Evening star., 1949-03-01
$98,923,621 D. G. Budget Sent
To House Leaves $2,534,07
Deficit Despite 81, 100000 Cut
Shortage Would Rise
Another $4,000, 900
If Pay Is Increased
By Don S. Worren

get of 500, 1923, ,621 was sent to the
House today by it's Appropriations
Committee, with nearly $4.4OO.-
900 slashed from the Commits
sioners' estimates in the hope of
staying somewhere near balance
if no new revenues are provided.
Even the "austerity" budget
plan, however. left the city faced
with prospective deficit at the
end of the next fiscal year of
S2.534,071.
This does not take into ac-
count an extra $10.000000 of
costs if Congress grants the de-
manded retroactive pay raises for
city employees to put them on the
same basis with Federal workers
S995,000 Under This Year. ~
The total of the budget is $685.
900 below the appropriations for
the current fiscal year.
For permanent improvements,
almost exclusively to continue
projects already authorized or
started, the committee allowed
S13713,911. or S1.827,739 less than
the Commissioners had asked.
The figures include all three
funds, general. highway and
water.
Since members of the District
Subcommittee that handled the
bill did not challenge the justice
of the delayed city government
pay raise. or even most of the bud
geted items that were cut. the
whole supply bill action points to
the need for expanded city rev.
enueS.
Trimmed All Along Line.
In fact. one of its members,
Representative Church, Republi-
can, of Illinois, an advocate of the
proposed 2 per cent District retail
sales tax. insistently asked at the
recent executive hearings what
the city would do if Congress
failed to pass the sales levy He
wanted to show what cuts would
have to be made if the new rev.
enue plans failed.
On the ground that the appro-
priations group must limit the
proposed District spending to
level near the prospective rev.
enues, many slasheS were made all
along the line of city departments
Minor items and pet projects
alike felt the pruning knife.
In its budget balancing drive,
the House Committee asked for
the repeal of an old appropriation
of $1,137,399 for construction of
the Spingarn High School Build
ing. Under this move. the former
appropriation would be returned
to the general fund, and thereby
reduce the impending deficit.
This, with the heavy slashes all
along the line. the committee said,
would reduce the prospective 1850
deficit (not counting on the pay
raise COSTS to $2,534,071.
Spirited Battle Expected.
A spirited battle over the pro-
posed omission of the old appro-
priation for the Spingarn School
is expected to develop since this
project was designed to relieve
overcroWding in some OF the eX-
isting schools for Negroes.
The congressional plan was
drafted by the subcommittee head
ed by Representative Joe Bates,
Democrat, of Kentucky. Other
members are Representatives
Yates of Illinois and Furcolo of
Massachusetts. Democrats, and
Church of Illinois and Stockman
of Oregon, Republicans.
Their reason for resembling the
1912 authorization for the Spin
garn School was that these funds
had been available for several
years and the building not yet
placed under contract and there
fore it might wait little longer in
view of the financial stress.
School officials had asked, at the
congressional hearings, that the
limit of cost on the Spingarn prof.
ect be raised from $2,505 900 to
S3,6O0,OOO, because of the swollen
costs of construction. This went