Camden Courier-Post – February 6, 1933
Bonds, New Incinerator and Repairs Prevent Further Economy
4-YEAR PERIOD COVERED
By LOUIS J. GALE
Total expenditures tumbled $1,286,737 in the four years since City Commissioner Frank B. Hanna took charge of the department of streets and public improvements.
The expenses would have dropped $1,791,086.89 but for bonds totaling $504,349.89 that had to be met during that period for water improvements, a new incinerator, street construction, and repairs, sewage plants and street surveys, representing indebtedness incurred partly by preceding administrations.
Hanna also had to meet a total of $96,828.91 from 1929 to 1932 inclusive to operate sewage disposal plants, an expense that his predecessors in office did not have. If that amount were added, the grand total cut made by Hanna in expenditures during the four years would be $1,887,915.80 under the total for 1928, the year preceding his assumption to office.
Table Shows Economy
The amazing drop in the department’s expenses during the last four years came to light Saturday in a 9-year table made public by Hanna. The table shows that the commissioner spent $768,305.97 in 1932, against $2,055,043.39 in 1928 when Commissioner William D. Sayrs, Jr., headed the public works department.
Hanna pointed out that he made public the comparative nine-year table of expenses so that the public might know how every penny has been spent during the four years of administration as a city commissioner. He added that the tremendous cut in expenses is due to no one man, but because of the wholehearted co-operation of his assistants and subordinates and the general public.
The table reveals that the 1932 expenses under Hanna were $2,188,108.88 less than the $2,956,414.85 aggregate in 1924, when former Commissioner Carroll P. Sherwood was in charge of the department.
Records at Hanna’s office also show that his 1933 budget calls for total appropriations of only $503,575.40, and that his receipts from the water department are expected to total $621,321.90. That would give him a balance of $117,746.50 over and above his expenses for the year, which is considered a material credit balance in these days of considerably depleted revenues.
Budget for 1933
Further,the 1933 budget for the department is less than one-third of the $2,055,043 spent in 1928 before Hanna became a city commissioner. It would not be amiss to mention at this point that the budget figures are mere estimates, and that they may be over or under the amount actually spent in any given year. In each year that Hanna has been commissioner, the records show, he has spent considerably less than the amount he was allotted for that year in the department’s budget.
For instance, the department’s files reveal that while Hanna was allowed $706,075.90 in his 1932 budget, he spent only $646,902.60 of that total, or $60,973.30 less than the estate for his department by effecting economies not anticipated in the budget.
The department’s net expenses to operate last year, the records further reveal, were only about $73,600. In other words, of the total expenditures of $768,305.97, more than $573,900 was met in receipts from the water department and a total of $120,727.59 went to meet water and street bonds, representing indebtedness of that an d former years.
$73,600 for Routine
With the net total of $73,600, Hanna directed street and sewer repair and cleaning, the collection of ashes and garbage, the operation of the city sewage disposal plants and the city engineer’s office, and paid salaries.
A comparative itemization of the 1932 budget figures and what Hanna actually spent reveals the additional $60,973.30 in economies he effected under the 1932 budget estimate.
While he was allowed $10,075 for his office as director, he spent only $9735.14; the highway office budget called for $19,746, with but $18,223.91 expended; streets called for $221,000 in the budget, but $172,607.06 was expended; culverts, $22,600, but only $18,695.98 was paid out; city engineer’s office allowance, $20,638, with that total cut to $18,511.36; sewage disposal plants, $30,695 allotted, but only $23,178.43 spent; water department, $381,321 called for in 1932 budget, with $383,950.72 paid out.
Of the total of $383,950.72 expended in the water department, $98,881.14 went to meet bonds for improvements and replacements made in wells last year which showed iron in the water, Hanna’s table of 1932 expenses revealed. The item is listed in the table under the heading, “Water bond contracts payable.”
Annual Profit Shown
The water department shows a profit each year. In the 1933 budget this year,for instance, it is expected to show a profit of $240,000 over and above its expenses of $381,321.90, which total includes maintenance and operation, $273,000; interest on water bonds, $73,079; maturing water bonds, $27,475 and water sinking fund, $7767.90.
In other words, the total receipts this year of the water department are expected to be $621,321.90 or $117,746.50 more than the 1933 appropriations.
Aside from the expense figures already mentioned, other interesting facts are shown in the table.
For instance, it is reveal that the commissioner would have shown an even greater cut in expenses of $1,286,737 during his four years’ administration except for the fact that sewage disposal plants were added to his costs beginning in 1929. Those expenses did not enter into the expenditures his predecessors in office had to meet because the improvements had not been operated in their time.
The table shows that the expenses for operation of the sewage disposal plants totaled $96,828.91 from 1929 to 1932 inclusive. If those expenditures did not have to be met, the reduction which Hanna effected in the time he has been in office would have come to a grand total of $1,383,565.91.
Another interesting revelation in the table is that under the item of “street construction.” The table shows that Hanna spent only $2675.78 for street construction last year, against $275,623.84 in the preceding year and against $393,810.96 during the term of Commissioner Sayrs and $797,714.70 in 1924, under Commissioner Sherwood.
For Public’s Information
Commissioner Hanna pointed out that in making public the comparative table he has arranged it so that the public could understand from the report the exact amount spent each year in the department.
“The table is arranged in a simple,concise manner that it will be understood and will not cause any confusion,” the commissioner said.
”In the reductions that have been made in department’s expenses during the four years of my administration, the credit goes to no one man. They were made possible through the co-operation of everyone in the department and the general public.
“Officials and employees of the bureaus under my direction have shown an enthusiastic spirit to serve the public well at the least possible expense. Their constant thought has been the public interest and it is to them and to our citizens that the principal credit should go for the savings we have been able to make.
“We have economized to the limit during the last four years, but I feel that we have reached the point that we cannot cut any further and at the same time give the efficient and adequate service we have offered in recent years.
Records Always Open
“I feel that every citizen of Camden should know how the department has been spending the taxpayers’ money.The citizens have a right to know. It always has been my policy to let them know, and to reveal to anyone interested all the records available at my office.
“In conclusion, I am taking this opportunity to thank the public for its co-operation in wrapping garbage and in furthering the department’s campaign to keep the city’s streets and sidewalks clean. Such co-operation is appreciated by me and by every other official and employee in the department of streets and public improvements.”
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