Evening star., 1945-05-26
The District Bill

this years District appropriation
bill and the report now awaiting
House action are primarily interest
ing for the reforms they make
possible in local budgeting.
Hitherto the appropriations COM
mittees, especially the House sub
committee, have undertaken to pass
on the creation of each new job
and the abolition of every old one.
This year, some $50 new positions
were asked for in the face of about
1900 authorized but vacant posi-
tions. The House committee very
wisely decided to give the Commis-
sioners greater discretionary au-
thority in creating and abolishing
jobs. sparing great amount of
useless work by the committee and
permitting the exercise of more
judgment by the Commissioners in
the utilization Of personnel.
The step should make for better
budgeting. Hitherto the tendency
has been to retain all authorized
positions, whether filled or untitled,
and add-but seldom eliminate
jobs. With the new authority given
them, the Commissioners can direct
department heads to keep within a
budgeted figure and when new posi-
tionS are to be created, to Offset the
increase by abolition of jobs no
longer necessary or less important
than new ones.
The grant of this new discretion
ary power to the Commissioners Is
well timed. The postwar period will
show decreases in local tax revenues
at time when the cost of operation
is steadily going up. Every new
improvement from capital outlay
for which there is a substantial
program-adds to the cost of main
tenance. But to some extent this
trend can be balanced by shifts in
the utilization, rather than mere
increases, of personnel.
Most of the cuts in this years
budget were the result of looping
off untitled vacancies. The commit
tee indicated no desire to be arbi-
trary in this respect, assuring the
Commissioners that funds would be
available when vacancies could be
filed to advantage. But for several
years the payrolls have been filled
with untitled vacancies which re-
suited only in lapsed appropriations.
Chairman Coffee's committee, as
the hearings records show, has again
approached its task of approving
District appropriations in a fine
spirit of sympathetic interest in the
welfare of the District. Over 500
pages of testimony in the hearings
reveal an understanding Of District
affairs, an appreciation of good work
at the District Building and sound
criticism of faults. This attitude
makes for better teamwork.
A continuation of this spirit will
be most helpful in the next few
years. The committee is correctly
apprehensive over a condition which
reveals continued increases in costs
in what Mr.. Coffee referred to,
during the hearings, as zone of the
best-run city governments in the
country" The local taxpayer will
share that apprehension. Since 1910,
total appropriations have increased
from about SAL, 10000 to $66,7OO,OO0
In the same interval, the Federal
payment has remained the same
$6,000,000, and the proportion of
Federal funds has declined from ii
to less than 10 per cent. If this
trend continues, the inevitable re-
suit will be to make Washington
the most highly taxed city in the
country, while furnishing an made
quate amount of local services
because of the drain of expenditures
resulting from the fact that this is
the National Capital.
The help of Congress in preventing
this outcome is sorely needed noW