Minutes 01/25/1955 - Laserfiche WebLink

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January 25th, 1955. 'Excep~ ss hereinafter provided all assessments of Real Estate and tangible personal property shall be az their fair market value te be ascertained as prescribed by law.' Since the assessment of property does not come 9nder the office of the City Manager, I have purposely avoided any ~uggestiona'as to the assessments other than that the State Code be followed. In estimating the a~ount of revenue that would be derived from the recommended tax on automobileS, I used a figure between twelve and fifteen dollar~ average per car. This was based upon my observation of the aseeesmeuz of other properties within the City." ~otion of Mr. Smith to suspend the rules to hear from the following, was adopted: Mr. Flournoy spoke on the assessment of automobiles as personal property. Mr. Jas. G.I~ . Mitchell requested that the following be read: "At an open citizens' meeting, held at 8 P.M., on Monday, December 13, 1954, held in the Ceuncil Chamber, M3ani¢ipai Building, Portsmouth, a Resolution was adopted and a eemmittee of citizens were di- rected to present this resolution to your honorable body. it is our pleasant duty and obligation te present for your considers-I Accordingly, rich, the following resolution: 'Be it Resolved that the Honorable City Ceuhcil of the City of PortsmOuth, Virginia~ he petitioned to withhold any action to increase present ta~es of any kind or to levy new Iaxes of any nature, and to eomtinue all of the present services, including the thrice weekly collection of garbage and trash, until the Council has,held ma open meeting in an appropriate public place for the purpose of giving the citizens a complete detailed review and analysis of the administration and conduct ~f the public h~siness, and to submit themselves, the City M~nager~ and Department heads re questions submitted by the citizens, and that this meeting be widely publicized.' This resolution is herewith submitted as authorized by the Citizens' meeting above referred to." J. P. Donlen spoke relative to the frevenues of the City. The following petition was read: "It is noted that, disregarding the obvious and audible desires of the citizens who were present at the recent call meeting of the City Council, the city manager has a city ord/nance ready for the first reading en 25 January 1955. Accerding to the press, this ordinance calls for a taxon private automobiles at a $2.50 per hundred rate. According to the press, the city manager, the mayor and statements made at the above-mentioned call meeting, the need for additional revenue of about $275,000. is for m~intenance ef the public school system~ A reugh estimate ~T revenue to be realized from the auto tax is approximately $4~0,009. er $125~00~ more than needed by the schools. It is obvious that the scheft system could use the above money to the advantage of the general pmblic. It is j~st as obvious that additional money for the general fund would be just mere to be spent. It is the desire of the undersigned voters of ~arshall Ward that: a. You vote against the ordinance to tax the private automobile as personal property. b. You propose a substitute ordinance for a "School ~ainte~ance Tax". This tax to be levied at the rate of $5,00 per person on all over ~l years of age residing within the City of Portsmouth. It is conservatively estimated that this would bring in about $330,000. this year and we~ld, by its nature, automatically increase as the ~population increases. Such a tax is more democratic, will spread the tax lead to those who normally pay little or nothing~ and is feasible if: 1. Carbon copy receipt given (ex: poll tax receipt) 2. ~e mandatory and z fine of 100% ef the %ax for failure to pay is made a Dart of ~he ordinance. 3. Presentation of receipt iS ~re~luired before purchase of city tag, payment of w~ter bili, registration of children in achool~ etc. c. If the city manager's ordinance eau no~ be k$11ed, that you attempt to amend it to i~sure that all funds realized'from this item on the ~ersonal property return be set sside and ased only for maintenance of the public schools. (Signed) Geo.R. Walker, 1749 Spratley St., and numerous others." ~tion ef Mr. Lawrence that the real estate and personal property tax ordinance re- main on the ~table until the next regUlar meeting of the City ~ouncil~ was ad~pted. 55-14 - "I am submitting herewith report from the Director o~ PublicWorks concerning the dump- ing of the cleanings from septic tanks: 'In compliance with your request we are herewith submitting a report and reeommendation regarding the dumping ~f the cleanings from septic tanks at the sewage treatment plant by the various septic cleaning firms in this ~het tank 'trucks were emptying sewage into the sewer mar~leles in various parts of the e~tlying sections of the City. Upon investigation it was fonnd that it was being done by those in the business ef cleaning s~ptie tanks~ Everyon~ knows te ma~ who was in this type efl~usiness, was notified nel to dsmp any more in the sewer, but to carry it re the sewage treatment plant 'where it. eould~be disposed ef witheut delay er inconvenience. The wa~te~ taken from~the septic tanks are septic, malodorous an£Iof a deleteriou~ cheraeter. It~is mnch better to carry it direct to the treatment plant than to dump it into the sewers at a far away point and run the risk of damage $o