Minnesota Highways, February 1954

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mm
warn
VOL. 3, NO. 4
1246 University Ave., St. Paul 4, Minn.
FEBRUARY,   1954
January Cost of Living index
Watched Closely By Employees
With numerous queries having been received in recent
weeks regarding possible cost of living increases, we asked
the Civil Service Department for a first-hand report of the
many "ifs" and "ands" concerning this important question,
ore is the CS report:
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he big question will be answered in late February when the
U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
releases its January Consumers
Price Index for the Minneapolis
area. As in previous years, the
January reading will be used to
determine whether state employees will receive a salary adjustment on July 1st.
If the index for January stands
at 116.1 or above, state employees
will be eligible to receive a one
step salary increase on July 1st.
The last reading for Minneapolis,
taken in October, stood at 116.6.
The Minneapolis index is taken
quarterly in January, April, July
and October. The national index,
which is taken monthly, has declined slightly but steadily since
October. Indications are that the
index for the Minneapolis area has
oho probably declined during the
period. In three of the past
years, the index has also fallen
during this same three-month period. If the index falls more than
five-tenths of a point, the present
salaries will remain in effect for
another year.
Department heads, however,
will receive a one-step increase on
July 1st, since the January index
appears certain to be above 114.6.
Their adjustments are computed
on the basis of 4.2 points and therefore have lagged one step behind
those of classified employees.
Under Minnesota's cost-of-living salary plan, state employees'
salaries are tied to the rises and
falls in the cost of living. For each
four-point increase or decrease in
the index, state employees' salaries can be raised or lowered accordingly. Should the index warrant  an increase,  the  Director  of
Civil Service certifies that fact to
the Commissioner of Administration, who determines whether
there are sufficient funds to cover
the increases. If there are, the increases become effective on the
following July  1st.
So ends the Civil Service Department's statement. Now all Hi-
wayans have to do is to watch the
papers or listen to the radio to see
if the Minneapolis index is high
enough to permit granting of a
m uch-to-be-desired increase.
WHY  DIE?
Why must pedestrians die? . .
they die because of careless mis
takes . . . most of which are vio
lations of traffic laws . . . playing
in the street . . . walking on the
wrong side of highways . . . jaywalking . . . these careless mistakes
bring tragedy to many homes every
year ... be safe . . . stay alive by
obeying traffic regulations.
COMMISSIONER OBSERVES 40TH ANNIVERSARY
Commissioner Hoffmann is shown above, with W. V. Buck, left, and A. L. Over-
bee, right, reading the king-sized greeting card presented him on the 15th of January, it being the 40th anniversary of his beginning work with the Department. Doing some rapid calculating, that figures out to be 1914—before a good many present-day Hiwayans were born. Except for time out for service with the Army Engineers during WW I, the Commissioner has been with the Department continuously.
As part of the message on the "birthday" card read, the "first forty years are the
hardest, now for the next 40".
Small County Division
Does Big Job
Most Hiwayans think that the only improvements to Minnesota's roads are those made on the trunk highway system,
but that view is not shared by the crew in "Mac" Evans'
County Division group. As the Hiwayans most closely concerned with activities in this veiy important phase of the
state's overall road program, they are well aware of the tremendous activity which is going on in this category of secondary roads.
During 1953, for instance, Mac
and his crew of four, processed a
total of 219 federal aid secondary
contracts, which totalled $6,511,-
111. These contracts provided for
a very sizeable amount of improvements, as follows:
490 miles of grading
266 miles of gravel or crushed
rock surfacing
264 miles of bituminous surfacing
137 miles of bituminous seal
coating
364 miles of bituminous base
17 bridges
2 automatic grade crossing signals
And what is the outlook for
1954? According to Commissioner
Hoffmann, it will be financially
possible for Minnesota's 87 counties to get a 10/2 million dollar
county-FAS construction program
under contract this year. Funds
available for this work include a
$900,000 carryover of unused
available federal aid funds from
last year and an allocation of $4,-
450,000 recently announced. If
this total of $5,350,000 is matched
by the counties with local tax revenues or out of their respective
shares of state collected gas tax
revenues, it will bring their road-
building funds up to the 10/2 million dollar mark.
It is very unlikely, however,
that plans, right-of-way and all of
the other preliminary hurdles for
that large a program can be cleared for lettings during the year.
Nevertheless, it is the hope of the
County Division that somewhere
between $8,000,000 and $9,000,-
000 of new county road improvements will be undertaken this year.