions passed during the last six months
will not be needed during the present
fiscal year, This is invariably the case.
In fact, during the first half of this
fiscal year you loaned out of this gen.
eral fund about SIS, 900 to the opening
and widening of streets fund. which,
of course, will eventually come back
into the general expense fund and aug
ment this cash balance of $4,000.
again, the heavy draft on the gen.
eral expense fund is always more dur
ing the first half of the year than the
last half. Take the last fiscal year as
an example: OF an expenditure of
over 100000 from the expense fund,
$135,000 was authorized during the first
half of the year and S65, 900 during the
last half.
"On this basis $4,000 in the general
expense fund at this time gives the
new council the benefit of over $4,000
more than you had for the correspond
ing period last fiscal year.
Pay Large Deficit
"On July 1, 1907, at the time of maxi
ing up your first budget, you discov-
cred that there was a practical deficit
of some S2S0.000 in the outfall sewer
fund. Since it required that amount nj
addition to 81 100000 bond issue raised
for the outfall sewer this amount had
to be provided for out of the tax funds.
This council found a depleted ex-
pense fund and practically a deficit of
$50, 000 1t turns over to the new coun-
ell a, very generous balance in cash in
the expense fund and a. reserve fund in
cash of over S500,00 This fund, if the
same care and economy is used by the
incoming council, will again approxi-
mate $500, 900 by the end of this fiscal
year.
But this is not all-not even the
best part of the story. During the past
three years you have constantly re-
fused to sanction the issuance of bonds
for any purpose whatsoever Except
the $23 100000 Owens river bonds, (al-
though you have been importuned time
and again to do so, for sewers, bridges,
engine houses and similar improve
ments. Instead, you have saved out of
the taxes levied for current expenses
enough to do all these things; in fact
during the last three years there has
been set aside for outlays-that is, for
expenditures for which there is some-
thing to show-amOunts approximating
one and one-half million dollars.
This has been done without the Jug
Cling of funds or the improper use of
money raised for the retirement of
bonds.
Il cannot let this opportunity pass
without the expression of my sincere
appreciation to this council and to it's
committees for their uniform kindness
to me personally, and for the conf
dence and help which they have so
often extended to me-