1929-04-08-ATM-MIN - Laserfiche WebLink

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2S4 rim increase it . The recommend ? tions of the Commit free 0 to study the "Inter and Fire Departments , which are taken up later in our report , call for a bond issue of approximately .A60 , 000 this year , or 4400 , 000 over a period o ' six years . ''1e are advised that the = chool Program for next five years will probably call for $ 00 , 000 in capital expen - ditu. res for increased school accom-rodations alone . This would call for the issuance of more bonds , and would further entail an inc ° ease in maintenance expense of aprroximntely $25 , 000 a year whIch must not be lost sight o ' . This year no annropria tion has been aslred for Sewer Construction , but , with our continued growth , we must expect the t money will be requir - d in this Department in the near future - - a.nother bona issue . There always .has been , and probably alwayt will be a di f `' e renc e of opinion on the reln t, ive merit or short and lona, term horns for. Town financing . Your Committee believe th ^ t a " ray as you go " policy should he encourared by the Town ns far as practicable , . realizing t - nt anti and n ^ rti cu lnrly long term bonds impose upon the Town heavy interest cbcrges which even this year amount to v40 , 000 or slightly over • 2 of our total tax rate . Should we burden the Town with future obligations merely to keen our present tax rate down , when each decade will brink, financial problems of its own ? 1t can readily be seen , therefore , that the Town is face to face with a financial problem which should be giver the most serious thought and consider •ition . Turning our attention to the annual operating expenses of the Town , we find that 80 % of the articles appearing in the warrant , call for annual expenditures of less than $ 10 , 000 apiece . These items represent 40 ` of the entire Town grant . The expenses in this group of Departments have increased from 41 42 , 000 in 1924 to , 332 , 000 in 1928 , an average increase of more than 25 / a year . The roma fining Dept rtments , representing 60 % of our Town grant , alsr, show a substantial yearly inc ease in their onerating expenses . on the ofh nr hnnd , our revenue from increased assessed valuation increases from but 5 / to 7 % yearly . It is bbvious , therefore , that there is a distinct tendency for onerating exnenses to e -rceed our inco'ne , and the Aprropriation Committee feel the necessity of cantio' ing the Citizens and Penartment • ear' s that 9 tight curb must be kept on all anrrorriations nna expenditures . You have alr , ady this yenr voted to apnronrinte and assess $646 , 000 as compared with the total grant of 1928 amounting to 0648 , 000 , and there still remain to be acted unon in t,_ in warrant several articles which • call for appropriations . '! th an estimated increase revenue of approximately S32 , 000 this yenr , it follows tht t any expenditure in excess of •; 34 , 000 at this , or a June meeting , • will reflect an increase in the tax rate for 1929 . "le would urge the Department heads to carefully refrain from bringing in additional requests during the year 1929 unless it is an emergency measure . We now turn to the considerntion of the Report of the Committee appointed to study Water and Fine Denartments . `their printed report , complete as it appears , is but n brief summary of the tremendous amount of inform '- tion the t has been assembled . This data is now on file at the Town Office Building , and we believe will be a valuable guide for tz e future exnans ion and development or the Fire Perp rtment• . For our convenience , we have changed the order they have followed and br ; rg our report to you under two separate headings .