Lewiston for the Fiscal Year Ending February 28, 1905, Together with Other Annual Reports and Papers Relating to the Affairs of the City
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The University of Maine DigitalCommons@UMaine Maine Town Documents Maine Government Documents 1905 Forty-Second Annual Report of the Receipts and Expenses of the City of Lewiston for the Fiscal Year Ending February 28, 1905, Together with Other Annual Reports and Papers Relating to the Affairs of the City. Lewiston (Me.) Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/towndocs Repository Citation Lewiston (Me.), "Forty-Second Annual Report of the Receipts and Expenses of the City of Lewiston for the Fiscal Year Ending February 28, 1905, Together with Other Annual Reports and Papers Relating to the Affairs of the City." (1905). Maine Town Documents. 4676. https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/towndocs/4676 This Report is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UMaine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Maine Town Documents by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UMaine. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Forty second annual report o f t h e R E C E I P T S A N D E X P E N S E Sof thecity of LEWISTON • f o r t h e / fiscal year ending F ebruary together with the annual reports and papers relating to the affairs of the city it L ew iston, M aine Press of Lewiston Journal Com pany 1905 FORTY-SECOND ANNUAL REPORT O F T H E RECEIPTS AND EXPENSES O F T H E C ity of L ew iston f o r T H E FISCAL YEAR ENDING FEBRUARY 28, 1905, TOGETHER WITH OTHER ANNUAL REPORTS AND PAPERS RELATING TO THE AFFAIRS OF THE CITY. LEWISTON, MAINE PRESS OF LEWISTON JOURNAL COMPANY 1905 AUG 1 4 1912 CITY OF \ LEWiSTON. I n B o a r d o f M a y o r a n d A l d e r m e n , March 20, 1905. O r d e r e d , The Common Council concurring, That the Committee on Printing he and is hereby authorized to have printed twelve hundred copies of this year’s annual reports of the receipts and expenditures of the last year and included such other reports and public documents as in its judg ment it may deem proper, expense of same to be charged to appropriation for printing when made. r ead, passed, and sent down. J. F. SLATTERY, City Clerk. In Common Council, March 20, 1905. Read twice under suspension of the rules, and passed in concurrence. H. W . LITCHFIELD, Clerk. MAYOR'S ADDRESS. Gentlemen of the City Council: I trust that we appreciate the great honor that has been bestowed upon us by being chosen to administer the munici pal affairs of our city for the coming year, and also that we fully realize the great responsibilities and the duties that, by our oaths of office, we have this day assumed. Λ city the size of ours, has many and varied interests to be cared for, requiring a great deal of time and labor upon the part of the members of the city council. Let us therefore give freely both of our time and labor to the end that the city’s interest and the city’s welfare may be prospered and promoted, thereby meriting the honor and the confidence bestowed upon us by our fellow-citizens. You all are well aware, per haps, what your duties are, therefore for me to attempt to outline them to you or to show you of what they consist is unnecessary. But this I ask of you,— that each one will give to the citv of Lewiston this vear, whatever his duties may be, the verv best thought and the verv best effort of which he is 1/ G ts capable, and if this we do, we shall at the close of the year have the consciousness of right endeavor, although we may fail to accomplish all that we desire. I present for your consideration the following statement of the financial condition of our city at the close of the municipal year February 28, 1905. FINANCIAL STATEMENT OF THE CITY OF LEWISTON, MARCH 1, 1905. L ia b il it ie s . 5 per cent. Bonds due in 1897 not presented............................. $500.00 5 per cent. Bonds due in 1907 (Water Bonds)......................... 174.000.00 4 per cent. Bonds due in 1913 (Railroad Bonds refunded) 100.000.00 5 per cent. Bonds due in 1917 (Water Bonds)......................... 200,000.00 4 per cent. Bonds due in 1923 (Railroad Bonds refunded) 100,000.00 4 per cent. Bonds due in 1924 (War Bonds refunded).......... 80,000.00 per cent. Bonds due in 1927 (Water Bonds refunded)----- 100,000.00 4 CITY OF LEWISTON. 4 per cent. Bonds due in 1930 ($26,000 Water Bonds refunded) $51,000.00 3y2 per cent. Bonds due in 1931 (City Building Bonds refunded)... ............................................................... 185,000.00 Total Bonded debt March 1,1905........................ $990,500.00 Notes outstanding March 1, 1905................ 314,976.07 Total Liabilities, March 1, 1905....................................... .. $1,305,476.07 Total Bonds and Notes outstanding March 1,1904.............. 1,317,921.07 Total Bonds and Notes outstanding March 1,1905............... 1,305,476.07 Reduction of Bonds and Notes for year ending March 1,1905, $12,445.00 Re so u r c e s. Municipal Sinking Fund March 1, 1005..................................... 238,360.06 Water Loan Sinking Fund, March 1, 1905.. ......................... 1,919.67 F. A. Conant, Uncollected Taxes ..................$4,442.53 J. E. Gagnon, Uncollected Taxes ..................... 2,388.64 E. G. Woodside, Uncollected Taxes ...............14,518.63 W. P. Sawyer, Uncollected Taxes.............................. 368.05 George F. Turner, Uncollected Taxes. ......... 629.26 E. A. Davis, Uncollected Taxes............................... 40,622.88 $62,969.99 Soldiers’ aid due from State for Spanish W a r... 2,751.15 Tax deeds in Treasury, March 1, 1905.................... 4,446.84 Cash in Treasury, March 1,1905........................ .. 12,245.51 Total Resources March 1, 1905. ............................... 322,693.82 Net Debt March 1, 1905......................................................... 982,782.25 Net Debt March 1,1904 .................................................................... 991,424.62 Net Debt March 1, 1905.................................................................... 982,782.25 Reduction for the year............................................................ $8,624.37 Concerning our financial affairs, I desire to call your attention to a practice which I deem most yicions. I refer to the matter of holdingo hack bills in the latter months of an administration to be paid by the succeeding administra tion, for the purpose of making a good financial showing, on paper. In regard to this custom, I have this to say,— I believe in making the appropriations large enough to meetthe expenses of the city economically administered, and then the prompt payment of all bills when presented and properly approved. There will, of necessity, be a few bills go over from one administration to another, but I wish to see as far as possi ble, all bills contracted during the coming year, paid by this administration. Pay as yon go is as good a rule for the city as for the individual. At this time I know of no reason for any extraordinary expenditure during the coming year and therefore think our tax rate of twenty mills can be maintained, if not reduced. m a y o r ’s a d d r e s s . 5 S c h o o l s . The maintenance of the high standing of our public schools shall be the watchword of this administration. Let us allow nothing to interfere with the success and high standing which our public school system enjoys at the pres ent time. I wish to call your attention to a matter that has already been brought up in the school board, namely, that of holding our caucuses and elections in our public school buildings. I think this is wholly wrong, and earnestly hope that in the future polling places will be provided in which to hold our caucuses and elections other than our school buildings. The reasons for this are so obvious, that it is not necessary to mention them here. ation for schoolhouse repairs in the hands of the school board has, I think, been demonstrated to the satisfaction of all, and to return to the old method would be a step that this administration would not care to take. P o o r T) e pa r t m en t . This department is one of the most important of the departments of the city, requiring as it does the outlay of a large amount of money. While I recommend a liberal deal ing with our city poor, and would have no one deserving or entitled to aid turned away and made to suffer, yet in jus tice to the tax-payers of the city, we should not allow our selves to be imposed upon by applicants for aid who are well able to support themselves, and who should be an aid and a help to the city instead of being a burden and expense to the people among whom they live. I would also recommend that the Board of Overseers of the Poor keep in closer touch with the clerk of this depart ment than has been the custom in the past, meeting with him as often as possible to discuss and talk over the business of the department and to assume some of the responsibility for the businesslike administration of the affairs of this 6 CITY OT LEWISTON. '·* , · · * / important department. The rule in practice at the present time of refusing to allow children to come to this depart ment for city orders unless absolutely necessary is a step in the right direction, and will, I hope, be strictly adhered to the comingO vear.