The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-01-05
CITY PAY ROLL
NOW S1,0O2,925
Richmond Has More Than
1000 Voting Office
Holders.
ARMY OF OUTSIDE WoRKMEN
Some Departments DO Not
Divide Payroll and
Expense Items.

! The business corporation .no,
the city of Richmond has nm .,
Pa! roii exceeding Sl.ooO.OOO. and has
! us Immediate employment moro
man 1000 men. all of whom arc 70
! Huired by law 10 be registered voters
ana citizens of Isicnmon1
! NleoruinE TO the report Of Auditor.
warren for the year 1910, tho CITY
! auunvii nus appropriated for pay roll
account OF all classes. includin,. eli
aries and commissions ~ ,,ra,,, go,
OF Sl'oo2,o25.l3. this being the first
year III the city's history when It's na y
! foll has exceeded the one million ,n.rL
| nc books do not SHOW The exact
number Of employees. and they can onlv
ue estimated. IN fact. the reports Of
me various departments do not show
/ now many employees are engaged roru-
larry IN some departments extra mon
are taken on at certain times of tho
year wy
/ onicc-Iioidini, Vote Controls.
w hen II is taken into consideration
tnat In the average election the vo,e
east hardly exceeds 1000. il will he
seen that the Office holding vote IS ia
/ a large extent In control of the sltua-
ton. casting at least one fourth OF tho
| total vote
/ Jhis does not include an army OF
| Iheh working Tor The city on contract
! Large sums of money arc bcint, OK
I pended In various enterprises such as
sewers, water mains and other public
( improvements, awarded by contract
| several large contracting firms doing
most of their business with the CITY
Nor does this item include fees and
commissions paid by the state to cor
tain officers who serve Jointly for the
| state ana city, such as the Treasurer
! Commissioner of the Revenue. and
City Sergeant the extent OF whose
incomes can only he guessed at. nor
can it include the clerks OF the courts
| and others whose fees come from the
| public, the total amounts being guard
! ed as a sacred secret.
| I.ncl< system I'm Accounting.
| Even the total amount for pay roll
] itself is not complete, owing to the
laN methods of bookkeeping In som,
! apartments where appropriations arc
| Jumped. over the protest OF SpeciaI
Accountant Crenshaw. who has 70
years iahored 10 introduce some sys.
tenn in the city's accounting
| For instance. in the Water DEPART
ment the appropriations for Marshall
Reservoir are Jumped in one item Of
| $1,000. which includes the pay roll
| of keeper and assistants. Improve.
ments. expenses OF operation and the
! II.
! accomplished durin,; the past fall
/ Similarly there is fat item of S2S-
| ooiai for settling basin. which repre-
! SCENTS the total cost of it's maintenance
/ during the Year. but does not show
/ what was for expense, what for lab
! oratory tests, what was for coagulants
used in the water, and what was for
! pay roll.
street Funds We'll Kept.
. lie Ia in
| the street Cleaning Department. where
incnerator. crcmatory and dog pound
| pay roll and expenses are Jumped into
| single items. For all the hubbub that
| has been raised about lack of system
+ In the Engineers Department. the re-
! port Of the Auditor shows that the
| most clearly defined system of account
| Ing for appropriations and division OF
! funds into their various Uses is in the
! Street Department, where expenses,
! pay roll Items, and permanent i'm
! provemcnts are clearly defined
| The School Board Items are not fully
defined. for, while there are the orig
/ innl items for pay rolls. expenses, etc.
| there are additional lump items for
manual training and kindergarten OF
| so2.S00, most OF which goes for pay
( roll. though not SO specified and for
schools in Washington Ward. amount
ing to sl0.0S7.36. the report not stat
| ing whether this was used for cx-
penses. repairs or pay roll.
| The Finance Committee Will meet
to- night and determine on the dates
for its budget hearings when each de-
partment Will present "A schedule of its
needs for the coming year.