The Daily Alaska empire., 1947-03-01
l THREE UTILITIES
 70 RE ON BALLOT l HERE APRIL 1ST
Sources of Operating Fund Is Poser -Referen-
 dun on Dock

Ing gave point 10 cCntsntlOllS Illde the City of Juneau must some where obtain good-sized operat- i ing fund before it can set up in i the public utility business.
 It has been estimated that one hundred thousand dollars would be
 needed to carry initial payrolis l and maintenance, as well as to start whipping even the electric utility back into efficient operat- , ing shape from the rundown con- dition it had sunk to through
 the war years. Councilman James i Larsen doubted that figure would te nearly enough.
 , However, the councilmen were
 warned by City Attorney Howard Stablsr that they could not ex- pect to raise an operating fund by , issuing revenue bonds in excess of i the actual purchase amounts of
 the utility properties. There is nothing, he opined. in the congress j, sional act that would permit it., and he added that bending com
 panies will carefully scrutinize the conditions of any bond issue to see that all provisions of law are strictly adhered to.
 Can't Use Taxes
 | After directing the Council to ! look elsewhere for operating money ] if the voters approve the utility
 purchase, Stabler added the eau- 'tion that city money derived from taxation cannot be used for util- iity operation There was appar- ent reluctance to consider Council man Ed Nielsen's suggestion that an issue of general obligation , bonds to raise a fund that could be loaned to the utilities.
 i After putting all the difficult 1 ties, Stabler advised the Council that there was q way out, through adjusting utility rates to insure , operating costs, rehabilitation and bond retirement. Prom the sparse ranks of onlookers, former Mayor , Ernest Parsons commented that he is sure any bonding company that might be selected would insist upon 1 8 rate structure that would insure 1 it's investment. Parsons disagreed 1 with conclusion that present rates as far as the light company is concerned, would not bring in suf- ticient revenue for all needs, and Stabler pointed out that the City would have an advantage over a private operator in escape from taxes.
 Users Only Losers
 Another spectator Harold B. Foss, felt that there would te suf- ficient income to carry the in 1 yestment. Retirement of the $500 900 asked by the Alaska Elec- ] tric Light and Power Co., Stabler estimated, would take just about all that company's profits as pres :ently reported, but he again stated ithat rates could be raised, if nec- iessary to meet all other expenses. l No one can lose except the people who pay the rates, was his view. Previous to discussion of oper- ating why's and wherefors the four councilmen present had vot- ed to put the Nelson Water Com pany's offer to sell to the City for S15,000, on the ballot at the next City election, April l, along with the Juneau Water Company and the AEL and P
 And, since there was nothing else to do, it was decided to fix l the amount of the revenue bond l issue to be submitted to the vot- CTS at the total of the three pur- chase prices-or $1 ,125, 900 plus whatever added amount is neces- sary to pay for new construction to be undertaken by the Juneau i Water Company during the period 1 from next June 3 until the City
 may take over That total in cludes s15,000 for the Nelson Wat
 CT Company, $9o0,00o for the AEL and P, and $2loo0o plus. for the
 Juneau Water Company
 Profits Scanned
 Before voting to submit pur- chase of the Nelson water util- ' ity, the Councilmen scanned statements showing operating pro- fits of $788.91 in 1944, s945l6 in
 l945, and $995.87 in 1946
 Gross income for 1946 was shown at S230S.50. less the following ex-
 penses: Repairs labor and ma terials, s32562; office, shop and
 car expense, s447l3; taxes, licen-
 SC and insurance. S17938; collec
 ton expense, s360 = a total of
 s131263