Evening star., 1914-07-14
LEADS IN PER CAPITA
MUNICIPAL EXPENSE
Washington at Head of Cities Hav-
ing 100000 Population
or Over.

Washington leads the cities Of the
country having a population of between
SO0oo and 10000 in per capita municipal
expenses. with a record of S2o.43. against
New Orleans. La, which pays s12.I9,
Boston leads all of the 1875 cities having
a population of more than 10000 accord
ing to the report of the financial statis-
tics of cities for 1912, which has just been
issued by Director William J. Harris.
bureau of the census. Boston leads in
per capita expense of general depart
ments. paying s2s.Ot: in per capita ex-
pense of police departments paving S;.1a:
of fire departments, paying s2.26, and for
education. paying s6.9s
The total per capita payments for ex-
penses other than of public service enter
prises increased from S1:i.G2 in 1902 to
s1I.34 in 1872 gain of 33.2 per cent.
Divided Into Five Groups.
The 1a5 cities are divided into. five
groups: Group l. cities having popula-
ton of -Jc0"D and over: group II. cities
having a population of COCOON to IOnoO0:
group III. cities having a population of
10000 to 3Hono group " cities having
population of l".H1 to 100000. and
Il
10000 to 5O:No.
The per capita payments for general
governmental expenses in cities of groups
I and III are larger than they otherwise
would be because of the fact that New
York. n. Y: Philadelphia. Pa; St. Louis
Mo: Boston. Mass: Baltimore, Md: San
Francisco. Cal: New Orleans. La, and
Washington, u. c.. exercise all the eX-
ecutive and judicial functions usually
possessed by counties.
To I,;l,%
payments for all general governmental
functions, including payments for court
expenses in these cities and in other
cities of groups | and ii which exercise
no county functions. certain percentages
of the payments for the expenses of
county governments of the other cities of
groups | and II are combined with the
city payments. The combination of county
and city expenses secures compatibility
of per capita payments for court and
other general governmental expenses for
all of the cities of groups l and II, but
those payments are not comparable with
similar payments of other cities with the
exception of Denver. Col, for which city
the figures of the table include per capita
payments for expenses of the county as
well as those of the city.
Smaller Cities Pay Less.
For the 1875 cities. the total per capita
payment for general departments, in
Guiding general government police, fire.
all other protection to person and prop
erty, conservation of health. sanitation
and promotion of cleanliness, highways
charities, hospitals and corrections
education. recreation, miscellaneous and
general. is s17.34: for the cities Of group
L. s21.24; group II. $3.50: group I'LL
$14.22; group ", s12.OG; group V. s11Oe;
showing a decrease in per capita pay
ments for the smaller cities.
The per capita payment for police de-
partment for the 1875 cities is 500: for
the cities of group l, s275; group IL.
s214: group III: s1.33: group ". $1.26;
group V. s1.o6. Gse per capita police ex-
penses in creased from s1.s4 in 1902 to
S..O4 in 1912.
The per capita payment for fire de-
partment for the 1875 cities is S1.62; for
the cities of group |. s1.5s: group II.
SOP; group III. $1.6s: group w. H.9:
group V. s1.3s. The per capita fire de-
partment expenses increased from s1.3o
in 1902 to S1.62 in 1912.
The per capita payment for education
for the 1875 cities is s5.Oe: for the cities