Minutes 03/28/1939 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The Manager stated that he had a conference with the Game Warden, who pro - mised to have the dog nuisance abated. The Manager stated~that the bridges on Gpratley St.-, had been approved by the War DePartment, and that work would proceed on same° Mr~ The City Attorney presented the following ordln~uce, which was, on motion of Fox, placed on its first reading: "AN ORDINANCE REGARDING THE CUTTING OF WEEDS AND OTHER FOREIGN GROWTH IN THE CITY OF PORTSMOUTH°" The City Attorney presented: ~At your last meeting you referred to me a request for an-opinion as to the legality of refunding L.P.Slater the amount he paid into the Pension FtEEi~ The present pension ordinance relating t? policemen and firemen was adopted January 13~ 1925. Section 5 of the ordinance provides{ That there st~all be deductedm0nthly from salaries of policemen and firemen 1% of their monthly salary. The aggregate of such funds shall form a pension fund for the payment of pensions, but should the fund be ins~ffi - cient to meet the requirements of the ordinance, the difference shall be made up by the neces- sary appropriation from the current revenues of the City. Section 7 provides: tAny policeman or firem~u voluntarily leaving the set ~ vice of the police or fire department, or who shall be dismissed from said departments either summarily or after trial, shall not be entitled to receive or recover from the City of Ports- mouth the deductions from his salary previously ma~e by the City pursuant to the provisions of Section 5 of this ordinance, but such deductions shall be re~ained by the City for the benefit of the Pension Fund provided for in said section.! The Pension Ordinance originated with the firemen and policemen and was passed by the City Council at their request after the same had been formu - lated by a committee from the two departments and ~oproved by the members of the departments. The late Richard J. Davis prepared the ordinance at the request of the firemen and policemen. No actuary was employed to formulate an adequate pension fund and it was g~nerally understood that the amount of the deductions from the salaries of the employees would be insufficient to pay the pensions. This has been a fact. Numerous requests have been made to the City for re- funds for the amount of deductions where policemen and firemen have left the service or died. In two instances, suits were brought against the City, one of which cases was tried and a ver- dict rendered in favor of the City. As the ordinance was somewhat in the nature of a con~ract and was pa~sedby a nrevious council for a definite purpose, the City Codicil will not have the right to deplete ~he fund which has been accumulated or to supplement it to refund amounts contrary to the or - dinance. Motion of Mr. Fox that the City Attorney be requested to present an ordinance to pay back the money paid into the Pension Fund, to policemen and firemen who had severed their connection with the said department, was adopted. The following letter from the City'Collector was read: "The following taxes charged to my office should be relieved as the property is now ~wmedby the City of portsmouth: Wm. sterling Smith Year 1919 $ 11.25 E.M. Baum, Jr. " 1937 10.00 Mary Hatton Watts ~ 1927 12.50 Virginia M. CodXe " 1937-38 10.00." adopted. ordered file~j Motion of Mr. Hutchins to concur in the Collector, s recommendation, was Report of the Accounting Department for month of February, was received and taken up: The License Tax Ordinance, placed on its first reading at last meeting, was "AN'ORDINANCE Ik~OSING A LICENSE TAX FOR THE CITY OF PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA, FOR THE YEAR BEGINNING MAY 1st, 1939." The 0ity Collector's recommendation that the words "section 25 be not pro- rated" was adopted. On motion of Mr. Hutchins, said ordinance, as amended, was adopted, amd by the following vote: Ayes: Fox, Grimes, Howard, Hutchins, ~¥arren, Weiseman, Wilson Nays: None In connection with the License Tax Ordinance, the following petition was read "we, the undersitned members of cleaniag~a~ pressing firms in the ~ity of Portsmouth, respectfully ask that ordinamce #20 governing ~t~a~ing and Pressing, be changed to comply with the State Law, which reads as follows: 'If the entire gross amount of business~done by any such person during the preceding year shall not exceed twelve thousand dollars,