The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-09-28
COMMISSION STILL
 AT WORK ON BUDGET
Another Executive Session eYsterday Failed to oSlve
 Problem

Another executive session lasting sev- eral hours was held by the commission yesterday afternoon. The budget for the year 1917 was the topic under considera- tion. At the conclusion of the confer cree the commissioners admitted that no definite plan for the distribution of the city's money for the coming year had been. adopted.
 While the session was an executive one, and was attended by no one except the commissioners. 1t is thought there Is some friction between the heads of the various departments in regard to the dis tribution of the moneys for the coming year to be used in the different depart ments
 The problem before the commission at the present time in preparing the budget for the fiscal year which begins October is a serious one. The total cost of op- erating the city during the coming year is estimated conservatively at si.s7s. 0oo.
 The estimated income. including extraor-
 dinary measures for the raising of suf- .fcient taxes to offset the injunction de- clsion which prohibits the city from
 using approximately $231, 900 which has ! been used hitherto to pay interest on outstanding bonds issued since 1901, amounts to total of approximately Sl,-
 645,00o. The question is, how can the commissioners make sl.676.0o0 fit into s1,- 1000 for the coming year?
 A cut of 2 per cent in every department of the city is suggested as one of ths | measures that will be necessary for the city to adopt in order to meet the di- lemma. It is pointed out by one of the commissioners that it is absolutely neces- sary to increase the appropriations for l several departments and that d cut of | the smallest sort would greatly impair
 the efficiency of the city as a whole It
 will undoubtedly take the remainder of l the week for the commission to come ! close to making up the difference of $3l.- 0o1 which now confronts them. l It Is not thought that the permanent | budget for the coming year can possibly | be made out within the next week or 10 days, At the conclusion of that time | it. is possible that only tentative af- engagement in regard to the budget will | be made in order to take care of the cur- | rent expenditures of the city for a pe- riod of a few months.
 The commissioners. as a whole, are reticent in giving out any statement in
 regard to the plans they are working on | to solve the problem. The school al tendance this year is already far in ex- cess of that of last year. The charge of an incidental fee for every child in the elementary department of 9 cents and 50 cents for every high school pupil will not cover the operating expenses of the pub lie school system for a fraction of ths full nine months
 In view of these facts. the present force of teachers of the city is smaller than last year. The housing facilities are the same and in some instances re- pairs are absolutely necessary. The over +t1a. Iteyh ur1,n 1,or reached a point where those in charge of the educational system of Birmingham are at loss to know how to accommo- date any more pupils.
 The street tax, the increase in licenses, the curtailment of various departments and other dra stic measures have thus far fallen short of raising the total amount of money necessary for the operation of the city government. The law says that the city must stay within it's income