Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-03-03


must submit TO Council each year n COM
prehensive budget showing the estimated
revenues and that the revenue of the
city must equal the expenditures. Under
the system which will guide the city's
financial policy II Is provided that when
revenues do not meet expenditures the
resulting deficit will become n first
charge against the next years revenue
The Mayor the bill provides. must also
submit copy OF the budget to the City
Controller, who will examine It and re-
turn II to Councils with his comments.
Council is left entirely free to change
the budget in any manner II sees flt.
II Is upon the budget that the act
declares Council shall fix the tax rate
not later than the first day Of December
next after its presentation. Should
Councils fail to act and fix a tax rate.
the bill specified that n tax of 10 per
cent of the maximum rate existing
during any part of the five preceding
years shall automatically be imposed by
authority OF the act.
This provision was included as n
means of forcing the Council to perform
its duty. AS was pointed out at a
recent meeting of the charter revision
committee. the members of Council
would be 10th to earn public rebuke
which would follow the extra tax of 10
per cent should the body fail to fix
proper rate, based upon the budget. The
bill provides that the tax rate shall be
such as will provide an amount of esti-
mated revenue, which when added to
the estimated budget revenue from all
other sources, will produce a total esti-
mated budget revenue for the ensuing
year at least equal TO the sum of the
estimated budget expense of the ensuing
Id
any, of the current year.
Dealing with the matter of keeping
expenses within revenues, the act pro-
vides as follows:
"The Council may from time to time
by ordinance authorize any department,
officer, board, commission. committee or
other agency to incur liability for such
purposes and within such amounts as
the said Council shall specify; and II
shall not be necessary for the Council TO
make an appropriation for. or specif-
cally to set apart money for the pay
ment of, any such liability.
Whenever the Council shall author
lie liability to be incurred, and when
ever 1t shall specially authorize the
disbursement or transfer of money. the
Council shall indicate in such authorize
tion the fund or funds against which
such authorization is chargeable.
AT no time shall 1t be lawful for the
Council to make any such authorize ton
in excess of the unencumbered balance
of the fund or part of fund against
which the same is Chargeable. For the
purposes of this section the amount of Il
fund or part of fund. other than loan
funds. shall be deemed to be the sum
of ta) the cash therein. (b) the invest
ments and securities therein. at the net
value at which they are carried on the
city's books, and (c) the accounts re-
ceirable thereof 0ncluding taxes, water
rents, interest and other items receiv-
able), payment of which has accrued or
is to accrue within the year. at the est-
mated amount of such payments coll
lectible within two years"
The committee lays stress upon the
Importance of a new financial policy and
II sets forth that one of the greatest
difficulties in the administration of tho
affairs of the city during the last fifty
years has been its financial methods.
Ignorant OF Conditions
Large sums Of money" says the re-
port, have been borrowed to meet cur
rent expenses, not so much Oh account
OF excessive expenditures as because of
ignorance as to the actual condition OF
the city and the lack of moral courage
city administration who feared TO place
tho tax rate at such figure as would
yield the income they desired to spend
Under the existing system contracts
must be based upon previous appropria-
tions, and where appropriations have
been insufficient large amounts of sup
plies and material, ann even labor. have
been delivered to or performed for the
city without any appropriation and
without any contract with the neces-
sary result that the work and material
have cost the city far more than they
would have cost had they been con-
tracted for in a regular and lawful
manner.
I'm order TO avoid this difficulty in the
future, the committee proposes more
freedom in contracting than has
hitherto existed, doing away with the
necessity for having cash in hand before
contracts can be made. This will make
the vicious system of delivering sup
plies in advance of appropriations un-
necessary, and will no doubt save the
city large sum of money annually on
that account. The plan proposed in-
wolves an improved system of bookkeep-
ing whereby the actual condition of the
city, not only as regards income and
expense. but also as regards capital cX-
penditures and assets possessed by It,
can be easily ascertained and under
stood at any time. 1t also contcmplates
that comprehensive budget will be
presented to the Council each year at
the proper time, showing the estimated
expenditures, and that the revenue of
the city must equal each year the ex-
penses, or, If it does not, the deficit will
automatically appear as the first charge
on the next years revenue. and it will
be clear to all to what extent such
deficit does exist and how it has been
created.
"'The committee is convinced that
under this system the income will at
least equal the expense and the business
of the city will be placed on very
much more regular and legitimate
basis"
The bill contains section dealing
with municipal Indebtedness, in which it
is provided that I'm any ordinance au-
thorizing the city to increase its indcbt-
edness to incur new debt provision shall
be made for the collection of a tax
TO pay the interest thereon and the
principal. The debt may be Increased
TT NM