The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-11-25
PACE FOlR
City
Continued from Page D

" unepund and under the teadefa
 ahip uf Thomas M, Conlon, then
 comptroller, tAe city took Che digu
 iicAR step oE raielfa tho water rates.
 A a result, the water Fund IA
 now . paying unit. The fees cola
 lected cover the cost of operation
 and the payment of Che principal
 and interest Uf she bonded debt. fn
 addition, next year. for the first
 time, the water Fund will make d
 payment Co the General Fund and
 will thus begin Co pay back to the
 general taxpayer che anOunte cole lected from him over the long period of years, ft k also interesting to
 note rom che recent audit Of the
 Water Department that the rates charged for water, based on the cost of the system, are from ss les Co 90 percent lower than they would be with Q private utility.
 A third step in the process Of
 improvements was the setting up of a permanent and actuarially sound Pension system. For years the city had merely paid pensions as they came due. No reserve fund was set up and no provision for the future was made. This arrange. lnent was not objectionable in the beginning since there were few pensioners, but as time went an and the periods of service grew the number of pensioners increased tn. til today the list covers six pages in the ip46 City Budget. The an. ntlal outlay necessary to pay these pensioners was increasing in leaps and bounds. Tn the course of five years there had been an increase of loo percent in the payments to general pensioners. rt was clear that something had to be done.
 Meets Outlay Adequately
 A commission was set up by the General Assembly and recommend- ed c solution. The solution was to set up the system we now have which maintains most of the bene- fits of the old arrangement but involves a set annual contribution from the city. This amount is cal- culated by pension expert and will be adequate to meet the demand of any peak year and also to place re. serve amounts in the fund.
 The new system is generous in so far as contributions are concerned since the city contributes approxi- mately four dollars to every dollar contributed by an employe. Through the new system the beneficiary is protected because a reserve fund is now in existence upon which he can | rely. The taxpayer Is protected bee l cause he knows each year what his | pill Is going to be. It is true that | he taxpayer has had to make large | initial payments but these would | eventually have to be made anyway, | md he now knows that there will be l 10 more overwhelming increases ike those which were necessary be- ore the plan went into effect.
 The next financial adjustment | which was required was the re- This change was long overdue and modernized the AS. essing Department. It also placed on m equal basis, as determined by he statutory test of market value, lll the property in the city.
 The last of the large financial im- was the setting up of he Postwar Fund and the intro- luction of Q Capital Budget in ad- lition to the annual Operating Bud- Jet of the city. The purpose Of the Postwar Fund was to save surplus money totaling between two and hree hundred housasnd dollars Q ear and to set 1t aside for i'm. rovemenEs which could not be made turing the war.
 Six-Year Plan Set Up
 In conjunction with this fund ti1e ,ity Plan Commission worked out, nth department heads, a Six-Year ian of capital improvements. This Ian sought to list all the improve 1ents which were demanded by the ity. These were. then arranged in he order of their importance. They included everything from sanitary ewers, storm water sewers, side- 1alks and street paving to high chool, an auditorium and an air- ort. Tn spite of difficulties. this Ian has demonstrated it's effective ess during the past two years.
 Immediately after the end of the ar, work was begun on several of 1e largest sewer projects in the istory of the city. and in the past .ar and one-half a substantial side- ak program has been carried out. 1 addition, tlse waGS- syste:.: has zen extended to permit new de- nj sienment, and needed repairs to ridges and streets have been made. ext year should see the program ,erating in a fairly normal way. aturally, shortages of labor and