Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1946-09-01
getRequests
orDistrictMay
Total 125Mi||ion
Record Figure Due
To Be IS Million
Over This Years
By John W. Thompson, Jr.

District department heads are
submitting to the Commissioners
requests for the next ifs
cal year that probably will reach
an all time high of $l25, 100000
by the time the estimates are
complete later this month.
Iiscal officials gloomily predicted
that figure yesterday after looking
over some of the departmental bud
gets, but they emphasized that the
returns to date are partial.
If the total bears out the FORE
cast, it will exceed by s35 100000
the hitherto record departmental
requests of 100000. 900 submitted last
fall for the current year.
Schools Seek $4,000, 900 More.
At that time the Commissioners
chopped the requests to SOL sos, 900
and Congress approved a further
pruned total of s79,oO0,O00 which
went into effect July /. This does
not include an additional s6,oOO,o0o
that will be added to the cost OF
city operation by the end of this
year in the form of pay raises ap-
proximately IA per cent for all class
es of employees.
The wage increases are expected
to take up the greater part of the
sl0000,000 saved by the city during
the war years when no building was
possible and personnel shortages
left jobs vacant.
AS sample of what is now being
sought by the department heads, it
was understood the Board Of Edu-
cation has asked for s25 100000 or
about sl0,000000 over it's present
ALLEGATION. Glenn Dale Sanatorium
is reported to want 100000 for
capital Improvements alone. Police
Chief Harvey G. Callahan already
has served notice he intends to ask
for Ill additional policemen.
Apparent cause for the sharp in
crease in the estimates appears to
be inclusion by many department
heads of the initial phases of Engi-
neer Commissioner Gordon R.
Young's S228,00O0OO six-year pro-
gram of expansion for city facilities
and services recommended to the
Commissioners last June and now
under study by representative
, citizen committee.
S24,000,000 More Needed.
OF the Sl25,000,000 expected total,
only about sl5,0OO,000 will be
chargeable to the highway and
water funds and the remainder of
more than $100,0O0,000 will be in
general fund items.
Since the general fund under
present taxes and at the present
Federal annual payment is calcu-
lated to produce only $4,000, 900.
the Commissioners would have to
find an additional s24,000,0O0 to
meet the requests in this category.
This appeared impossible to Dis
trict officials since the new tax pro-
gram to be considered at a public
hearing September Is is calculated
to produce only 7,750,00 and this
includes the controversial sales tax
and expansion of the income tax
base, both unWelcome to Congress.
If these are knocked out and no
substitute provided, the new taxes
left would scarcely raise $4,000 900.
1t was pointed out, too, that even
if the O'Mahoney plan is adopted
relating the annual Federal pay
ment to the percentage of Federal
land holdings here only an addi-
tional 100000 would be produced
above the present $8,000,000 pay
ment.
Balanced Budget Required.
Because the Bureau of the Budget
requires the District to present a
balanced budget and because the
bureau fixes the official revenue esti-
mates against which the requests
are balanced, it was believed the
Commissioners will have to slash
heavily into the departmental esti-
mates to bring them into line for
submission to Congress in January.
If new revenue program is en-
acted, however, before Congress
passes on the budget items some
reservations probably would be
made at the Capitol in line with
new revenue expectancies.
The spectacular departmental re-
quests, however, are expected to fur
nish the Commissioners good talk
ing point at the tax hearing against
objections to new levieS.
Meanwhile officials in the asses
or's office made ready to begin
their drive to pick up personal
property tax evaders as a part of
the campaign to wiring every pos
sible dollar out of the existing tax
structure.
Personal Property Checkup.
With real estate tax collections
at better than SO per cent Assist
ant Assessor James L. Martin Is
opening. probably this week, the
city-wide detailed canvass of rec
ords on personal property which
he hopes will yield an additional
$4,000 in taxes to the District.
He has estimated that the study,
of a block-by-block study
of property returns and other data,
will take about two years to COM
plete.
The city assessed $3,441 900 worth
of personal property taxes during
1916, but collections swelled to So
472 900 as delayed payments came