The campaign for a county manager
charter in Montgomery County, Mary-
land, is progressing. The Montgomery
County Charter Committee which is
sponsoring the charter has effectively
organized itself down to the precincts
and has issued a campaign manual and
other literature for distribution to the
voters. Although suburban papers are
against the charter, prevailing local
sentiment seems behind the reform.
War Affects Pennsylvania
County Expenditures
The Pennsylvania Department of In-
ternal Affairs, in a recent issue of its
Monthly Bulletin, describes the diver-
gent trends of county expenditures
resulting primarily from the impact of
the war. The costs of some functions
have risen and decreased to a consid-
erable extent for others, but the net
change for the total of all counties has
been an appreciable increase in expen-
ditures.
Substantial decrease in bonded in-
debtedness and postponement of capi-
tal expenditure have resulted in reduc-
tion of interest costs. Highway main-
tenance and repair have been curtailed
to a minimum because material and
manpower have not been available,
thus reducing highway costs drastically.
Welfare costs have dropped because of
a lesser number of welfare clients, state
assumption of this obligation, and the
establishment of institution districts
not dependent upon general county
revenues.
Administrative costs have risen sub-
stantially as a result of higher labor
costs and higher prices of material pur-
chased. Expenditures for correctional
purposes have increased primarily be-
cause of the development of juvenile
delinquency, but the increased cost of
maintaining all institutional occupants
has been another significant factor.
Finally, there are several new func-
tions of counties that increase expen-
ditures. Civilian defense, food and com-
modity relief plans, employee retire-
ment systems, and military contribu-
tions have added substantially to the
total cost of county government in
Pennsylvania.
1944]
NEWS IN REVIEW
429
Taxation and Finance
Edited by Wade S. Smith
Planning Progresses
for Postwar Works
Civil Engineers 9 Committee
Lists Projects Ready for Bids
A GOAL of $15,000,000,000 of postwar
works planned, ready for bids by
July 1, 1945, has been set by the Com-
mittee on Postwar Construction of the
American Society of Civil Engineers.
Of this sum, $10,000,000,000 is estimated
to cover civil engineering construction
and $5,000,000,000 to cover so-called
non-engineered work such as mainte-
nance, housing built by hand-craft
methods and other light construction.
To July 7, 1944, the committee was
able to list plans for $3,259,000,000 1
toward the $10,000,000,000 construc-
tion goal. Some $11,423,000,000 of pro-
posed work had been reported, how-
ever, the difference between the pro-
posed and the planned totals represent-
ing work for which designs had not
yet been started.
Of the $3,259,000,000 planned con-
struction work, $111,870,000 was for
private projects. The remainder, $3,-
147,640,000 was for public works proj-
ects. The public works were reported
by the committee in summary form as
follows :
Waterworks
Sewerage
Roads and Streets
Bridges
Earthwork
Buildings
Unclassified
Total
$299,676,000
318,177,000
749,589,000
334,655,000
589,703,000
523,908,000
401,932,000
$3,147,640,000
Including the negligible construction
value of private projects, the work
planned varied greatly from state to
state. New York State, which has pro-
vided matching funds for its local
units for design work, was the leader
with plans for $781,194,000. Second was
California which in June provided a
$10,000,000 fund for state assistance to
cities and counties for postwar plan-
ning and showed plans for $464,314,000.
Third was Ohio with $385,760,000, Texas
was fourth with $295,149,000, and the
fifth and only other state to exceed
$100,000,000 was Washington with $111,-
228,000. Eight states had no planned
work reported. They were Alabama,
Arizona, Delaware, Idaho, Kentucky,
New Mexico, West Virginia, and Wyo-
ming. Eight other states, while report-
ing planned public works, had nothing
apparently to report in the way of
planned private works. They were
Florida, Nevada, North Dakota, South
Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Ver-
mont, and Virginia.
x The society's August 9, 1944, sum-
mary, received as we go to press, lists
$3,506,493,000 projects planned. EDITOR.
Albany Official
Gets Louisville Award
The 1944 awards of the Louisville
medals, given for outstanding achieve-
ments in the field of governmental fi-
nancial administration in 1943, were
announced late in June in connection
with the annual conference of the Muni-
cipal Finance Officers Association in
Cleveland.
