Evening star., 1963-04-13
Hearing to Finish
Work on Plan
For 1884
BY ANNE CHRISTMAS
Star Staff Writer

~ ANNE Nk1hAS MAS
Star staff Writer
The Montgomery County
Council was meeting in Rock
vile today to complete work
on the 1884 budget that will
determine the new tax rate for
the county's $4,000 residents.
Deadline for enacting the
budget is 8 pm. Monday, when
the council will meet to sign
the completed document. To-
days public hearing is the last
on the budget proposals for the
next fiscal year.
All signs are that the gen.
eral budget will be a little over
S35 million, but final work re-
mains to be done over the week
end on the school boards pro-
posed spending Of $63.3 million.
Meanwhile, observers were
wondering whether the coun-
cil's newly enacted resolution
placing the budget department
under the director of finance
was designed to take away
some of the county managers
prerogatives.
AbOut-Face
Thursday nights vote on the
future of the budget office was
an about-face on a decision the
previous week by the council
to leave it in its present status
as a separate entity under the
county manager.
In a surprise request, Coun-
cilwoman Mary A. Hepburn.
who was absent when the MAJ
ter was discussed earlier, asked
that 1t be reconsidered.
After brief discussion. the
Republican dominated council
approved a $30,270 addition to
the budget office which would
add three positions and remove
1t to the finance department.
The only survivor directly un-
der County Manager Mason A.
Butcher will be Budget Officer
Newton Butts, who will be
transferred to Mr.. Butchers
staff.
Floyd Gives View
What will this mean to fu-
ture budgeting?
Council President John A.
Floyd had this answer:
THE budget now becomes a
year-round operation, with a
month-by-month analysis so
that department heads can be
kept informed, through auto
nation, on how they are doing
financially. If they don't want
to know, there is something
wrong"
He described the new setup
as IAN administrative tool for
the county manager and de-
partment head" It will pro-
vide greater and more fire.
quent financial control" he
added.
The theory behind the
change, Mr.. Floyd declared,
came out Of a book on govern
mental financing written by
John F. Briggs, formerly of the
University of Maryland, who
now receives 5000 a year as
the county's top fiscal adviser.
THE book has received inter-
national acclaim, and has been
studied by the budget officers
of a number of States, includ-
ing Maryland, who are follow
ing his ideas" the council
president continued.
More Revealing
I'm the past, the admins
trative body has brought to the
legislative body a budget docu-
ment which discloSes very little.
The council had no way of
knowing if it was acting intelli-
gently. This is true in any
large government; the bigger
the budget, the further it gets
from the legislative branch"
He cited a feeling that some
agencies in the Federal Gov
ernment find themselves with
unused money near the end of
fiscal year and feel obligated
to spend It, so that the fol-
lowing years appropriation will
not be affected.
'I see some little evidences
of this in the school and coun-
ty budgets" Mr.. Floyd COM
mented. I'm the school board
budget, Mason Butcher has rec
commended the same reforms he
resents so keenly on a county
level"
In the first budget work ses-
sion last week, Mr.. Butcher OBJ
jected to the transfer of the
budget office to finance and
expressed his displeasure to Mr..
Briggs who had made the pro-
posal in his own version Of the
budget.
The council voted that night
to leave the budget office in
tact, but changed Its stand
after Mrs. Hepburn asked that
1t be reconsidered Thursday,
and added her own vote.