Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-04-22
MUNICIPAL EXPENSES GOING UP

n On top of increased taxes and a raise in the valuations
: the property owners are now confronted with higher water
: rates. The outlook is not encouraging.
The vast majority of the people who are called upon to
5 3 meet this increased expense have had their incomes greatly
5 reduced. Business men have had to accept losses. Indus
i tries have had to curtail. With municipalities, however,
: nothing has come down; everything is still going up.
: The only instance we know of where there has been
: radical reductions in government expenses has been in New
! York state. Governor Miller went into office pledged to
clean house, and he did. There was an awful howl from,
the politicians and the hundreds of party workers who had
landed in soft berths at Albany thinking that they were good
for life. Governor Miller cleaned them all out. He saved
1 New York state something like three million dollars a year.
But the municipalities are the worst offenders in this
regard. 1t is general throughout the country. 1t is a ques-
ton Of how long the people will stand for it.
The demand for Improvements is just as great as it ever
was. But these Improvements have to be paid for. Bond
issues have to be taken care of. The biggest item in the
annual city budget now is the amount set aside to meet the
bonds when they mature.
Street paving is fine, but the assessment against the
the property owner is bound to follow. If these property
owners were made to realize that they would have to meet
this assessment within a reasonable time or else lose their
property they might think twice before they signed the petit
tien fog the pavement.
And that brings up the question of arrearages in water
accounts. There are thousands of dollars on the books of
the water department Ill die. IHlS IucdI lHdt tnclc
are a large number of people who are getting their water for
nothing while those who pay find themselves facing an in
creased rate in order to make up the deficiency.
This is one of the differences between municipal own
ership and private ownership. Let a person get a month or
80 behind in his electric light bill or his gas bill and he will
nd out how quickly he will be without service. Knowing
hat he has got to pay for this service or go without he sees
10 it that the debt is cancelled.
With the water bill. however, he is not so particular.
ne city is easy. Threats are made, to be sure, but very sell
.om is the water deliberately cut off because a little talk 10
some influential politician, perhaps, will see to it that such
drastic action is not taken.
But something has got to be done to cut municipal
expenses il people are to continue to own property. This
does not mean that all improvements must cease; that there
can be no further progress. 1t does mean that a municipality
has got to be run in a more businesslike manner with men
IN charge who will give first consideration to the taxpayers
and the welfare of the city as a whole instead of looking
after the interests of some political party and making jobs
for party workers who. for some reason or other, seem to
think that they are entitled to some of the money in the
sty1 treasury.