The gold medal was awarded to
Joseph W. Felock, business manager
of the Department of Welfare of
Albany, New York, for the develop-
ment of a manual of relief issuance
and accounting procedures. The silver
medal went to Perry W. Rodman,
comptroller of the city of Bridgeport,
Connecticut, who adapted punch card
machines to approximately fifty dif-
ferent uses.
Achievement awards, given for ac-
430
NATIONAL MUNICIPAL REVIEW
[September
complishments by a municipality or
group of officials, went to Lansing,
Michigan, and McKeesport, Pennsyl-
vania. The former modernized and re-
vised its financial practices and pro-
cedures, while the latter was commend-
ed for continued improvement in its
fiscal practices over a term of years
including 1943. Honorable mention
went to Frederick W. Krupp, account-
ant in the office of the city comptroller
of Detroit, for a report dealing with the
financing of housing projects in that
city.
The judges were Welles A. Gray, of
the United States Chamber of Com-
merce, Henry L. Shattuck, lawyer and
member of the Massachusetts legisla-
ture, and F. H. Elwell, of the Univer-
sity of Wisconsin.
Portland Voters Approve
Public Works Program
Seven months after Robert Moses
and his staff of engineers submitted
their report on Portland improvements
to the governing bodies of the Port-
land area, 1 the people of Portland voted
three bond issues and a special tax
levy providing a total of $24,000,000 to
be expended for postwar public works
in line with the Moses report.
Each one of the local governments,
excepting the Port Authority of Port-
land which already has bond issuing
power, went to the people with a re-
quest for bond issues or a special levy
ranging from $3,000,000 to $12,000,000.
These provide for approximately one-
third of the amount recommended by
the whole report of the Moses group.
Plans are already under way to pro-
vide for the submission of additional
financing proposals to the people in
November.
When the Moses report was submit-
a See "Financing Portland's Improve-
ment Program," NATIONAL MUNICIPAL
REVIEW, February 1944, p. 103.
ted to the local governments of the
Portland area, the Portland Area Post-
war Development Committee deter-
mined that this report should not be
merely another report to collect dust
on library shelves. This committee
worked closely with the local govern-
mental agencies involved and encour-
aged them to select those parts of the
program as outlined by the Moses re-
port which were least controversial
and which took the least cooperation
between the various governmental
agencies.
The city council of Portland found
that the city contribution to the total
program was fairly closely tied up
with state and federal money with the
exception of the sewage disposal plant.
Therefore, a $12,000,000 bond issue for
intercepting sewers and a sewage dis-
posal plant was submitted to the
people. The dock commission in turn
asked for $3,000,000 to rebuild and ex-
pand harbor and dock facilities. The
school district requested a special tax
levy of $1,000,000 per year for five years
to repair and replace school buildings,
indoor and outdoor equipment and
supplies which are badly in need of
improvements. Multnomah County re-
quested approval for a $4,000,000 bond
issue for the construction of county
roads and bridges.
When the four local governmental
agencies had decided upon these proj-
ects, the Portland Area Postwar De-
velopment Committee organized a pro-
motional campaign in an attempt to
get a favorable vote so that Portland
would be at least partially prepared
to meet the need for public works
construction during the period of re-
conversion to peacetime industry.
Local papers were all in favor of the
projects and gave considerable edi-
torial space in behalf of the projects.
Each of the two major papers in Port-
land assigned a reporter to cover the
1944]
NEWS IN REVIEW
431
work of the development committee
and give reviews of the various speak-
ers on the subject. The public rela-
tions committee reported that there
was complete cooperation on the part
of everyone asked for assistance in
the campaign.
The Portland City Club appointed re-
search committees to investigate the
four financing proposals. The commit-
tees reported favorably on the dock
and school proposals, adversely on the
county bond issue because of indefinite
wording and split on the sewage dis-
posal bond issue because of the lack
of definite engineering data on which
to base an estimate of total cost. At
a mass meeting of the membership at
which the committee reports were sub-
mitted, however, members took the
position that the four proposals should
be considered as a whole and that ad-
ministrative officials in each case
should be given considerable discretion
in exercising control over the funds if
approved. When the vote of the mem-
bers was taken, all four measures were
approved by a considerable majority.
