Evening star., 1953-09-08
District BUDGET
For 1855 Seeks
Million
Requests Exceed
1854 Estimates
By $2,383,000

improvements IN nScal 1900, the
Commissioners disclosed today.
The figure is $2,383, ,083 higher
than the departmental estimates
submitted for the present fiscal
year.
But the Commissioners last
year reduced the requested sums
to $151.6 million and Congress
cut another 81 million from that.
This year. the agency heads
have been given a greater scare
in the form Of a Commissioners
order to be prepared to submit
figures 10 per cent less than the
STAT million appropriation for
the current fiscal year.
3 Commissioners Ease Fears.
The Commissioners have tried,
without success, to ease their
aides fears by explaining that
if there must be any budget
pairing, they want to be able
to cut where it hurts least. It
has been further indicated that
the Commissioners want to see
how alarming a 10 per cent
budget cut would appear on pa
per, for purposes of argument
on Capitol Hill.
Whatever the reason. the de-
partment heads are apprehen-
sive. declaring privately and
publicly that such Slashing
would be ,ruinouS.
. The Commissioners were to be-
gin their customary hearings
with department heads sometime
today, to hear the agency esti-
mates justified and, reaction to
the 10 per cent cut PROPOSE
ton. A public hearing is slated
for September 20.
AS it now stands, the esti-
mated budget sets up 1881 MIL
lion for operating expenses and
$48.2 million for capital outlay.
Projected operating costs total
nearly SIT million more than
those appropriated for this year.
While capital outlay estimates
are lower by $13 million than
the department. requests sub
mltted for the current year, the
figure is nearly $19 million above
the actual appropriation for
fiscal 1854.
Increased operational cost es-
Inmates are largely due to the
granting of some $5.5 million in
special pay raises for firemen,
policemen and teachers in the
1854 budget period. Another
factor is the cost of stating new
institutions expected to be in
operation by the time fiscal 1855
arrives next June 80.
New School Construction,
New school construction re-
quests are an important factor
in the capital outlay picture.
Whatever new plants are grant,
ed in the 1855 budget are al
ready taken into account in the
1882 million public works i'm
provement program, legislation
for which Is still pending before
Congress.
The estimates also take into
account the city government re-
organization program. All, with
the exception of the new Licens-
ing-Inspections Department, rep
resent consolidated budgets of
the departments as reorganized.
The source of income for the
total expenditures would be:
General fund; $158.9 million;
highway fund, $143 million; wa
ter fund, $9.8 million, and motor
vehicle parking fund, $188, TAO.
These totals represent an in
crease of $35.6 million over the
1854 appropriation.
Surplus DwindIeS.
OF greatest concern to budget
officials is the growing likelihood
of dwindling surplus in the city
treasury. The government went
into the present fiscal year with
a surplus of close to $14 million.
It is expected that by the end of
fiscal 1854 this sum will be less
by $40 million.
The firemen-police- e-teachers'
pay increases. plus general cost
increases and provision Of more
services. are expected to take the
biggest bite. In addition, the
Commissioners only recently ap-
proved raising the wages of city
per diem workers. This, If
okayed by Congress, would mean
another drain of more than 81
million on the surplus.
Coupled with these cost in
creases, revenues-notably from
the sales tax-are leveling of. in
the view of budget experts.
"The District government"
said one. may be in a serious
predicament by the end of 1885,"
The only answer would be a
bigger Federal share in the costs
of running the Nations Capital.
a higher tax rate, or both
whether or not the big public
works program is approved by
Congress.