The Mayor's Budget Warning
Mayor Ronald warns the City Council that purchasing an engine house site using cash reserves will force the city to issue scrip to cover remaining operating costs.
Mayor Ronald yesterday sent to the city clerk his objections to signing the bill providing for the purchase of two lots on Yesler avenue, between Taylor street and the ravine, upon which it is intended to erect a fire engine station. There is a curious complication. From Yesler avenue south about 139 feet, Taylor street and Lewis street run side by side. Henry Yesler ran Lewis street across Yesler avenue to the line of the donation claim. When Taylor street was opened, it was run through Mrs. Yesler's property, which had never been dedicated as a street. Dr. Coe had bought the lots now offered the city, supposing them to front on Lewis street. The Mayor warned that paying $2,500 in cash would leave the fire fund with only $3,499.89 to cover expenses for the remainder of the year, which is entirely inadequate to meet costs like coal and feed. He recommended amending the ordinance to assume the existing mortgage instead of paying the full price in cash to avoid exhausting the treasury and resorting to the issuance of scrip.
“In my judgment we cannot afford to do this. We must live within our income.”
This 1893 fiscal dispute illustrates the perpetual tension between Seattle's expansionist infrastructure goals and the reality of limited municipal budgets. Much like today, the city faced the challenge of securing land in a developing landscape while attempting to balance day-to-day operating expenses without dipping into insolvency.
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