mayor's veto. The present charter is compHcated and difficult 

 for the ordinary citizen to understand. The power of recall is 

 uncertain under the charter and has not been tested. At the 

 head of the county administration are five supervisors elected at 

 large. Neither the city nor county have civil service regulations. 

 Records of transaction of the Council are not indexed. Depart- 

 ment reports are not usually published, although the finance de- 

 partment publishes a report. Some departments have no fire- 

 proof safes for records in the city hall. 



Taxation 



It may be stated as a general principle that if a government 

 is conducted efficiently and economically, any tax rate which 

 meets the community needs is justifiable. The tax rate for the 

 city for 1913 was $1.90, and for the county within the city lim- 

 its, $1.45, making for 1913 a total tax rate within the city and 

 for city and county purposes, of $3.35, on an assessed valuation 

 of $100.00. There is no established standard for the assessment 

 of real or personal property in city or county. The state law pro- 

 vides that all property shall be assessed at its full cash value. The 

 law defines full cash value, but in practice, the matter is left to 

 the discretion of the assessor and his assistants. In a general 

 way, the 1913 assessment was based on one-third of the fair mar- 

 ket price, for the city, and one-half for the county, as to real 

 property. The result of the low assessment was a high tax rate. 

 The expressed purpose of the new city assessor is to assess prop- 

 erty (realty) in accordance with the law, i. e., at its full cash 

 value. The cash value is far below the speculative or market 

 price prevailing in San Diego. This is characteristic of all rapid- 

 ly growing western cities. Realty values are not yet on a set- 

 tled income basis as in the older eastern cities. The increased as- 

 sessment for 1914 will lower materially the tax rate, and will be 

 more satisfactory to every one excepting the speculator. 



Revenues and Expenditures 



The auditor's report for the year 1913 will be ready for deliv- 

 ery in April of this year. The total receipts for the city from 

 all sources, including bond sales, were over $6,000,000.00, and the 

 total expenditure over $5,000,000.00. The total assessed value of 

 real property for 1913 was over $55,000,000.00 and of personal 

 property over $5,000,000.00. The receipts from taxation, fees 

 and licenses are sufficient to meet the ordinary expenses of the 

 city. Improvements of a permanent character such as buildings, 

 docks, sewers, park and water improvements, bridges, etc., are 

 met by bond issue. The present bonding limit has been reached 

 within about $200,000.00, but will be greatly increased after the 

 1914 assessment roll is completed. The city budget is approved 

 by the council after estimates of the heads of the various depart- 

 ments have been submitted to -the auditor. According to the 

 present auditor, the 1914 budget which is under preparation, will 

 be presented for public criticism, and discussion before adoption. 



Recommendations — There should be a uniform system of ac- 



43 



