The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1914-03-24
Incidentals.

| AhSAuucS al expenditures not pTOFAucu AZ
| Apportioned, $1,000; balance from 1912
h,s57;5e; rentals. etc, 1859; total. s4,s54;25
$500; custodian. $500; truant officer. 1896
district clerk, $500; furniture, sss7s3; in
surance,. s26s.60; janitors' supplies, sS4.s6
miscellaneous. ss47.s5 total s3,i77.4s; bal
ance, $1,776.77.
| The local school year is from March t
| March, the State school year is from July t.
| the schools.
The local appropriations are for ten months
| from March to March, leaving interval OF
/ four months of operation for which provision
| is not made. Your boards of education for
| is not made. Your boards for years past have
| tided over this interval by borrowing from
banks, creating an overdraft In the be-
| ginning this matter was not very serious
| but as time went on, and your schools grew
/ and operation costs increased the overdraft
became correspondingy large. This over
draft was fiuctuating, it rose and fell in &C
eordance with receipts. Prior to the year
\ 1918, it had been the practice of the state
| tons, which had the effect of temporarily in
creasing the overdraft This condition meant
| large outlay for interest charges.
Two years ago your board set about the
task of doing away with the condition | have
described. In the last two budgets, the f.
nance committee provided for decrease of
| the overdrafts. or, in other words, provided
| for operating expenses from March to July,
| amount equal to about one-haf the cost
of operation during that interval.
In the year 1918 the state paid its appor-
tionment to the district promptly, together
with the railroad tax of 1912, NEARLY $4,000
which had not been considered by the finance
committee, being an unknown quantity. To
gether with the receipts under the Westamp-
ton contract and large increase in tuition
fees from other adjoining districts this brought
the receipts to a total Of $44.96423
By in expenditure the maintenance
cost kept down to $S4,49S.14 for the ten
months from March 1913 to March 1914 leav-
ing cash balance of $10,46609, or enough,
counting all resources, to maintain your
schools until June and pay interest charges
due July l.
To show you that with good business man
agement the part of future boards pres
ent conditions will be permanent, / have pre-
pared this exhibit:
Your APPROXIMATIONS tonight. 134OO
State appropriation 1914-15, 1880
Westampton, 1000
Other tuition, estimated, 1900
Mary A. Dobbins school, $50
All other sources, estimated, $50
Certified to assessor for bond for
interest, 1880
S35 900
Deduct last ten months cost, 1880
Balance, 500
All charges for operation to July l next be-
ing provided for by the balance now in bank
the 900 in this exhibit need not be touch
ed until the schools open in September next,
and will maintain them during the ten months
to July 1, 1915, with indicated balance of
$500, which, added to your present balance,
indicates balance of about $4,000 at your
next annual meeting.
To up. The overdraft is extinct, and
you are earning interest instead Of paying it.
Township Matters.
While this is strictly district school meet
ing, yet, because of the close relationship
isting between your school affairs and your
township affairs, l deem it not out of order if
| take advantage of this gathering of towns
people. and with your permission. say a few
words relative to township matters. l will
deal with the subject concretely possible,
Your floating debt on December 81 1918.
was SIS. 200. represented by note in bank
due in February, which was renewed by a
been paid during the life of the larger note.
l will go back two years, when the debt
was IS. 500, and speak of the increase.
Anything which affects your county, state
school and local school tax bears upon your
township tax. To illustrate my meaning, l
will read from a letter.
To the Township Committee, Northampton
township:
Gentlemen:
! have paid to the county collector, county
and state school tax amounting to $21 ,744.39;
to the school district, 23,076.74; to the town
ship treasurer. $1,925.
F. H. REED.
You will see by that letter, on January 1
the cream had been SKINNED off the tax dup
licate, and the township can take what is left,
it is collected. After the county and school
taxes paid by the collector there is not
sufficient left on the duplicate to equal the
previous November elections. Your committee
asks for more than is required for your
town expenses, and therefore is compelled to
borrow, thereby increasing your debt.
During the two years in which the debt in
creased $4,000 your school expenses increased
$4,000, from $4,000 to $4,000 and to $685.
900, caused principally by natural growth,
necessitating the building of a high school,
requiring heavy bond issue, and by the en-
forcement of the compulsory education law,
calling for room, more teachers, more
supplies, more of everything needfu for the
care and education of your children. There
is no valid ground for criticism because of
this increase in school expenditures, because
the best is none too good for your children.
To cavil is of no avail, rather, let us seek
remedy that will place the township in the
same financial condition that the board of
education has placed your school system You
will notice that the township debt has not
increased proportionately with the school ex-
penses. The reason is because the tax dup
licate slowE increases in value. and your
township committee keeps well within the APP
preparations. You will note that all dupli-
cate losses, from unpaid taxes RENTED taxes
for cause, any other losses, fall upon the
township.
The Hillery maximum tax rate has been
pealed, but you do not want the rate raised
simply because the ban has been removed.
Instead why not make careful revision and
equalization of your tax duplicate, eimin-
ate duplicate errors, reform the methods of
dealing with properties sold for taxes and
bought by the township, converting loss in
to a profit. OF these suggestions, the last
mentioned is under consideration by your
committee.
The reduction of IS 200 in your school taxes
is a long step in the right direction, and with
the exercise of proper economy in expendi-
lures by your committee you should greatly
improve your townships financial condition.
With the above suggestions adopted, and in
effect, should your tax rate be raised you may
look higher than your township for the cause.
There is much more detail that would be of
interest, but time will permit, l belive you
are all anxious to get about the business which
brought you here tonight. l thank you.