Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1918-08-13
Ordinance Prepared BY Finance
Commission Is Amended BY
Levy And His Friends
A STRANGE SITUATION
OVER INTEREST PAID
Emergency Fund Of Water Com
pany May Be Used If 95-Cent
Rate Won't Meet Expenses

4 What is very generally considered
as the first step and one of distinct
! progress in the right direction, is that
/ it will tend to save the city about 4
/ per cent in interest charges when
I there is need TO borrow money; and
7 that it will also eventually give the
I City Council some control of the So
called Emergency fund created from
I the excess earnings of the Annapolis
/ Water Company; was taken at last
nights meeting of the City Council,
when, through the efforts of Alder
men Levy. Parkinson, Beavin, Russell
and Adams, five-cent increase in the
/ city tax rate was prevented
Incidentally, there was considerable
/ discussion of the funds of the Water
/ Company and their present disposition
among the various banking institu
/ tions of the city. That these monies
/ include an emergency fund of over
/ $4,000, which is drawing per cent,
while the municipality has from time
/ to time borrowed from the same insti-
tutions and paid 6 per cent-or diff
! ference against the city of per cent
was one of the interesting points
/ brought out during last nights discus
| sion of the tax rate and the water
company funds.
/ The tax rate ordinance for the next
! fiscal year, prepared by Mayor Strange
and the other members of the Finance
Commission, fixed the rate at S1.00,
which was 5 cents more than the rate
! for last year On motion of Alderman
! Levy, backed by the other members
mentioned before, the ordinance was
amended so as to keep the rate at the
old figure.
The question of the Water Company
/ funds was raised by Alderman Beavin,
who moved that the Annapolis Bank
4 be given a pro rata share of the de-
4 posits of the Water Company. His
motion brought from Mayor Strange
/ this announcement: You must un-
! derstand, Alderman Beavin, that the
disposition of the funds of the Water
Company is entirely in the hands of
the Water Board. The question of de-
| posting the funds is now before the
/ Board and will be settled by the Board
in due time. / want to say further
that the question you raise will have
due consideration; that's as far as
care to go now"
Whereupon Alderman Russell, as
acting minority member of the Water
Board, announced that at the last
meeting of that body he had moved
/ that the Annapolis Bank be given a
proportion of the deposits, but none
| of the other members of the Board
would even second his motion, and
the question therefore was not consid-
cred.
Alderman Beavin then made mo-
/ tion to the effect that the City Coun-
4 Gil recommend" to the Water Board
to divide its deposits equally between
/ the banks of the city, and Mayor
Strange replied by stating that there
/ is no doubt that the new bank will
! get some of the money. "The Water
Board is going to do this when they
/ get ready" he said
Alderman Levy then asked just
what interest the Emergency fund is
now drawing on deposits, and Alder
man Smith replied that the city is also
/ getting interest on the checking ac-
count of the Water Board.
Since when" demanded Alderman
Russell.
at is started now" was the cryptic
reply of Mayor Strange.
During the explanation by Mayor
/ Strange of his ideas of the need of an
increase of five cents in the tax rate,
Mayor Strange pointed out that one
source of loss of revenue, in addition
TO that lost from the closing of the
| saloons of the town and the loss of
liquor license fees, is from the income
/ from fines imposed by the municipal
police justices. This loss he estimated
would amount to about $3.50.
In discussing the income TO be de-
rived from a s1.00 rate, he said this
would barely carry the city through,
and any money for extras or improve
ments would have to be borrowed
Announcement was made by the
Mayor that the rate would have to be
4 levied against the old basis of assess
ment, as the city has been unable to
get the complete returns from the
County Commissioners on personal
property and fixtures in many in
1 stances. Alderman Levy was strong
ly in favor of waiting before the rate
was made until the new basis could
be obtained. but this the Mayor de-
clared could not be done. as the law
calls for the rate to be fixed before
/ September 1st
The motion to cut the extra five
cents out of the levy ordinance and
keep the rate at the same figure it
was last year. was finally adopted by
I the following vote: Yeas, Alderman
Parkinson, Beavin, Levy, Russell and
Adams; Nays, Mayor Strange, Alder
men Smith, Wells, and Stevens.