City Council Proposals for Austerity
A budget-cutting proposal seeks to shutter streetlights and dismiss night watchmen to offset the costs of a bridge to North Aberdeen.
James Stewart, as chairman of the committee on police, fire and lights, made the following recommendations to the council: 'That the city's expense be reduced by dismissing one night watchman, and dispense with all electric lights. To continue these in our present financial condition seems to me an injustice to our taxpayers. As a member of this council, I would suggest the propriety of further reducing expenses by abolishing, for the present, the office of street commissioner, and I would call your attention to the wrong of compelling the people of this city to maintain a free bridge to North Aberdeen at a cost of $500 per annum, while the entire property of the people accommodated thereby is taxed by this city at only $184.45 per annum. These items may seem trifling, yet they would result in a net saving to this city of $269.50 per month, or $3234 per annum.'
“To continue these in our present financial condition seems to me an injustice to our taxpayers.”
Municipal budget battles in Aberdeen have a long history, with this specific dispute centering on the imbalance between maintenance costs of infrastructure and the tax revenue generated by the properties it serves.
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