The Detroit times., 1914-03-31
ES1IMATORS
STAGGERED BY
GIANT BUDGET
Must Chop of 81. 0o0, 900. But
Don't Know Where To
Begin IS
STANDISH BACKUS
HAS BRIGHT IDEA
Would Cut $4,000 from School
Budget, But Item Has Al
ready Been Killed

Members nf the board OF estimates
frankly admit that they don't know
what to do with the sls, 900. 900 budget
which comes to them from the com.
mon council. OF this amount. S..
10000 can be raised by bond issues;
the other 5000. 900 goes on the tax
rolls. II IL this SIS 900 900 which the
estimators must cut to the extent OF
100000. II the tax rate II to be
brought within the two per cent
limit.
Il don't know what we're going to
d." admitted Frank D. Andrus. I'm
fact, I'm not sure what has been cut
out by the aldermen and what has
been left In. I've been 20 busy that
! haven't given the matter much
study. We've got to cut-that's all
know about It. And we will cut.
1.-THE situation proves what told
the charter commission-that we
must have q board Of estimates OF
some kind. don't mean that We
need necessarily retain the present
board, but we ought to have some
kind OF organization outside the COM
mon council to handle the budget. For
instance, body composed Of the
mayor. controller, treasurer, chairman
OF the assessors, perhaps the presi-
dent Of the council, perhaps one or
two others. could exercise sufncient
check on the budget. But some such
organization 10 absolutely necessary"
Standish Backus IL equally In the
dark as to what can be done.
I'LL know more about Il In two
weeks" he said. 1--WE tried TO fol-
low the aldermen, but I've merely
learned what they've cut out, not
what they've left In.
There are o few points that have
come to my attention, however. ! un-
derstand that the public lighting com
mission IL asking for q conduit that
will put It's wires underground 1t q
point beyond where they now have
overhead construction. That means
that their wires will start under.
ground from the present station,
emerge from the ground at q consid-
cradle distance. be carried on poles .
ways. and then go underground
again. ] fail 70 see any sense in that
arrangement.
"Then there's that $4,000 deficit
III Tie bCuOOl VeuCueTb S8l8Ty IuuO. j
want to know how that arose. It
seems to me that . few years ago we
began to decrease that deficit by al.
lowing $250.000 year. But haven't
begun to give the budget serious at
tention, and don't know exactly
where we're at"
Investigation Of the $4,000 item
which. by the way. has been cut out
by the council, 90 Mr.. Backus needn't
worry about 1t any more-shows that
It arose In 1912. In that year, the
school board estimated that $50 900
would be obtained from primary
moneys. The common council e.
ceived optimistic assurances. from
Lansing, and estimated the primary
money Mt $1,426,S46: and the estima-
tors. wishing to be even more gen.
erous, added 100000 to that amount
As matter Of fact, the state paid
$4,000, leaving . dencit Of $7e2, 900
to be met by borrowing money from
the city treasury. This dehcit has
never been wiped out, and no steps
will be taken, this year, to relieve
the situation. In reality, the city II
going into Q short-term debt, each
year, without Q bond issue, by loan.
inE to one department. moneys de-
posted In the treasury to the credit
Of other departments.