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<br />This is a logical time to refer again to the value of the City's Electric Department. <br />If the proposed contribution of this Department were not to be available next fiscal <br />year, we would now be speaking of a $2.85 rate on real estate, instead of the $2.00 <br />as proposed. In this context, the relationship is to the Fall of 1971 tax billing only, <br />since these contributions are made annually, in varying amounts. <br /> <br />The Route 57 project now under way will represent a General Fund expenditure of <br />approximately $635,000, this figure representing only the City's share of this tre- <br />mendously complicated highway project. <br /> <br />Since the connection of Lester Street with the new Route 57 project was not eligible <br />for inclusion in the contract now being carried out, it is recommended that City Council <br />immediately approve, at this meeting, the development of plans for and construction <br />of this vital connection, so that, hopefully, the Lester Street extension can be opened <br />by the time the major project is complete. While plans are only in a preliminary stage, <br />it is safe to assume that this connection will cost no less than $100,000, with all of <br />the cost to be the res pons ibiUty of the City. <br /> <br />In addition to this, it is recommended that if the tax and other budgetary calculations <br />prove to be suffiCiently accurate, City Council would approve, as soon as it is known <br />that funds are available, the extension of Mulberry Road from Cleveland to Brown Street. <br />The Lester Street and Mulberry Road Extension projects, when considered jointly, are <br />expected to cost between $250,000 and $300,000, hopefully no more than that. And <br />these figures do not include any funds for the Brookdale Road project, plans for which <br />are now being developed by the State, but the City is already obligated to provide its <br />15 per cent of the cost of this project, and the City's portion is likely to be about <br />$200,000. <br /> <br />The needs exist; and, the only way to meet the needs is to raise the funds. Consider- <br />ing all factors, I have no recourse, albeit regretfully, but to recommend a real estate <br />tax rate of $2.00 for the next fiscal year. <br /> <br />- 3 - <br />