James Garner - Government in the United States, National, State and Local

Number of Departments. – The number of these administrative departments varies widely among the different cities of the country. In general we find the following departments: a finance department, a law department, a health department, a fire department, a police department, a department of charities, and a department of public works. In some cities, however, the number of departments is much larger than this. Thus in some we find a street cleaning department, a department of buildings, a sewer department, a department of parks, a department of docks, and so on.

Choice of Heads of Departments. – The heads of these departments are in most cases appointed by the mayor, to whom they are responsible, though nearly everywhere the approval of the council is necessary to his appointments. In recent years there has been more or less criticism of the practice of choosing administrative officials by popular election. In every large city there is a great mass of unintelligent voters who are easily controlled by corrupt and scheming politicians. Moreover, it is impossible for the voters in a large city, however intelligent they may be, to become acquainted with the merits of all the numerous candidates when there are a considerable number of offices to be filled. It is believed by many municipal reformers, therefore, that better results could be obtained by allowing the mayor to choose all the heads of important departments, except possibly the chief finance officer, who might properly be chosen by the people. For the selection of the large number of subordinate officials, the best method yet devised is that known as the civil service system, which has been introduced in most of the larger cities. Under this system appointments are made on the basis of merit and fitness, which qualities are ascertained by an examination by a board of civil service commissioners.

City Finances.– One of the most remarkable features of American municipal development has been the extraordinary growth of municipal expenditures. The functions and activities of modern city government are indeed so numerous and varied as to require a larger number of officials and a greater expenditure of money than is required for the conduct of any other of the various governments under which we live. By far the larger part of the taxes contributed by those who live in the cities go to meet the expenses of municipal government. In 1920 the budget of New York city was over $270,000,000, while that of Chicago was about $130,000,000, in each case the amount being about five times as great as the appropriations for the support of the government of the state in which the city is situated. The annual cost of operating our largest city exceeds what was required to maintain the national government in its early days, and is greater than the national budget of a number of European countries to-day. New York city in 1910 had a debt almost as large as the national debt, her annual interest account alone being in the neighborhood of $30,000,000. The proper raising and expenditure of such vast sums of money is one of the most difficult tasks of a city government. For this purpose there are assessors, collectors, treasurers, comptrollers or auditors, and various other officials. The levying of the taxes is everywhere a power of the city council, though in many states the amount of taxes which may be levied by it is limited – usually to a certain percentage of the value of the taxable property within the city, and in some states the limit is fixed so low that the cities are handicapped in raising sufficient revenue to meet their expenses. The purpose of such restrictions is to prevent extravagance and wastefulness, and the history of many of our cities proves that they have, in general, served a good purpose.

Sources of Municipal Taxation. – The principal source of income for city, as for state and county, purposes is the general property tax, though cities are usually allowed to levy a great variety of other taxes, such as taxes on certain trades and businesses. Street peddlers are in many cases required to pay license fees. Before the liquor traffic was prohibited, many cities derived a large portion of their income from license taxes on saloons. Some cities receive a considerable income from franchises granted to public corporations. Thus Chicago receives a large percentage of the earnings of some of the street railways, the amount aggregating more than $1,500,000 a year. In many cities the expense of public improvements, particularly street paving and the laying of sidewalks, is met by what are called "special assessments," that is, assessments laid upon the owners of the property benefited, in proportion to the benefits received from the improvement.

Municipal Expenditures. – Appropriations are in most cities made by the city council subject to certain rules and restrictions prescribed by state law. In New York city, however, the budget is prepared by a board of estimate and apportionment composed of a few high city officers, and in a few other cities the preparation of the budget is intrusted to other authorities than the city council. To secure accuracy and honesty in the expenditure of city funds, provision is commonly made for auditing the accounts of financial officials, and in a few states like Ohio, Indiana, and Iowa, provision is made by law for state inspection and audit of municipal accounts by state examiners. This plan has proved very effective. In one state, these inspectors found that municipal officials had misappropriated more than $500,000, over half of which was recovered and turned into the proper treasuries. In a number of cities where the commission form of government has been adopted provision is made for monthly financial statements which must be published in the local newspapers, and for annual examinations of city accounts by expert accountants.

City Debts. – For the construction of permanent improvements, the erection of public buildings, and the establishment of commercial enterprises such as waterworks and gas works, cities must borrow money; and so one of the powers always given them is that of incurring debts. This power, however, was greatly abused in the early history of our municipal development – so much so that many cities found themselves on the verge of bankruptcy. In order to check this evil, many states have placed a limit upon the municipal borrowing power, and some have provided that whenever a debt is incurred, provision shall be made at the same time for payment of the interest and the principal within a certain period of years. The debt limit is usually a certain percentage of the assessed valuation of the taxable property within the city. It ranges from 2 per cent in Boston, to 10 per cent in New York. In some cases the limit is so low that cities have been handicapped in constructing needed permanent improvements. Thus in Chicago, where property has been assessed at only one fifth of its real value, the result of the debt limitation has been to render extensive improvements very difficult, and to compel the city to meet the expense of many absolutely necessary undertakings out of its current revenues when the cost should have been distributed over a period of years. Chicago, as a consequence, has the smallest debt of any of the large cities of the country.

Police Protection.– Where large numbers of people are living together in close proximity the problem of maintaining order and preventing some from violating the rights of others is very much greater than in sparsely settled rural communities. One of the principal tasks of the authorities in a city, therefore, is to provide police protection for the inhabitants. This is done through the agency of a body of men organized and uniformed somewhat after the manner of an army. The size of this force varies ordinarily in proportion to the population of the city. In New York city, for example, the entire police force numbers more than 10,000 men – a body as large as the army of the United States was in the early days of our history. In Chicago there are altogether some 8,000 men in the police service of the city.