County Public Assistance Funds Nearing Exhaustion
Mounting relief costs for Pierce County’s indigent population leave officials scrambling as funds run dry before the fiscal year's end.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
According to a report submitted to the county commissioners yesterday afternoon by County Auditor Stewart, the expenses incurred by the paupers of the county are much greater this year than they have been at any previous time, and the apportionment will run out before July if the rate of expenditure is continued. From November 1 to February 21, $5,323.92 was paid out by the county to provide for the paupers. The indigent soldiers' fund has also been overdrawn $1,300. The commissioners claim that they have spent the money as carefully as they knew how, but that the population has increased beyond the limits of the appropriation.
“The commissioners claim that they have spent the money as carefully as they knew how, but that the population has increased beyond the limits of the appropriation.”
Public anxiety over the rising costs of social services and the struggle to fund safety nets during periods of rapid population growth remains a central friction point in Pierce County politics today, just as it was in 1909.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.