Fifty-Seventh Annual Report of the Receipts and Expenses of the City
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The University of Maine DigitalCommons@UMaine Maine Town Documents Maine Government Documents 1920 Fifty-Seventh Annual Report of the Receipts and Expenses of the City of Lewiston for the Fiscal Year Ending February 28 1920 Together With 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.), "Fifty-Seventh Annual Report of the Receipts and Expenses of the City of Lewiston for the Fiscal Year Ending February 28 1920 Together With Annual Reports and Papers Relating to the Affairs of the City" (1920). Maine Town Documents. 4714. https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/towndocs/4714 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]. Fifty-Seventh Annual Report OF THE RECEIPTS AND EXPENSES OF THE City of Lewiston FOR THE Fiscal Year Ending February 28 1920 TOGETHER WITH ANNUAL REPORTS AND PAPERS RELATING TO THE AFFAIRS OF THE CITY Printed By ECHO PUBLISHING COMPANY LEWISTON, MAINE MAYOR’S ADDRESS Members of the Board of Aldermen, Ladies and Gentle men There are several problems, many of which are very serious, which will occupy our attention as municipal officers of the city of Lewiston in the year of our official life which begins to-day. As representatives of the city elected by a majority of citizens I cannot urge too strongly upon you the responsibility which we must ac cept and with which we share with no one else. The City of Lewiston is growing fast. It is the source of congratulation and pride that the recent figures of the census show that in the last ten years Lewiston has increased its population by better than 20%. AVe are at the door of a great future and much depends upon how we conduct ourselves in the admini stration of our duties. I will try to be brief but there are several points which 1 feel should be taken up upon our first da}1' and which I will submit to you for your guidance and consideration. The first thing that I wish to touch upon is the fin ancial condition of the city. There are held approxim ately $275,000 demand notes against the city. There is nothing to prevent the presentation of these notes for payment and although it is not probable that the whole lot would be presented at once, the fact remains that it is not a good condition. We are, as a ore city at our debt limit. There are constantly increasing sources of expense there are man} permanent improvements which Lewiston must make and expend considerable money upon. These condi tions are gradually increasing our tax rate. There must be a way to make what improvements we need to take our place as a progressive city. One of the most imperative needs in the city of Lewiston to-day is an Armory and an auditorium. The fact that Lewiston needs a large hall is recognized by all our progressive people. The lack of it is holding back our development as a leading* community in the State of Maine. There is a way to meet these new demands. It -is nothing new and has been suggested before. That is, the establishment of a Water District itself. This is a 4 CITY OF LEWISTON sound proposition which has worked out many cities of which Portland is an example. I belie\'e that now is the time for us to take such action and I hereby recommend that a special election in the city of Lewiston be held sometime in the month of May referring to the people whether they wish to au thorize the city government to go to the legislature in January of 1921 for permission and authority to esta blish a Water District. If the people accepted the proposition we could borrow $500,000 by issueing serial bonds we then could erect a memorial to the soldiers and sailors of Lewis ton in the form of an Armory-auditorium which would include quarters for the National Guard, a home for the Lewiston Post of the American Legion, and a big hall suitable for commntions and other large public meetings. Not only has Lewiston lost in prestige but also in revenue because it has not been able to accommodate in large gatherings. There are certain permanent improvements which must be made in our schools and in our streets and to our bridges, one of which, that across the canal on Main Street will have to be replaced very soon. We could not hope to do these things under the present condi tions without increasing the tax rate until we have reached the point where it would not only drAe away from our city prospective new comers but it would be a heavy burden for all our tax payers. We should issue serial bonds in place of the demand notes now held providing for a gradual reduction of the debt. This brings us to the financial situation at the beginning of the new year in which we must practice strict economy and insist on business methods in ever}- department. We lace at the very outset an increased cost of operation of more than one mill on the present valuation; in the school department $13,000 has been added by the school committee to the pay roll, the legislature has increased the pay of the policemen $10,- 000 in the Public Works Dept., there is an addition of $9 000, and in other departments $5,000. That is all a permanent addition to the expenditure. The storms have cost the city in the neighborhood of $28,000, an other milk There is a large amount of unpaid bills in the city treasury just how much, I am unable to say at this time. MAYOR'S ADDRESS 5- It is easy to see that we will have to use every ef fort to curb expenditures. I shall recommend the in stallation of a modern book-keeping system in city hall pattened after the best system used in a city correspond ing to ours it should be one of our first actions. We should pay bills, when they are due and the system would provide for taking adwantage of discounts. I am sure that much money could be saved in this way. I shall recommend an ordinance creating position of a city purchasing agent whose duty would be to pur chase all the supplies of the city and wherever possible to advertise for public bids. For instance the city should buy all its coal for the various departments in a -lump and from the lowest bidder. There is no doubt that a competent man could save the city many thousands of dollars in this way it is a practice which all the large corporations are adopting in which they have found to be successful. When the appropriations are made up they should be limited and arrived at careful study into the require ments for the year and the various departments must be held within their appropriations. I believe that the moment an appropriation becomes overdrawn the de partment should automatically be closed and its admi nistration pass into the hands of the Municipal officers. In this way it is my opinion we could emphasize the necessity of strict economy in every department. I would require from time to time statements from the head of every department an exact accounting of con ditions. The assessors of taxes should be cautioned to make rigid examination into their valuations. Property must be assessed fairly and wisely but it is part of their busi ness to see that the correct valuation is placed upon all property and in order to do this they must exercise the greatest resourcefulness in every instance. T want the aldermen to keep in touch with the assessment of taxes as I will do for we must act as protectors to the large number of rent payers in the city of Lewiston. An act to prevent profiteering in rents was enacted by the legislature and it may devolve upon us to take action in some cases and naturallv we would look to the assessors, of taxers for information. I do not want to be misun derstood in this because I do not advocate a wholesale raising of valuation but it has come to my attention that in some cases property owners are paying very low CITY OF LEWISTON taxes. It is the duty of the assessors to establish these facts and adjust the valuation upon them. It may be that some cases that valuations on certain pieces of property may be too high although I do not know of any at present. In regard to the extension of permanent streets I want to say briefly that we work merely in an advisory capacity to the Public Works Department. We make appropriations for them of course and in this manner exert considerable influence on their plans. I have no fault to find with the Public Works Department but at this time it is only fitting to touch upon it. There should be a comprehensive system of permanent streets work ed out so that as we add pieces of roadbed year by year, ^a connecting net work of streets would be laid out and not build by chance here and there and not to please any certain section to the detriment of the general plan.