At the primary election on May 19
the voters of the entire area likewise
gave each proposal a considerable ma-
jority. This favorable vote is consid-
ered to be a vote of confidence both
in the future of the city of Portland
and in the officials who originally em-
ployed the Moses group and who will
administer the postwar public works
program. Additional study and co-
operative effort is being undertaken at
the present time to determine what ad-
ditional financing proposals can be
submitted to the voters in November.
HOWARD R. ENNOR
Bureau of Municipal Research
and Service, University of Oregon
a 60-day trial to a municipal gross
income tax, substituted a comprehen-
sive system of occupational licenses.
The income tax was expected to
produce around $150,000 annually. Lev-
ied at the rate of one-half of one per
cent on the gross receipts of every in-
dividual, firm and corporation in the
city, the first month saw returns by
only 79 firms which paid a total tax
of $1,990. The tax will be refunded.
It is said that the gross income tax
principle is retained in the occupation
license now required from retail and
wholesale businesses, which must pay
in addition to the license fee $20
and 60 cents respectively per $1,000 of
gross sales. Others will pay straight
license fees, ranging from $5 per year
for bootblacks to $1,500 for a theatre
seating more than 1,000 persons.
City Income Tax
Abandoned
The city of Fort Myers, Florida,
which earlier this year decided to give
Sequel to the Kentucky
State Budget Story
The only important legislation need-
ed to effectuate the Kentucky state
budget for the two years beginning
July 1, 1944, was the general appropri-
ation bill. In the regular session of
the general assembly, the Governor's
supporters in the House of Representa-
tives killed the measure which would
have made appropriations for nearly
all the agencies of the state. 1 Without
further action with respect to general
appropriations, the regular session was
adjourned.
The Governor announced almost im-
mediately that he would call a session
to make appropriations for the support
of education but that he would re-
strict the call to prevent other appro-
priations. After most of the school
contracts for the ensuing year had
been made, an extraordinary session
was convened to provide for the sup-
NATIONAL MUNICIPAL REVIEW, May
1944, p. 253.
432
NATIONAL MUNICIPAL REVIEW
[September
port of common schools alone. After
much delay and considerable dispute
between the general assembly and the
Governor most of it not unseemly
the legislature unanimously passed a
comprehensive appropriation measure
providing more money by far than any
previous administration has enjoyed
and making it available on more favor-
able terms than has been customary
during the two preceding administra-
tions. Members were willing to risk
having the appropriation declared un-
constitutional as involving subject
matter outside the scope of the Gov-
ernor's call rather than pass a bill
relating to elementary and secondary
education alone.
In the light of the legislature's unop-
posed action, the Governor immediately
convened a second special session which
in four days enacted an identical bill
with a repealer of the first one. Thus
the question regarding constitutionality
was seemingly disposed of. The final
action was unanimous in the Senate
and opposed by only one member of
the House.
Kentuckians interested in sound
budget practice and accustomed for
some years to see the general appro-
priation bill passed under executive
leadership early in the regular session
are much concerned. Although there
is a marked increase in the amount
of money appropriated, there is little
or no opposition to the appropriations
actually made. There are, however,
misgivings regarding the method by
which the action has been taken in
that, in a fundamental sense, provision
for the support of governmental acti-
vities has been enacted in the face of
gubernatorial opposition.
JAMES W. MARTIN, Director
Bureau of Business Research
University of Kentucky
Local Affairs Abroad
Edited by Edward W. Weidner
New Zealand Changes
Local Election Law
Taxpaying No Longer Needed
As Qualification for Voting
A SIGNIFICANT local government
reform has taken place in New
Zealand. The Local Elections and
Polls Amendment Act, passed by Par-
liament in April, provides that the
right to vote in local elections shall
hereafter be based upon residence and
not upon ratepaying. Anyone resident
within a district for three months and
meeting other voting qualifications
e.g., 21 years of age, one year's resi-
dence in New Zealand is entitled to
vote in county, road district, electric
power district, harbor district, hospi-
tal district, and catchment district elec-
tions. The residential franchise was
already in existence for urban areas.
