The Commissioners of the District of Columbia are hereby directed on the first day of each and every month until the first collection of taxes under this act shall have become available, to draw a requisition upon the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States for such sum or sums as will, when added to the amount already to the credit of each of the hereinbefore named funds, be sufficient to pay in full the amount lawfully due each and every person upon the roll of the police relief fund, District of Columbia, as well as those upon the roll of the firemen's relief fund, District of Columbia; and the said Secretary of the Treasury shall cause to be paid the amount of said requisition for the said purposes out of any moneys in the Treasury to the credit of the District of Columbia, which can, in the opinion of the said commissioners, be spared for the time being from any fund held by the said Treasury for the District of Columbia: Provided, however, That any money so used shall be repaid to the fund from which it was taken, out of the first money collected under the tax herein provided for: And provided, further, That no part of the money gathered under said levy shall be paid to those upon the rolls of either of the said two relief funds until all of the money taken out of the Treasury as aforesaid shall have been refunded thereto. SEC. 3. That all acts or parts of acts which are in conflict herewith are hereby repealed. This act shall take effect upon its passage. The object of this bill is to provide a permanent and definite source from which deficiencies now existing in the police relief fund, District of Columbia, and the firemen's relief fund, District of Columbia, may be paid, and to provide the method of such payment. In Senate Report No. 429, Sixtieth Congress, first session, dated March 27, 1908, the legislation concerning the above funds and the results thereof was reviewed and statements given showing the operation of the funds. In the report of the hearings on H. R. 22322, Sixtieth Congress, second session, before the Subcommittee on Incorporations of the House Committee on the District of Columbia, dated April 29, 1910, the operations of the funds were further reviewed and brought down to date, and an abstract was printed of the firemen's pension laws in force in 20 cities of the United States. The act by which the salaries of the officers and members of the Metropolitan police of the District of Columbia are fixed is that approved June 8, 1906, and the act by which the salaries of the officers and members of the fire department are fixed is that approved June 20, 1906. Your committee have thought it well to bring down to date the facts concerning the operations of these funds, and they are shown in detail below. Statement showing cash receipts and expenditures of firemen's relief fund, fiscal years 1898-1911, inclusive. Deficiency for 1911 in addition to expenditures as above stated of $5,262. Statement showing cash receipts and expenditures of police relief fund for fiscal years 1898-1911, inclusive. $980.93 $6,534. 15 707.73 5,993.74 935.53 receipts. 1903. 1904. 1905. 1906. 1907. 1908. 1909. 1910. 1911. 1, 109.03 1,619. 44 584.50 1,447.94 828.00 887.50 1,091.00 2,487.34 6,822.80 7,005. 14 7,049.47 8,587.89 8, 213. 41 8,464.67 8, 603.35 $15, 449.75 Dog taxes deposited in the police fund. $16, 100.58 14,533.23 17,801.72 74, 337.06 74, 337.06 79, 176.53 82, 489.08 79,696.21 98,292.27 180, 061. 43 526, 224.76 189, 249. 14 845, 208. 06 842, 757.32 Total... 18,862.92 110,871.24 1 Deficiency for 1911 in addition to expenditures above stated of $10,304.30. It will be noted that for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1911, there was a deficit in both funds of $15,566.30, and the pensioners failed to receive the amounts allotted to them by this sum. The auditor of the District of Columbia states that "the deficiency in the police and fire pension funds for the present fiscal year (ending June 30, 1912) is estimated to be about $25,000." A brief epitomization of the policemen's roll shows that on March 1, 1912, there was a total monthly pay roll of $7,538 and a total of 254 persons pensioned. They are classified as follows: Retired policemen, 90; widows, 112; mother, 1; children, 51. Of the policemen pensioned, the causes for pension are as follows: FIRE DEPARTMENT. A brief epitomization of the firemen's pension roll shows that on March 1, 1912, there was a total monthly pay roll of $3,880 and a total of 101 persons receiving pension. They are classified as follows: Retired firemen, 48; widows, 34; mothers, 4; children, 15. Of the firemen pensioned the following causes are shown for granting pensions: If comparison is made between the facts just above stated as of March 1, 1912, and those which existed March 1, 1908, the following appear: In the case of firemen the average amount of pensions has increased from $43.91 to $48.96. One pensioner receives $100 per month, two $75 per month, four $65, one $60. No others receive more than $50. The average number of years served before retirement is now 16.4 instead of 20.33. The longest service before retirement is 38 years instead of 36, and the shortest remains 1 year 4 months. The smallest pension is $1 per month. The total monthly pay roll is now $3,830 compared with $3,074, and 101 persons are pensioned instead of 70. Of these, 48 are retired firemen as against 40 in 1908, 34 are widows as against 24, 4 are mothers instead of 5, and 15 children instead of 1. A like comparison made with the policemen's roll of March 1, 1908, shows that on March 1, 1912, there was a total monthly pay roll of $7,538 compared with $6,921.50 four years ago. There are now 254 persons pensioned instead of 198. These are thus classified: Widows 112 in place of 81, children 51 in place of 25, retired policemen 90 instead of 92, and one mother. The average number of years served previous to retirement is now 17.31 compared with 17.64 in 1908. The longest service before retirement, however, being 47 years instead of 43, and the shortest 6 months, as before. The average amount of pension paid each pensioner is now $29.68 instead of $34.96. The highest pension is $90 per month, of which there are 4. The lowest is $2 per month, and the various sums paid differ thus: $2, $3, $4, $5, $6, $7, $8, $9, $10, $12, $12.50, $20, $25, $30, $35, $40, $50, $75, $90. All of the money for the policemen's relief fund and the firemen's relief fund has from the beginning been supplied by the District of Columbia. The Treasury of the United States has never contributed thereto. The present bill does not change this in any respect. Nor does the present bill alter the existing sources of supply. They remain what they have been and are in considerable part the contributions of the officers themselves, as the tables show. Not only, however, are the present revenues insufficient and fluctuating, but the tendency is for them to decrease and for the fund to increase. The present bill aims to provide a definite source of supply which will meet all deficits and prevent the injustice now existing to the pensioners to whom the District authorities have allotted pensions but who now fail to receive them in full. Having taken for the basis of calculations a deficiency of $30,000 per annum (a sum which is double the deficiency of last year and 20 per cent larger than the estimated larger deficiency for the current year), the facts respecting the weight of this tax are as follows, these being furnished by the auditor of the District of Columbia: 1. Based on assessed valuation: 1912 realty. 1911 personalty (1912 figures not yet available).......... Or $0.0085 on $100. 0.085 on $1,000. 0.85 on $10,000. 2. Based on assessed valuation of real property alone: $330, 322, 487 25, 192, 360 355, 514, 8470=0.00085 The rate would practically be the same, as the difference between the realty basis and the realty and personalty basis combined will not affect the rate within the fraction of 1 cent on $10,000. It would appear, therefore, that on the basis of an enlarged deficiency as above the sum of money to be paid by tax per person owning property assessed at $1,000 would be 84 cents a year. Pay roll for fire department pensioners. |