The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-05-18
CITY, COUNTY
 BUDGETS MEET
 WAR TROUBLES
BX RICHARD A. KENDRICK United Press Staff Correspondent

United Press Staff Correspondent.
 Chicago, May 18 CUP)-Cities and counties, like people, must tighten their belts as a, result of lowered Incomes and rising costs brought on by war.
 Carl Chatters, executive director of the Municipal Finance Officers Association, has emphasized the difficulties encountered by cities in trying to raise additional revenue or curtailing expenses without sacri- Iicing essential municipal functions.
 Part of their financial predica- nlent, his report shows, has resulted from the fact that many cities set ID their 1942 budgets as long ago IS last summer on a "business-as- usual" basis, without considering future emergency expenditures and higher costs caused by the nations war effort.
 Property Values Decline
 Likely to become one of the most serious factors in local taxation problems during the war will be growing inability of individuals to pay local taxes in the face of heavy demands made by the federal gov- ernment.
 Among other things, cities will lose much revenue through the ac- quisition of land by the government for military uses, lower assessments on inventories of small enterprises unable to replenish their stocks, and declining value on properties re- lated to automobile usage.
 Inasmuch as some cities receive goodly portion of state gasoline taxes, local revenue from this source undoubtedly will decline with the growing shortage of automobiles and less automobile travel.
 Gas Taxes Reduced
 For instances, Birmingham, Ala, abSorbs about $1,000,000 annually from gasoline and auto taxes. Mill waukee receives part of the state gasoline tax in lieu of a personal property tax on automobiles. Ball. timore has collected as much as ,S5, 100000 from motor vehicle li- censes, fines and gasoline tax.
 Local revenue may experience further declines in view of the possibility that some cities may grant morateriums on taxes due by men serving in the armed forces. Moreover, If the Cochrane- Dough- ton bill now pending passes Con- gress, assessments on personal prop erty used for defense will be eli- minated
 To aggravate the problems of war-time municipal finance, cities, like people, are higher prices for almost everything they buy. City budgets did not consider the rising costs of operation they would have to bear in an expanding war econ- omy.
 New Needs Costly
 Even higher food costs have up- set county and city budgets that provide for the operation of hos pitals, jails and other institutions. Unforeseen demands for local civil ian defense and additional services pertaining to war industries and war housing also enter into the picture.
 The defense problem involves all kinds of expenditures which cut deeply into the local budgets: funds for guard personnel around war plants, added police and fire protection, air raid equipment and overhead for civilian defense or ganization.
 A shift in population to areas undertaking new industrial war production has necessitated ex- pansion of school and recreational facilities by many cities.
 In an effort to economize some cities have curtailed public works projects, but this comes nowhere near to solving the whole financial problem.