Another blow to property qualifica-
tions for voting was contained in the
same act. Ratepayers in counties and
road districts whose rates are unpaid
may now vote at local elections if they
are residents of the district. Only non-
resident delinquent ratepayers are now
deprived of the vote. Defaulting rate-
payers cannot, however, vote on loan
or rating questions. Formerly, they
were precluded from voting on all local
questions and candidates.
But the "stake in the community"
argument dies hard. Property owners
may still vote in a district's local elec-
tions whether they reside there or not.
Furthermore, in voting for the election
of councillors, ratepayers can exer-
cise one, two, or three votes in accord-
ance with the valuation of their prop-
erties.
These changes in qualifications foi
1944]
NEWS IN REVIEW
433
the vote were not accomplished with-
out loud protest from New Zealand
local authorities and others. Many of
the protests were based upon the be-
lief that the short time remaining be-
fore the elections would not give elec-
tion officials time to complete a new
roll. Some said that more time should
be given to the consideration of the
proposal while others condemned the
bill because the Minister of Internal
Affairs had promised in July 1943 that
no contentious legislation as far as
counties were concerned would be in-
troduced until after the war.
Official Objection
More fundamental was the objection
of Board and Council, official organ of
New Zealand local authorities, which
editorialized: "There is a distinct dif-
ference between local government in
the rural districts and that of munici-
pal government. The municipalities
control a wide range of activities
sports grounds and halls, trams, gas,
electricity, and the like all of which
are public utilities and therefore of in-
terest and value to everybody. In the
country areas, on the other hand, prac-
tically the whole burden of costs of
local government falls on one section
of the public, the ratepayers the land-
holders, who pay directly for the cost
of roads and bridges, river protection
and other purposes. It is only right
and just, then, that they should have
control of the expenditure required.
. . . What is now proposed is to deprive
them of that right and endanger their
position by permitting residents with-
out any financial liability to vote on
and perhaps control such expenditure.
Such a proposal is barely different
from that of allowing the general pub-
lic the same privileges as those of the
shareholders of a business concern."
One county council passed a resolu-
tion petitioning the government "to
enact legislation which will provide
that all local body funds will be sub-
scribed from sources other than rates
on land so that all electors will shoul-
der the financial responsibility for pro-
viding the funds which all electors
under a universal franchise will admin-
ister."
While some local authorities ap-
proved of the amendment as regards
property qualifications, almost all of
them vigorously denounced the new
provision which permits employees of
a local government to run for election
to the governing board and retain their
employment if elected. It was felt
that employees should not be thus per-
mitted to sit in judgment upon them-
selves.
Despite the residential franchise for
local elections, there will still be sep-
arate electoral rolls for parliamentary
and local elections, since a proposal to
use the former rolls for local elections
was defeated because it was considered
"impractical." Enrollment of electors is
compulsory in boroughs and town dis-
tricts, enrollment in counties optional.
Elections Postponed
Local elections in New Zealand are
usually held every three years, and
most local elections take place at the
same time, the third Saturday in May.
This year elections of some 700 local
governing bodies were postponed a
week because of the registration com-
plications occasioned by the new law.
Only 50 per cent of the enrolled voters
actually voted. Yet the percentage of
votes cast was not worse than in the
1941 election. Board and Council attrib-
utes some of this constant non-voting
to the usual wintry weather in May
and the fact that elections are held on
Saturdays. Also a contributing factor
is the lack of any provision for ab-
sentee voting, either by civilians or
military personnel.
434
NATIONAL MUNICIPAL REVIEW
[September
New Zealand laws permit parties to
set up tables outside of polling booths
for the purpose of distributing party
tickets. Although many groups have
deplored the role parties play in local
elections, nothing has been done to
minimize their influence.
Voters in this country who complain
about our long ballot would find no
relief if they moved to New Zealand.
While the long ballot in the United
States is primarily caused by electing
numerous administrative and judicial
officers, in New Zealand it is caused by
numerous elective boards which admin-
ister one particular function, e.g., har-
bor, transport, drainage, hospital and
power boards.
the Local Elections and Polls Amend-
ment bill (see page 432).
