Perth Amboy evening news., 1918-12-09

CITY EXPENSES INCREASE

All ncTtdSt buHSSt anu "NUt-c
dur;uo spcb fines a these. The reason is easily explained. Everyone
knows that it costs more to III his business today than 1t over did
before. Every housewife knows that it costs more to conduct house
hold affairs today than it ever did before. Naturally, 1T costs lore
TO run q city than it ever did before.
But in the case of a city the taxpayers often have to pay the
penalty for shortsighted policies in the past. Certain departments
that may have been pinched or ignored in an effort to make the tax
rate seem small in the past are suddenly brought into the hmenght
and their Importance realized. 1t has been found that the supposed
savings of former years were really extravagances a the people sui
fered more from the neglect than they would have suffered If they
had been made to pay enough each year to provide the department
with sufficient money to operate properly. In the end they have had
to pay anyway.
We learned this lesson a year or two ago in regard to the city $
sinking fund, but not until state laws were passed causing every
municipality to appoint a commission to handle this fund entirely
outside of politics. Perth AmbOy ever since has been placing large
amounts in the annual budget to make up what should have been
added year by year a new bonds were issued.
This year the city has had brought home to it the need of a real
health department. After al epidemic has swept over the city carry
ing away hundreds of citizens and causing thousands to lose much
valuable time through sickness, the city suddenly realizes that health
is, after all, the most important feature in municipal life. The ponce
department has been provided for and the fire department has een
looked after, but health, upon which everything else depends has
been all but ignored. Now a greatly increased appropriation is need
ed to place this department on its feet, although considering the work
necessary to be done before the department is actually In working
order for efficient service, it is doubtful if the money to be set aside
for the health department is sufficient to do what should be done. 1t
might have been a better policy to have appropriated a larger sum
at the beginning and get the department where it belongs, and then
cut down next year to a mere maintenance of what has been built up.
Sooner or later the city is going to experience the same thing in
connection with parks and recreation. Every progressive city IA
its park system well developed. Nowhere re parks more essential
to the welfare of the people than in an industrial community like
Perth Amboy. Recreation is no longer a fad 1t is now provided by
progressive municipalities for old as well as young.
We have had a sample of what can be done along this line by the
War Camp Community Service activities during the past year. But
soon this feature of the war work VIII be discontinued and the work
so well established and to which the people have become accustomed
and learned to look upon rs a part of their life will have to be con
tinued by the local authorities, if it is to be kept up at all. There Is
a wonderful field for this kind of work here and the city fathers
are only storing up trouble for themselves or their successors II they
ignore this work as they did the health department IN the past AT
least enough should be appropriated to keep the work gong along
present lines 10 as to take over the War Camp Community work
when that branch of war work is discontinued. A few thousand dol
lars would do it and the benefits to the great mass of people would
be apparent.
OF course, city employees want increased pay along with the en-
ployes of private corporations. The cost of living warrants a reason
able increase. This alone accounts for much of the increase In the
city budget for next year.
Heretofore Perth Amboy has had a large amount of new build
ing to fall back on for taxation thus keeping the assessments down.
But there has been no new building during the past year that has
amounted to anything. The war put a stop to all such work except
that which was necessary for war orders. This means that there whl
be II o new buildings to be assessed this year to keep the tax rate
down. Naturally, under such circumstances, it behooves the city Of
fcials to economic in every way possible, but with the cost of every
thing continually mounting, it il plain that the only answer higher
taxes.
This is the experience everywhere and Perth Amboy, If it pro
possess to continue as a pacemaking city, must accept the inevitable.