Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-04-06
Tax Rate Boost
Faces Officials
|nMontgomery
CounciImen Seen
Unable to Hold Line
At $1.87 Per $500
By ChorIes [. Hoffman


men, including five possible can
didates for reelection, will spend
some sleepless nights between
now and June 80 if they have
any hope of holding the present
$1.87 per 500 general county
tax rate.
There will be no reasSessment
windfall this year. The assess
able base is expected to rise only
SAT million to a new $703 million
level. This includes about $35
million worth of property.
Last year the councilmen gave
residents a 23-cent tax slash,
thanks chiefly to a substantial
raid on accumulated SURPRISES
and a mountaineering 1852 mil
lion increase in the aSSessable
base caused by assessments.
Sees No Way Gut.
At least one councilman seek
ing reelection confesses he sees
no possible way out of a tax
rate increase.
The only real bright spot is
in the county debt service which
will rise only about $124,000
compared with the half million
dollar increase of this year.
The council last June had
about $2.3 million in accumu-
lated surplus to help balance
the operating budget and to
pay for capital Improvements.
And they appropriated it.
Some $465,00O was used to
knock Z cents off the tax rate,
Another $75O,OOO was allotted for
school construction, $324,0OO
for special projects including
the new county building, and
1891 900 for roads.
$389.OOO Left in Surplus.
When it was all over only
$389,OOO was left in surplus,
less than what Finance Director
Alex K. Hancock believed is a
safe margin.
Chances are good, however,
that this will be increased by at
least $350,0OO. if past budget per-
formances mean anything. And
unless the county loses a court
battle over cost of the new
county building, at least $780,
900 more is likely to become
surplus.
These admittedly are con-
sentative estimates. County
finance officials. however, point
out actual revenue receipts are
running closer to estimates this
year than they did previously.
This potential surplus COM
bined with the $880.000 the in
creased base would bring at the
present tax rate, gives the
county about SIT million addi-
tional revenues with which to do
their financial juggling. Antici-
pated increased school operating
expenses alone could gobble
this up.
School Costs Rise.
School costs per pupil have
increased an average of SO a
year during the last three years
with an anticipated enrolment
of 1926 children the school
board reasonably could be ex-
pected to ask for ST, 100000 more
than the present $8.1 million
budget.
County officials point out
these are not wild estimates. In
teachers salaries alone new
schedule will mean an addi-
tional $477,000 will be needed
next year. Another 100000
will be needed for some 200 new
teachers the school board ex-
pected to seek.
The board also has indicated
that maintenance costs and sal
airy ALLEGATIONS for other than
teaching employees also must go
up considerably.
The Council and County Man
ager E. T. Beall both may get
real chance to try out their
budget-slicing techniques. Re-
ports are that county depart
ment heads got instructions to
limit their budget requests to a
bare minimum" as they did
last year.
The teachers are not the only
employees seeking pay increases.
Policemen, engineers, clerical
workers and nurses want a pay
boost this year and some council
men appear to be receptive to
their demands.
Morris Allen, executive direc-
tor of the Montgomery County
Taxpayers, Inc. has said present
indications of department budg-
ct request plans would force the
tax rate up Is to 40 cents.
II think I will stand by my
estimates he said yesterday.