Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-08-26
SOS Million
Budget Request
Set for District
Estimates Due Friday
Under New System
Of Department Bids
By HECTOR MCLEAN

The District Budget Office
this week is expected to urge the
Commissioners to plan on spend
ing approximately sos million
during the next fiscal year which
begins July l..
The recommendation is slated
to be made public Friday as the
city launches itself on a new
system of preparing its budget
for the coming year.
For years it has been Gus
tomary about this time of year
for the District to announce the
amounts which the various city
departments have wanted to
spend. Some of these depart
mental estimates" veteran OBJ
servers comment, have tradi-
tionally asked for "the moon as
well as the kitchen sink"
Hearings ScOrned
After publication of the esti-
mates. the Commissioners have
held public hearings which the
Board of Trade has long insisted
were meaningless.
The boards argument was
that the public was given no in
dication of how much money the
District would have to finance
the departmental requests, and
that the Commissioners still
faced the chore of cutting the
requests to fit the available reve-
nueS.
What was left after the city
heads got through was sent to
the Federal Budget Bureau for
submission to Congress as part
of the Presidents annual budget
message each January.
Now, however. after strcng
prod from the Citizens Advisory
Council, the departmental re-
quests are not being released
until after a preliminary staff
cutting by the District Budget
Office to keep them within the
city's expected income.
Trying New Approach
What will be released for pub
misunderstanding Friday-will be
the department by department
recommendations of the Budget
Office to the Commissioners. The
original departmental requests.
which were submitted to the
Budget Office in memorandum
form only. kicked off conferences
between department neads and
Budget Office staff officials which
resulted in trimming Of the re-
quests and preparation of the
budget proposals to be published
this week. The original requests
are to be made available to the
press for comparison with the
finished product.
Publication of the Budget Of
flee recommendations is to con-
tinue through the week of Sep
TENDER 3, after which 300 copies
Of the compiled proposals will
be distributed to District civic
organizations for study.
A public hearing will be held
some three weeks later. after
which the Commissioners are to
give special hearings to any
department heads who demand
them and complete a final
marking up" of the budget in
relation to the latest official
estimates of District revenue
from the Federal Budget Bureau.
More Funds Wanted
Appropriations for the current
fiscal year. which ends next
June 80. 1857. are Sl98.6 million,
with allowance for only $40 mil
lion as income from the annual
Federal payment toward the
costs of running the Capitals
municipal government.
Next year, the city heads will
ask for at least the full S23
million authorized under tax
increase bill last year, and pre-
sumably will tailor their requests
to Congress to conform. This
would produce revenues enough
to finance at least S20l.6 million
of spending in fiscal 1858.