Evening star., 1953-06-25
Budget
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Budget
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the House Appropriations Com
mittee that the expenditure of
anything more than the $23, 900
sum would be a waste Of money.
1T is not wasting funds to set
UP ap air-raid warning system,
to train emergency personnel,
educate the public of what to
expect and to stockpile limited
amounts of blood plasma and
other medical supplies" he said.
Library Fund Requests.
Harry N. Peterson. public Ii
brarian, asked for restoration of
some Of the cuts made by the
House for the public library.
One request was for SIG, 400 for
the provision of a second book
mobile to meet library demands
in the Congress Heights area. He
said there were proposals for
three new branch libraries in the
area east of the Anacostia River,
but that it might be near 10
years before they were in opera
ton.
Mr.. Peterson also asked for the
addition of $4,000 to complete
the remodeling of the basement
and the second floor of the cen
trail library building.
Milo F.. Christensen, recrea-
ton director, urged the subcom-
mittee to restore most of the
money deleted from the Recrea-
tion Department budget. both
for personnel and for improve
ment Of facilities in play areas.
Plan Weathers Test.
District Government reorgan-
ization, now nearing completion
in its basic outline, apparently
weathered its test before the
Senate subcommittee yesterday.
Chairman Dirksen, who asked
a lot Of questions about saw
ings and greater efficiency,
wound up long day of hearings
by telling reporters:
after all, the District is con-
stantly in a state of growth"
While he voiced no specific
approval of requests for funds
to complete the reorganization
work, he commented that reor-
ganization "now seems to be a
full-blown program. i
Proposes New Formula.
A dramatic plea for a greater
Federal payment toward Ma
tional Capital expenses was
voiced yesterday by Walter L.
Fowler, veteran District Budget
Officer.
He proposed a new formula to
fix the size of the Federal share.
It would be based on the amount
of the land area of the District
used exclusively for Federal pur-
poses. -s
Mr.. Fowler calculated this at
18 per cent after deducting many
acres at the Zoo and other park
areas used by the public.
If this theory were applied to
Government land holdings here,
as though they were taxable like
privately held real estate, the
Federal payment would be $685.
million instead Of the $12 mil
lion lump sum authorized in the
1947 District Revenue Act.
Chairman Dirksen said the
proposal is deserving of con-
sideration" and is one not to be
lightly put aside" He raised
questions, however, of the need
of a new basic law.
Old tissue in Congress"
The proper size of the Federal
payment has been before Con-
gress for many years. A formula
based on Federal land holdings
was advocated some years ago
by former Senator Overton,
Democrat. of Louisiana. He won
solid backing in the Senate but
not in the House.
After another series of tech
nical studies, another Senate
committee later brought out a
somewhat different formula bill
under the sponsorship Of for
mer Senator Joseph O'Mahoney,
Democrat Of Wyoming.
Budget Officer Fowler brought
the troubles of those days up to
date by warning that the city's
1854 budget will be balanced only
because next years revenues will
be swelled by a surplus of $12.5
billion. The days of such sur
pluses. Mr.. Fowler said, are at an
end.
Mr.. Fowler said the District
seems to be facing a revenue
deficit of $15.3 million by the
end of the fiscal year 1855, un-
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