History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut, Volume I, Part 2

Author: Pape, William Jamieson, 1873- ed
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Chicago, New York The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 642

USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut, Volume I > Part 2

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

This contest between a rapidly growing city and a town which embraced a large rural population without municipal needs, had now been in progress for some years. Recommendations had been made repeatedly by preceding mayors, but action was always blocked by the fear of added taxation in rural districts. In 1893, however, the population had grown to such an extent in some of the outlying sections of the Town of Waterbury that the need of city betterments in several directions was imperative.

In 1894 the first definite step was taken to bring about a consolidation or rather a merging of the city, town and school governments which, however, was only partially successful. On May 7, 1894, a committee consisting of Hon. E. G. Kilduff, the mayor of the city, George E. Terry, then states' attorney, Judge Charles G. Root and Thomas D. Wells, was appointed by the two governing bodies of the municipality, the Board of Aldermen and the Court of Common Council, with power to frame an amended or new charter for the City and Town of Water- bury. This was to be submitted to a joint session of the council before or.during the period of the next session of the General Assembly.

The work was admirably conceived, and while many of its provisions were nullified either by the council and by the Legislature, acting under pressure of strong local opposition, these were adopted in later years, thus showing the fore- sight and wisdom of the members of this able committee.

The report was submitted on February 25. 1895. An effort to have the pro- posed charter voted upon by the people, which was merely an effort to delay the proposed changes, was defeated. Many changes were, however, suggested.

On May 13, 1895, just a few days before the final opportunity for presenta- tion to the Legislature, a committee consisting of Thomas D. Barlow and Daniel Kiefer, urged immediate action and on May 23, 1895, the proposed charter was

WATERBURY AND THE NAUGATUCK VALLEY

officially presented at Hartford to the joint standing Committee on Cities and Boroughs of the General Assembly.

The bill as passed, however, did not consolidate the city, town and school governments, but in its regulation of the municipal government was a tremendous step forward.

The act of 1895 extended the city limits to include the actual town limits. This was a first great step toward the consolidation. It created five wards, abol- ished the Court of Common Council, giving local legislative powers exclusively to a Board of Aldermen. It provided for biennial elections, and in order to take the affairs of the city as far as possible out of purely political contests, and to concentrate the attention of voters on municipal needs, the date of these elections was made the first Monday of each alternate October.

The charter provided for the election of a mayor, a city clerk, a treasurer, a comptroller, thus abolishing the office of auditor, a city sheriff, two agents of the Bronson Library Fund, and three aldermen from each ward. It provided that the collector of taxes annually chosen at the town meeting of the Town of Water- bury "shall be the collector of taxes of said city." It provided for a much- needed Board of Public Works, which was to consist of the mayor, who was ex-officio president, and five electors, named by the mayor and approved by the aldermen. At least two of these must be of the opposition political party. It created as subordinates to this Board of Public Works, the Bureaus of Water. Streets, Sewers, Engineering and Assessment, the last-named a board in charge of condemnations, benefits and damages arising out of improvements.

The charter gave the aldermen the power to appoint the city attorney. This office was abolished in 1912, when a legal department with corporation counsel and assistant was created.

The charter created a Board of Finance, consisting of the mayor, ex-officio, the comptroller, the president of the Board of Aldermen, and three citizens appointed by the mayor.

The charter created Department of Public Safety, officially known as a Board of Commissioners of Public Safety. This consists of the mayor, ex-officio presi- dent, and five electors, appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the aldermen. It has charge of the fire and police departments.

It created the Department of Public Health.

This was at least a basis, and a very effective one, upon which to build a modern city government.

In 1899, the act creating Waterbury's present Department of Education was passed, and this provided that "it shall have the care and management of all the property and affairs of the Center School District of Waterbury. After this act shall take effect, no meeting of the Center School District shall be held for any purpose whatever."

This was the second step leading to consolidation, and was brought about largely by a prior compromise in the matter of taxation. It was agreed that taxpayers living beyond the old city limits and within the town limits should not pay over one-half the tax rate of taxpayers within the old city limits. But as they were compelled to support their own schools and had no right to the city's water, sewers, police or fire protection, this concession to the taxpayers of the outside district was less important than it might appear on the face of it. In 1899 the tax levy for the inside district was 28 mills, and for the outside 14 mills. The grand list for that year was $11,619,883 for the inside district and $689,321 for the outside district.

The act creating the Department of Education had a far-reaching influence

WATERBURY AND THE NAUGATUCK VALLEY

for school improvements. While it limited its control to the schools in the old city limits, it empowered all other districts in the old town limits to vote them- selves in. This has been done among others by Waterville, Town Plot, Mill Plain, Bunker Hill and Hopeville. It thus created uniformity where there was wide disparity, and in many sections it abolished the antiquated system of school visitors.

The Department of Education is now in charge of a Board of Education. consisting of the mayor, chairman ex-officio, and nine members, three of whom are elected biennially for a term of six years.

The great need for the many advantages which a city government provides, was now more deeply impressed upon the outside districts by the continuing increase in population. Opposition was breaking down.

The agitation of ten years and longer between city and town was finally rewarded in 1901 by the long-needed consolidation act, effective on the first Monday in January, 1902. The important change was the placing of nearly all the old duties of selectmen in the Board of Aldermen. In 1903 the authority of selectmen over the poor of the town was placed in the hands of the Board of Charities, which was then created. This leaves the work of making voters their only important duty.

In I911 it was found necessary to pass a constitutional amendment so that Waterbury could vote for city and town officers at the same time.

It was found necessary both in 1896 and in 1902 to change many existing ordinances to conform to charter revisions, and this has been ably done by committees appoined by the Board of Aldermen.

THE FINANCES OF \ QUARTER OF A CENTURY

Taxation has always been the stumbling block to consolidation, and as usual, it was a compromise that brought about the change. In 1901, two taxation districts were created. The first district includes the entire town and the second includes the old city limits. Until 1913, the taxation in the second district was segregated into what was known as the inside and the outside rate. The "out- side" rate was of course the compromise, but it was only a question of time when city improvements and city benefits would be town wide. The effort to stop this segregation in 1905 and 1906 met with failure. In 1914, and since then, the grand list and the tax levy were divided only into the first and second districts.

While at each session of the State Legislature, many minor amendatory acts have been passed for the benefit of Waterbury, for the purposes of history the great changes took place respectively in 1895, 1899 and 1901.

Two tabulations will tell in figures the story of the growth of Waterbury ; its grand list for twenty-five years from 1893 to 1917, and its tax levy. It is important to remember that up to 1902, the valuation was on a one-third basis. After that date, under the state law, it was compulsory to assess on a 100 per cent basis.

THIE GRAND LIST SINCE 1893

1893-$10.575.103. 1894-$10,452,138. 1895-$10,593,419. 1896-$10,802.314.

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Inside Taxation District. Outside Taxation District. Inside Taxation District.

Outside Taxation District.

First Taxation District.