New Zealand
Local Government Inquiry
The New Zealand Parliament has set
up a committee composed of eight
government and six opposition mem-
bers to inquire into the whole struc-
ture of local government, accord-
ing to Board and Council. The New Zea-
land Counties' Association has decided
to inform the government that it has no
confidence in the committee estab-
lished; it feels that it would be fatal
to local government "if the future of
such government lay in the hands of
politicians alone."
The Association asks for "an inde-
pendent commission which will make a
full and unbiased investigation, and
which will make the investigation in
a manner far removed from party poli-
tics." Such an investigation, it believes,
would prove most valuable to the
country and the government.
One of the county councils has asked
that a Royal Commission be estab-
lished instead of having the investiga-
tion handled by a parliamentary com-
mittee. Most of the opposition to the
appointed committee arose because of
the way in which Parliament handled
Ecuadorian Sees State
Overshadowing City
Boletm, published by the Panameri-
can Commission for Intermunicipal Co-
operation, recently reprinted an article
from El Comercio, a leading newspaper
of Quito, Ecuador, in which the au-
thor, Miguel Albornoz, writing from
New York, points out that in all
American countries "the phenomenon
of competition" between city and state
or province exists, to the detriment of
the city.
The author advocates more freedom
for municipalities in choosing and ad-
ministering their functions. After ex-
amining the multifold functions of New
York City, he says that in this respect
"New York City is an example of the
enormous possibilities of a large muni-
cipality."
The Ecuadorian municipality, the
author concludes, enjoys more free-
dom and power than the great ma-
jority of municipalities in other Ameri-
can countries because of the cabildo
ampliado (amplified municipal council).
Panama Sets Up
New Local Government Districts
Another issue of Boletm gives infor-
mation about the 1941 territorial divi-
sion of the Republic of Panama. The
country was divided into seven prov-
inces, one territory, 36 districts, and 194
corregimientos. The corregimientos stip-
ulated in the law are to be temporary
only; when the provincial legislatures
are organized they are to subdivide the
districts into corregimientos, "taking
into account the administrative re-
quirements of each province."
The chief executive of the province is
the governor; of the territory, the in-
tendent; of the district, the mayor; of
the corregimiento, the corregidor.
Books in Review
The Municipal Year Book 1944. Ed-
ited by Clarence E. Ridley and Orin F.
Nolting. Chicago 37, The International
City Managers' Association, 1944. x,
646 pp. $8.50.
Now in its second decade of publica-
tion, the Municipal Year Book continues
to add new sections, bring regular fea-
tures up to date, and remain the stand-
ard reference on facts of cities.
New material has been gathered on
salaries of municipal officials, postwar
planning, postwar reserves, finances,
health, streets and refuse disposal. The
Year Book again gives valuable data on
the government of each of the 2,042
cities over 5,000 population: form of
government, number of councilmen,
with term of office and type of election,
officials elected, utilities owned, area
and population. It summarizes trends
in municipal administration person-
nel, finance and reporting and muni-
cipal activities welfare, health, hous-
ing, public works, utilities, police, fire,
schools, recreation, libraries, law and
courts. It contains a current directory
of city officials.
When the task of compiling the ma-
terial is performed as accurately and
the data presented as accessibly as in
the case of this Year Book, the product
inevitably becomes a necessary refer-
ence for anyone wanting facts about
cities.
EDWARD W. WEIDNER
Budgeting: An Instrument of Plan-
ning and Management. Edited by Cath-
eryn Seckler-Hudson. To be published
in seven units. Already issued: Unit I
The Evolution of the Budgetary Con-
cept in the Federal Government, 230
pp., $1.75; Unit III. Wartime Budget-
ing, Including Federal-State-Local Fis-
cal Relations. 94 pp., $1; and Unit V.
Formulation of the Federal Budget and
the Appropriation of Funds, 154 pp.,
$1.50. Washington, D. C., School of So-
cial Sciences and Public Affairs, The
American University, 1944.
Citizens interested in governmental
management in general and financial
administration in particular cannot
afford to miss this mimeographed col-