New Britain herald., 1924-02-09
FINANCE AND WATER
 BOARDS IN WRANGLE
Method of Payment for Work of Permanent
 Nature Is Issue

Decision us to what the future pol-
 icy of the yater board in paying for permanent Improvements shall be
 promises to vie with discussion of tax
 rates at the next session of the city
 meeting board, since there is wide divergence of opinion between the
 water board and members of the
 board of finance and taxation as to
 whether bonds or regular income
 should be drawn on for these pur-
 poses.
 It appears that the board of finance and taxation will take sides with Chairman Edward r. Hall and Mayor A. M. Paonessa and in the prepara-
 ton of next years budget will make provision for bond issues rather than needed permanent Improvements. If so. according to authoritative reports, members of the water board will seek to have the issue threshed out at the annual meeting of the city meet ing board, and 1t is reported that there are many supporters of the wa ter boards policies.
 If Chairman Halls bond issue pro- posal Is accepted, increases in water rates will be staved off for a few years at least and perhaps for many years to come, he believes: on the other hand, members of the water board claim that carrying out a pol icy of issuing bonds will so increase the amounts that must be deposited annually in the sinking funds that it is a matter of but a few years be- tore big increases in water rentals will be necessitated 10 bring the rev. enue up to what these annual pay ments will require.
 The water board recently construct cd, at cost of s1t0,000. a pumping station in Forestville. It is possible tor the city to get permission from the legislature for water bonds in the amount of si10,o00 10 reimburse the water board, Chairman Hall believes. With this income, the ordinary rev. enues will be sufficient for several years at least, to make increases in water rentals unnecessary, the chair man of the finance board feels.
 Commissioner F.. w. Pelton of the water board. is one Of the leaders in the anti-bond issue movement. He declares that the present low water rentals are the direct result of the policy of paying out of regular rev enues for improvements wherever possible. He has asserted that, in his opinion, the adoption of system Of issuing bonds will, in few years, bring water rentals close to the amounts paid in cities where private furnish the service. Had the city, in the days Of the water sys- tem's early development adhered to the policy of issuing bondsf the talk ing up of these obligations would cause an annual drain on city finances that would today necessitate rentals higher than are now charged, he believes.
 Chairman Hall Of the finance board i points out that the revenues of the ! water board have been sufficiently large in past years to provide a fund 1 high enough to lay aside moneys with 1 which to make such improvements as l the pumping station provide. and he l believes, that if bonds were issued. ! thereby avoiding great drains on this ] money, the revenue would be found to | be high enough without jumping Wa ter rates.
 The water boards decision to rec | ,mmend to the board of finance that permanent improvements be paid for ,ut of regular revenues, was reached 1y unanimous vote.