The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-01-23

|itS Gentlemen:
 In presenting to you my report of |IEsfhe City's budget for 1922-1923, I |lsz nave endeavored to keep in mind the |lEs~Hrdinal principles Of good municipal IN Enhancing.
 First, that the payment of all cur |tTent expenses should be made from slfthe proceeds of taxes.
 .HSL Second, that bonds issued should be tlkIor strictly necessary permanent inn itfprovements and that the life of the Rfbonds should be well within the life (IHef the improvements bonded for, in II Third, that the City must borrow. REeach year, less than it pays on the Htprincipa1 of it's debt, so that there |uwi11 be a gradual reduction of debt |Heach successive year. If the City pays Wom one million dollars of it's debt in IlfDne year, it will this year.. the II Iamount borrowed ought not to exceed KSone-haH that sum. This would mean I,3a reduction of one-half a million dol iltiars in the debt and if continued, as Hit can be and ought to be, for a period 3|Iof about twenty years, the City would Il@then be free from debt and the large ItfAm cunts now required for payments t|ion principal and interest would be 5[fdone away with and more money Illavailable for City improvements and I|la large reduction in the tax rate I|Icould be effected as well. This Is the flIsurest method of reducing our tax HiburdenS. We can not go on decelF- Hing ourselves by supposing that we utcan continue to borrow money ana
 
 .Emoney must be repaid with interest
 Borrowing is but a makeshlft, and of the day of reckoning lifThere is no royal road to City hnan- itcing. The same rules apply and gov iIiern as in individual financing The 1llCity, like an individual, must pay the Alpenalties of it's indiscreet borrowings H3and must learn to live within it's in |lIconae, if it would avoid financial dis Master. But it is not practicable, nor lbs it necessary, to stop borrowing en- borrow reasonable II bums this year, for new schools and uAnd new sewers at least, probably also should be not more than k|one-half the amount paid on the prln- H|cipa1 of the City's debt, that IS we Nsought not to borrow in excess of |l4$ 100000 this coming year, which is liAbout one-half the sun. to be paid on jIfthe principal of our debt. Reduce City Expenses.
 N4 The CityS expenses ought to be re- Rduced by eliminating all fads and M 4uxuries and providing only for actual tsneeds.
 Esmust come from the gradual reduc- | Ition of the City's debt, until it is en- 1 Ntfrely eliminated, in the manner afore- | NBaid. Until this is accomplished. we leannot materially reduce taxation, as N view it. HE The City cannot continue paying | IHbf its debt and avoid high taxes. The | 1.-Two things are Incompatible.
 Debt of City.
 M The net debt of the City is $11,- | |457. .s0s7s, which is $7Ss, ,3s5.91 with |t n the debt limit of per cent, based Ion the last perfected grand list. Al To care for this debt. during the Hhext fiscal year will call for the fol- lftowing sums:-
 EEFor payments on prin-
 l4 cipal, $1,076,062-74 l|iFor payments of inter
 |IFor Sinking Fund 6,OOa %
 Total 1,649,264O5
 Those payments are obligatory and Iknust be met It will require a tax IIpf about 6.8 mills on each dollar of i5grand list to meet them, or. about f Twenty-Five per cent. of the entire rev ilsnue from taxation. Is It will require about 30 per cent. hbf such revenue for educational pur- Moses. that is, Schools and Library. lAbout seven CD per cent. for Chari- lHies. About seven CD per cent for EHea1th. The Police and Fire Depart Hnents will require about ten (lO) per Bent each of such tax revenues. This Hnakes eighty-nine (S9) per cent of Much revenues, and leaves only eleven ( KID per cent. for all other City pur- Moses in addition to the revenue from sources III Collect Taxes. tl One of the most serious drawbacks l|re have is the failure to collect taxes Mas we should. The vast majority of |Bpr people pay taxes when due. Many ( Nvt1O could pay elther neglect or reGuSe lko do SO Justice to those who pay ' jbromptly demands that those who can i Milford to pay and do not should be f lEompelled to do so- The collector
 M oes the best he can, under the Sys- . Fem He receives taxes from those I bvho are willing to pay. His office is I lh mere receiving agency. I believe ( #hat delinquent tax payers can be T 11Maore Effectively dealt with through | c The agency of the legal department Itf the City, for manifest reasons. If t faxes on personal property, remaining c ltnpaid six months after time for pay q lEuent. are turned over to the legal de- t ibartment for collection and it is made l Ikhe duty of said department to col i |tect them speedily, many losses to the a lE5ty, resulting from death, failure in f pusiness, or removals from the City V kould be avoided. Taxes unpaid on q |Eea1 property, for the current year, i c hught to be placed in the hands of 1 T The City Attorney for collection, by q |kait, if necessary, not later than Jan. Est each year, and it ought to be t hade his duty to take speedy action t Against delinquents, able but unwilling s 10 pay Of course, the force of the s city's legal department would have to taken. but it would pay to do so. h When it became known that speedy il legal action would be taken against a lax delinquents, the number of such D Mould be fewer and the labors of the a
 ega1 department would be lessened | Il Ind the receipts in the Tax Collectors II office would be cOrreSpOndinEly in tC Itreased. It has been suggested by ex- u s5erts who have been working here O, |.hat the City borrow money. giving g |felinouent taxes as collateral Secur- O s&v but this method I disapprove be- n ssause it would increase the City's debt p I{sld still leave the taxes uncOlleCted Rt would leave the City worse off than a sttwas before. I say collect the taxes. O Instead of resorting to any such meth q kd of doubtful expedienCy. The City c Mas no authority to make any such soan even if it desired to do so. q Eve estimated in last years budget II <fat ninety-three (93) per cent. of the Q taxes on list of. 1920 would be col tC zeefed during the fiscal year 1921 a, Eq22 Up to Jan- l. 1922. only S1-4 h kel cent. of such taxes has been col Q,