making all such grants subject to the approval of the voters of the city at an election held for the purpose.
The Mayor.– The chief executive officer of the city is the mayor. With a few unimportant exceptions he is elected by the qualified voters of the city and serves for a term varying from one to four years, the most usual term being two years. In Boston, Chicago, and New York city, however, the term is four years.
Powers and Duties.– It is the duty of the mayor to enforce the ordinances of the city and also such laws of the state as he may be charged with executing. Like the sheriff of the county, he is a peace officer and as such is charged with the maintenance of order and the suppression of riots, and if a disturbance becomes so great that it cannot be suppressed by the police he may, like the sheriff, call on the governor for the militia. In some cities he is the presiding officer of the city council, though not a member of it. Generally he is required to submit messages to the council concerning the condition of the city, and may recommend measures for its consideration. Practically everywhere he has the power to veto ordinances passed by the city council, and some mayors have made extensive use of this power. The council, however, may pass an ordinance over the mayor's veto.
One of the important powers of the mayor is the appointment of officials, though usually the assent of the council is necessary to the validity of most appointments. In recent years there has been a considerable extension of this power in a number of the large cities, where the mayor has been given the absolute power of appointing the heads of the administrative departments. Indeed, the tendency now seems to be in the direction of concentrating larger powers of appointment in his hands as a means of fixing responsibility more definitely. There is also a tendency in the direction of giving him a large power of removal, subject to the provision that the official shall be removed only for good cause and that he shall be given a hearing and an opportunity to answer the charges made against him.
Finally, the mayor usually has the power to grant pardons for violations of the ordinances of the city, and this power is sometimes extensively used. Thus during the year 1909 the mayor of Chicago released more than 1,100 offenders who had been committed to prison, or about 10 per cent of the whole number committed. In some cities also he may remit fines that have been paid for violations of city ordinances.
Administrative Departments.—Single Commissioner System vs. the Board System.– In every large city there are, in addition to the mayor, a number of departments each charged with the conduct of some particular branch of the city's affairs. They are organized on one of two principles: each is under the control either of a board or of a single commissioner. Each method of organization has its advantages and disadvantages, but experience has shown that the single-headed department is the one best calculated to secure efficiency and responsibility, and it is the one most generally employed. The board system is well adapted to secure deliberation, but not promptness and unity of action nor responsibility, because one member may easily shift the responsibility for an error or blunder upon his colleagues. But for certain branches of administration such as the civil service, park administration, school administration, assessments, and possibly others, the board system has important advantages.
Number of Departments.– The number of these administrative departments varies widely among the different cities of the country. In general we find the following departments: a finance department, a law department, a health department, a fire department, a police department, a department of charities, and a department of public works. In some cities, however, the number of departments is much larger than this. Thus in some we find a street cleaning department, a department of buildings, a sewer department, a department of parks, a department of docks, and so on.
Choice of Heads of Departments.– The heads of these departments are in most cases appointed by the mayor, to whom they are responsible, though nearly everywhere the approval of the council is necessary to his appointments. In recent years there has been more or less criticism of the practice of choosing administrative officials by popular election. In every large city there is a great mass of unintelligent voters who are easily controlled by corrupt and scheming politicians. Moreover, it is impossible for the voters in a large city, however intelligent they may be, to become acquainted with the merits of all the numerous candidates when there are a considerable number of offices to be filled. It is believed by many municipal reformers, therefore, that better results could be obtained by allowing the mayor to choose all the heads of important departments, except possibly the chief finance officer, who might properly be chosen by the people. For the selection of the large number of subordinate officials, the best method yet devised is that known as the civil service system, which has been introduced in most of the larger cities. Under this system appointments are made on the basis of merit and fitness, which qualities are ascertained by an examination by a board of civil service commissioners.
City Finances.– One of the most remarkable features of American municipal development has been the extraordinary growth of municipal expenditures. The functions and activities of modern city government are indeed so numerous and varied as to require a larger number of officials and a greater expenditure of money than is required for the conduct of any other of the various governments under which we live. By far the larger part of the taxes contributed by those who live in the cities go to meet the expenses of municipal government. In 1920 the budget of New York city was over $270,000,000, while that of Chicago was about $130,000,000, in each case the amount being about five times as great as the appropriations for the support of the government of the state in which the city is situated. The annual cost of operating our largest city exceeds what was required to maintain the national government in its early days, and is greater than the national budget of a number of European countries to-day. New York city in 1910 had a debt almost as large as the national debt, her annual interest account alone being in the neighborhood of $30,000,000. The proper raising and expenditure of such vast sums of money is one of the most difficult tasks of a city government. For this purpose there are assessors, collectors, treasurers, comptrollers or auditors, and various other officials. The levying of the taxes is everywhere a power of the city council, though in many states the amount of taxes which may be levied by it is limited – usually to a certain percentage of the value of the taxable property within the city, and in some states the limit is fixed so low that the cities are handicapped in raising sufficient revenue to meet their expenses. The purpose of such restrictions is to prevent extravagance and wastefulness, and the history of many of our cities proves that they have, in general, served a good purpose.
Sources of Municipal Taxation.– The principal source of income for city, as for state and county, purposes is the general property tax, though cities are usually allowed to levy a great variety of other taxes, such as taxes on certain trades and businesses. Street peddlers are in many cases required to pay license fees. Before the liquor traffic was prohibited, many cities derived a large portion of their income from license taxes on saloons. Some cities receive a considerable income from franchises granted to public corporations. Thus Chicago receives a large percentage of the earnings of some of the street railways, the amount aggregating more than $1,500,000 a year. In many cities the expense of public improvements, particularly street paving and the laying of sidewalks, is met by what are called "special assessments," that is, assessments laid upon the owners of the property benefited, in proportion to the benefits received from the improvement.
Municipal Expenditures.– Appropriations are in most cities made by the city council subject to certain rules and restrictions prescribed by state law. In New York city, however, the budget is prepared by a board of estimate and apportionment composed of a few high city officers, and in a few other cities the preparation of the budget is intrusted to other authorities than the city council. To secure accuracy and honesty in the expenditure of city funds, provision is commonly made for auditing the accounts of financial officials, and in a few states like Ohio, Indiana, and Iowa, provision is made by law for state inspection and audit of municipal accounts by state examiners. This plan has proved very effective. In one state, these inspectors found that municipal officials had misappropriated more than $500,000, over half of which was recovered and turned into the proper
