The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-02-28
Fixes Tax Rate for Current Year at One-Tenth of Mill Higher Than City Auditor Recommended.
Slashing Done at Final Sess sion of Board Not as Elk tensive as Many Had An ticipated.

tionment completed it's work late yes
 terday, going into the matter of spe-
 cific appropriations more extensively ! than ever before, and cementing the
 power which the board has from year
 to year assumed in supervising the
 work of the various departments. | By the exercise of this prerogative,
 the board is able to provide money
 for certain specific work, and that
 money, under the law, cannot be used
 for any other purpose. The right of
 the board to make specific appropria- l tions has been upheld in a recent
 opinion of City Attorney John S. Pull man.
 The Board of Apportionments Hnal rate is down to within one-tenth of a
 mill of that recommended by City Auditor Heating, but it is apportioned differently.s The city auditors esti-
 mate wasT First district, "A. Second district, 7.9, altogether 15.S mills. But the readjustment of a number of items, the cutting of many and the adding of a few extras brought the | result as detailed above.
 One of the largest cuts Of all was an l item of Sa- aries amounting to S16,995- | This had been provided for in other
 item went a good ways towards effect ing the final reduction.
 l. Another big cut was the $1O,000 ap- ] propriation for special land purchase ! and plans for the proposed new Lake view Home. This was brought down
 to $2,0O0. F. W. Behrens, president of the Board of Charities, on being questioned at length, said he thought that with $1,500 for plans and $500 to deposit to close the land deal, the | board would not be unduly handicap ped. Thus the land purchase cost, along with many another important | item, must be included in the tax list of next year. unless a bonding scheme | can be carried through the Legisla- 1 ture and forced upon the city.
 The board of Apportionment appro- | riated in the First district s2,000 to l make up a deficit in printing, adver- | tisement and stationery account. Au- | ditor Heating said 75 percent of this
 was represented in newspaper adver- | Using and other expenses contracted ! in carrying out the law. A cut or S2,- | 900 was made in the appropriation for the account of Assessors salaries, etc., stripping the assessors of funds made by hired assistants. The reap propriation and new appropriation for block maps for the assessors was made s7. 500 on the final appropriatio an increase of $3,OOO over the original This appropriation goes to the city engineer.
 The board of Contract and Supply which sought an appropriation of $5,- TAO stood out for a cut of $1,0OO. This was apportioned between both dis
 tricts in the final appropriation, First district, $3,240; second district, $1,5O0; This cut was acceptable to the com mittee. Chairman Macdonald said the cut was made in estimate for print ing, etc, which would be done at the of the city who had already made up items for this feature in their regular acquisitions.
 Finding that the $5,OOO appropria- tion in the preliminary list for stat ate highway construction covers two years, the board made this years share of the item $2,000.
 The Charities departments figures .Ir,---, ,1,T1 preliminary list. The Ambulance & Emergency Hospital account was in- creased from $S,453.92 to $S.760. State Tuberculosis hospital estimate from $5,OO0 to S6,0O0; and the item of $S9, 2S1.72 for care of poor was altered to read in the final list, Poor at Lake view home, s27.SsO; Outside poor, $5s,- 92O, a reduction of $4.000 The $1O,- 900 appropriation for plans and land purchase for the new almshouse was chopped down to S2.0O0.
 The board of Selectmen got a knock | out blow. President Cooper has nev- CT been very keen about approriating | cash for the selectmen's dinners dur | ing their days of duty at the City | asked s435. The auditor recommend 1 ed the same amount. The preliminary | list provided S335. For final appro- | priation was s230. This cuts out all provisions for meals for the selectmen | They wanted $65 for meals $320 for | clerical, etc. $40 for advertising, and | S1O for stationary, etc. When the | board of Apportionment got through, | there was only $235 left.
 The board of Relief came to the con- ciusion a few days ago that an au- tomobile would be more advantageous for their work than teams and decid- | ed to ask for S25 besides their 1000 | appropriation that they might use a machine instead of horses in their investigations The sub-committee of the board couldn't agree, but a ma jority favored the extra S25 and the final appropriation of $1025 was ap- proved.
 S1 700 was added as new item in the final list to cover the office of Sealer of Weights and Measures. Mayor Wilson explained to the board that this item would anticipate the appointment of sealer. which is to be done under the new law, by the mayor with the approval of the aldermen. The Common Council has not yet passed an ordinance relative to this position It is expected to do so soon fixing the salary at S1,O0- For mer Alderman Dennis Kelly of the Twelfth district is slated for the place.
 In the Second district a cut of $1,- 900 was made in the cross walks ap- propriation of $4.O0O. The special trading appropriation was cut from S11. .910 to s1O91O. Commissioner Pierce explaining that this cut was effected Tt the expense of work contemplated at Rooster River bridge A re-appro- l priation of s1 800 not included in the preliminary list was made for grading in Dewey street from North avenue north. Another S1GO0 cut was effected in the S4.O00 appropriation for setting lack curbs and removing trees The fire department was cut $5-"50- This means the abandonment of the con- tempIated purchase of tractor, to cost s4 500 and S1.O0 saving in the es- timate for setting up new hydrants |. Minor changes made the net saving al i75 as it's regular and S394S7 as it's { special appropriation. New watering troughs in the second district which received an appropriation of $500 on the preliminary list got only $500 on the final list