Evening star., 1932-11-26
|GHF|GURES FILL
NEW YORK REPORT
Enormous Totals City Faces
Is IncomprehensibIe to
Average Person.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

special DiSpatch 70 the star.
NEW YORK, November 26.-The fig
ures set up In the report of Controller
Berry on the financial condition of the
City Of New York are of size incom-
prehensible to the average man. Units
Of measurement are in hundreds Of mil
lions and billions of dollars.
Take, for instance, the value Of city,
owned property This includes schools
and buildings Of all kinds, parks, water
ways, property acquired for watershed
purposes, subways, docks and bridges.
These are estimated to be worth s3,000,-
100000.
The gross funded debt Of the city at
the present time is S2,333, ,706, ,091. or
more than twice the United States Gov
ernnent debt prior to the war. This
gross debt Is reduced to a net funded
debt of $1,e36, ,356,246 by the sum of
$639, ,29l ,228, which is self-supporting
and consists of water, rapid transit and
dock bonds from which revenues are
payable to the city. The assessed val
uaticn Of taxable realty within the city
of New York is S19,616,934,930.
Pay Cuts Proposed.
The tax levy of 1882 should produce.
If it is fully collected, $685., ,534,2 ,293. This
is a larger amount than the Federal
Government is likely to collect this cal
endar year from individual income
taxes. The pay roll of the city is under
stood to be approximately 100000 a
month, or $360,00O,000 a year. One Of
the proposals of Controller Berry in his
economy program Is for an adjustment
with respect to the salaries and wages
| Of city employees in the higher brackets.
| It is expected that the cut will aver
age 10 per cent with no incomes under
! $4,000 to be affected.
Tax valuations for 1882 are believed
to be reducible by $1,750 900 600 if con-
ditions warrant it, without financial
embarrassment to the city," Already
| reductions made in 1888 valuations,
compared with those of 1882, aggregate
nearly 1887, 100000
| The record of New York City taxpay-
ers for paying the levies on them Is one
Of which Controller Berry is reasonably
proud. He states that taxes collected
by the city during the past two years
compare more than faVorably with the
| experience of any other of the large
cities throughout the country, Of any
State in the Union, or of the Federal
Government itself, or Of any other large
corporation" ... 81
ReassureS Bondholders.
On this record he takes the stand
that New York City's financial condition
is highly gratifying and should give alb
solute assurance to every holder Of its
bonds "aS to the continued ability Of
| the city to meet all Of its obligations as
it always has DONE" This statement
has already had pronounced effect In
recovering some of the losses that New
York City bonds incurred during the
recent discussion of the critical state
Of New York City finances.
One of the new sources Of income that
Is expected to be tapped, in order to ef-
feet a more complete balancing of the
New York City budget, Is that Of higher
subway fares, tolls on what are now free
bridges, and fares on municipally-o
ferry lines at present being operated at
loss. On this subject Controller Berry
says, To-day we have the spectacle Of
free bridges, cheap ferry and subway
transportation showing immense annual
losses, all supported by large budget ap-
propriations and at the same time prop
erty owners are calling loudly for reduc-
ton of Government expenses and claim.
ing rightly that they can no Longer
carry this burden"
(Copyright, 1aaal