City Government.
The city government of Atlanta is administered by a Mayor and General Council and Executive Boards. The legislative body is composed of councilmen from the different wards, elected by the whole city, and aldermen who are elected in a like manner. The aldermen and councilmen vote separately on matters involving the expenditure of money, and the concurrence of both bodies is necessary to an appropriation. The Mayor has the usual veto power.
The tax rate is one and a quarter per cent. and the ratio of assessment to real value of property is about sixty per cent. The assessed value of real and personal property is $63,356,235.
The city owns property valued at eleven millions, and has a bonded debt of $3,481,500. Deducting the Sinking Fund of $274,997.68, the net debt is $3,206,502.32. There is no floating debt, and the bonded debt is limited by the State Constitution to seven per cent. on the taxable value of the property. The net debt is therefore $1,000,000 under the limit.
The Charter requires the Mayor and General Council to carry over a balance of $175,000 in cash from year to year. This keeps the Treasury in good condition and the city is able to float three and one-half per cent. bonds at par and above.
There is a Sinking Fund Commission, which was created by a special act of the Legislature, and the Mayor and General Council are required to set aside each year from the revenues of the city an amount sufficient to retire the bonded debt within thirty years.
The expenditures of the city for the year 1903 were $1,646,888.49. In the same period, the revenues and other receipts, including bonds, the proceeds of which were expended, were $2,036,548.32. The difference is accounted for by a balance carried over from the previous year.