TABLE VI POPULATION, AND WEALTH PER INHABITANT IN MADISON AND TEN PER CAPITA PAYMENT FOR ALL GOVERNMENTAL COSTS2 IN MADISON AND TEN OTHER CITIES3 2Including Maintenance and Operation Costs, Interest Charges and Capital Outlays, Including Schools. Bureau of the Census. The eleven cities which have been used for comparative purposes in this study, with their population and the per capita wealth based on true valuation, are shown in Table VI. The populations of these cities range from 30,451 to 51,189, and the per capita wealth ranges from $1861.71 to $2708.67. The average population is 42,089 and the average per capita wealth $2219.81. Madison falls at the middle of this group of cities in both population and per capita wealth. Attention is also called to the fact that the eleven cities of this group are very well distributed as to geographical location, four of them being located in the East, four in the central part of the United States, two in the South, and one in the West. Consequently, it is clear that in regard to wealth, population, and geographical location Madison may be justly compared with these ten cities. TABLE VIII PURPOSES FOR WHICH MADISON AND TEN OTHER CITIES SPENT THEIR MONEY Percent Distribution of Total Municipal Expenditures. 4Data from "Financial Statistics of Cities". Bureau of the Census. Table VII shows the per capita expenditure for all governmental purposes costs in Madison and in ten other cities for both 1919 and 1921. In this respect it will be noted that Madison ranks fifth in the list of eleven cities in 1919, and sixth in 1921. In both years Madison's total expenditures were slightly higher than the average for this group. What Does Money Buy? In Table VIII, the per cent distribution of total municipal expenditures is shown under the three main headings; maintenance and operation, interest charges, and capital outlay. Attention is called to the fact that Madison is spending a much larger per cent of its total expenditures for capital outlay purposes than are the rest of the cities used in this study. In 1919, only one, and in 1921, only two cities spent a larger per cent of their total expenditures for capital outlay purposes than did Madison. TABLE IX PER CAPITA EXPENDITURE FOR MAINTENANCE, OPERATION AND CAPITAL OUTLAY PURPOSES (INCLUDING SCHOOL EXPENDITURES) IN MADISON AND TEN OTHER CITIES "Data from "Financial Statistics of Cities". Bureau of the Census. Because of the form in which the data were reported, it was impossible to apportion the interest charges between the city and schools. Consequently, Table IX, shows the per capita expenditure in eleven cities for maintenance, operation, and capital outlay purposes, interest charges being excluded. The relative position of Madison among the eleven cities of its class is practically unchanged from that shown in Table VII, although Madison's per capita expenditure, interest charges excluded, is slightly higher than the average for the eleven cities of the same class in the United States in both 1919 and 1921. As is shown by Table X, the per capita expenditure for schools in Madison is, inclusive of interest charges, considerably lower than for the other cities of this group. Only four cities in 1919 and three cities in 1921 ranked lower in this respect than did Madison, and in each year Madison's expenditure for school purposes was decidedly lower than the average for this group. TABLE X PER CAPITA EXPENDITURE FOR MAINTENANCE, OPERATION AND CAPITAL OUTLAY FOR SCHOOLS IN MADISON AND TEN "Data from "Financial Statistics of Cities". Bureau of the Census. City Versus School. Further proof that the schools in Madison are not receiving as large a portion of municipal expenditures as are schools in other cities of corresponding size and wealth, is presented in Table XI. In 1919, Madison devoted only 27 per cent of its total expenditures to school purposes, while the average per cent spent for similar purposes in the group of eleven cities in this year was 31.6 per cent. In 1921, Madison was even more deficient in its attention to its schools since it devoted only 24.9 per cent of its total expenditures for school purposes, while the average for this group of eleven cities was 35.8 per cent. Only two cities of the eleven show a lower per cent of total expenditures devoted to school purposes than that by Madison in 1921. TABLE XI PER CENT SCHOOL EXPENDITURE FOR MAINTENANCE, OPERATION "Data from "Financial Statistics of Cities". Bureau of the Census. |